Genesis 50:7-14

50:7 So Joseph went up to bury his father; all Pharaoh’s officials went with him – the senior courtiers ¹  of his household, all the senior officials of the land of Egypt, 50:8 all Joseph’s household, his brothers, and his father’s household. But they left their little children and their flocks and herds in the land of Goshen. 50:9 Chariots and horsemen also went up with him, so it was a very large entourage. ² 

50:10 When they came to the threshing floor of Atad ³  on the other side of the Jordan, they mourned there with very great and bitter sorrow. ⁴  There Joseph observed a seven day period of mourning for his father. 50:11 When the Canaanites who lived in the land saw them mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a very sad occasion ⁵  for the Egyptians.” That is why its name was called ⁶  Abel Mizraim, ⁷  which is beyond the Jordan.

50:12 So the sons of Jacob did for him just as he had instructed them. 50:13 His sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. This is the field Abraham purchased as a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite. 50:14 After he buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, along with his brothers and all who had accompanied him to bury his father.

[50:7]  ¹ tn Or “dignitaries”; Heb “elders.”

[50:9]  ² tn Heb “camp.”

[50:10]  ³ sn The location of the threshing floor of Atad is not certain. The expression the other side of the Jordan could refer to the eastern or western bank, depending on one’s perspective. However, it is commonly used in the OT for Transjordan. This would suggest that the entourage came up the Jordan Valley and crossed into the land at Jericho, just as the Israelites would in the time of Joshua.

[50:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “and they mourned there [with] very great and heavy mourning.” The cognate accusative, as well as the two adjectives and the adverb, emphasize the degree of their sorrow.

[50:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “this is heavy mourning for Egypt.”

[50:11]  ⁶ tn The verb has no expressed subject and so it may be translated as passive.

[50:11]  ⁷ sn The name Abel Mizraim means “the mourning of Egypt.”