Genesis 50:2
in Genesis 50And Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. So they embalmed him,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel.
KJV
And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel.
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This verse in Genesis 50
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThe physicians - רפאים ropheim, the healers, those whose business it was to heal or restore the body from sickness by the administration of proper medicines; and when death took place, to heal or preserve it from dissolution by embalming, and thus give it a sort of immortality or everlasting duration. The original word חנט chanat, which we translate to embalm, has undoubtedly the same meaning with the Arabic hanata, which also signifies to embalm, or to preserve from putrefaction by the application of spices, etc., and hence hantat, an embalmer.
This site's exposition
Joseph fell upon his father's face
on Genesis 50:1-3
Joseph falls on his father's face, weeps over him, and kisses him. The body goes to Egyptian physicians, and the dead man is called Israel. The embalming takes forty days, and Egypt mourns him for seventy.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), not only because he died in Egypt, and that was the manner of the Egyptians, but because he was to be carried to Canaan, which would be a work of time, and therefore it was necessary the body should be preserved as well as it might be from putrefaction.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Thirty days were alloted for the completion of this process; forty more were spent in anointing it with spices; the body, tanned from this operation, being then washed, was wrapped in numerous folds of linen cloth--the joinings of which were fastened with gum, and then it was deposited in a wooden chest made in the form of a human figure.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְצַ֨ו | vaytzav | and he commanded | H6680 → | 494 times |
| יוֹסֵ֤ף | yosef | Joseph | H3130 → | 213 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עֲבָדָיו֙ | ʾavadav | servants his | H5650 → | 799 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָרֹ֣פְאִ֔ים | harofeim | the physicians | H7495 → | 67 times |
| לַחֲנֹ֖ט | lachanot | to embalm | H2590 → | 5 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אָבִ֑יו | ʾaviv | father his | H1 → | 1212 times |
| וַיַּחַנְט֥וּ | vaiyachantu | and they embalmed | H2590 → | 5 times |
| הָרֹפְאִ֖ים | harofeim | the physicians | H7495 → | 67 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
וַיְצַ֨וand he commanded
vaytzavH6680 →494 times
יוֹסֵ֤ףJoseph
yosefH3130 →213 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עֲבָדָיו֙servants his
ʾavadavH5650 →799 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָרֹ֣פְאִ֔יםthe physicians
harofeimH7495 →67 times
לַחֲנֹ֖טto embalm
lachanotH2590 →5 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אָבִ֑יוfather his
ʾavivH1 →1212 times
וַיַּחַנְט֥וּand they embalmed
vaiyachantuH2590 →5 times
הָרֹפְאִ֖יםthe physicians
harofeimH7495 →67 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Mark 16:1When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so they could go and anoint the body of Jesus.
it leads to
- Luke 23:56
Then they returned to prepare spices and perfumes. And they rested on the Sabbath, according to the commandment.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Mark 14:8
She has done what she could to anoint My body in advance of My burial.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 28:1–10
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.
- John 20:1–10
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.
- Mark 15:40
And there were also women watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome.
- Luke 23:56
Through
2 Chronicles 16:14And he was buried in the tomb that he had cut out for himself in the City of David. They laid him on a bier that was full of spices and various blended perfumes;…
it leads to
- Mark 16:1
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so they could go and anoint the body of Jesus.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Chronicles 21:19
This continued day after day until two full years had passed. Finally, his intestines came out because of his disease, and he died in severe pain. And his people did not make a fire…
- Mark 16:1
Through
Matthew 26:12By pouring this perfume on Me, she has prepared My body for burial.
it leads to
- John 12:7
“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “She has kept this perfume in preparation for the day of My burial.
- John 12:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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On this verse
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About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.