And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company.
Genesis 50 records Jacob's death and burial and concludes the account of Joseph and his brethren. The chapter belongs to Genesis 12-50, which shows God's dealings with the chosen race, distinct from Genesis 1-11, which shows God's dealings with the human race. It shows God's care in preserving the ancestors of the promised Seed. It shows God's guidance in Joseph's history, in that God may lead a person by a winding route yet bring them safely to the purpose intended for them.
The verse describes Jacob's funeral procession to Machpelah as a very great company that included both chariots and horsemen going up with him. The procession was a funeral march to a distant and foreign land to carry Jacob to the cave of Machpelah and place his body beside the dust of his father. The account is of Egyptians accompanying the Hebrews as they mourned Jacob, showing the public and sustained sympathy given to a bereaved family in ancient times. The funeral march and burial show Joseph's care for and honor toward his father Jacob after death, completing his care and sustenance of Jacob and the dying scene. This honor proves that the fifth commandment was not new at Sinai but was already a subsisting law from creation that controlled God's chosen servants.
Genesis 50 records Jacob's death and burial and concludes the account of Joseph and his brethren. The chapter belongs to Genesis 12-50, which shows God's dealings with the chosen race, distinct from Genesis 1-11, which shows God's dealings with the human race. It shows God's care in preserving the ancestors of the promised Seed. It shows God's guidance in Joseph's history, in that God may lead a person by a winding route yet bring them safely to the purpose intended for them.
The verse describes Jacob's funeral procession to Machpelah as a very great company that included both chariots and horsemen going up with him. The procession was a funeral march to a distant and foreign land to carry Jacob to the cave of Machpelah and place his body beside the dust of his father. The account is of Egyptians accompanying the Hebrews as they mourned Jacob, showing the public and sustained sympathy given to a bereaved family in ancient times. The funeral march and burial show Joseph's care for and honor toward his father Jacob after death, completing his care and sustenance of Jacob and the dying scene. This honor proves that the fifth commandment was not new at Sinai but was already a subsisting law from creation that controlled God's chosen servants.