THEOSISJohn Chrysostom
Do you perceive the compassionate affection of a son? Can you recognize the passionate love? Following the departure of the spirit, ‘Joseph fell on his father's face, and having embraced him, wept over him’.
Genesis 50:1Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers
And when Joseph saw this, he fell upon his father's face, weeping and kissing him.
וַיִפֹּ֥ל יוֹסֵ֖ף עַל־פְּנֵ֣י אָבִ֑יו וַיֵּ֥בְךְּ עָלָ֖יו וַיִּשַּׁק־לֽוֹ׃
The Church Fathers on this verse
2 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Vissarion (Nechaev)
Joseph fell on his father's face, likely to cover his eyes, in accordance with the assurance that the Lord had given Jacob when He comforted him (Genesis 46:4). The burial that Joseph arranged for his father does not refer to the customary transfer of the body to a tomb, which would take place later, but rather to the immediate preparations for burial. This involved the process of embalming. Those who practiced this craft, known as embalmers, aimed to preserve the body from decomposition. They utilized various fragrant resins and balsams, applying them externally and filling the body internally; for this, they removed the brain through the nostrils and emptied the abdominal cavity through an incision on the left side.
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The body was then immersed in saltpetre, wrapped in cloth, covered with a resinous substance, and placed in a container. The resulting preserved bodies are referred to as mummies, remnants of which are still present in Egypt. Among the Egyptians, embalming was rooted in the belief that the soul remained with the body until it had fully decayed. Joseph, however, likely did not subscribe to this belief; he ordered the embalming of his father's body solely to prevent any unpleasant odors during the extended mourning period and the journey to Canaan. Generally, embalmers were free individuals who received payment for their services, but in the case of a dignitary like Joseph, they would have been counted among his servants.
Cross references
Passages read together with this verse.
- Gen 46:4I will go down with thee thither, and will bring thee back again from thence: Joseph also shall put his hands upon thy eyes.
- Eph 6:4And you, fathers, provoke not your children to anger: but bring them up in the discipline and correction of the Lord.
- Acts 8:2And devout men took order for Stephen's funeral and made great mourning over him.
- Mark 5:38And they cone to the house of the ruler of the synagogue; and he seeth a tumult, and people weeping and wailing much.
- Mark 5:39And going in, he saith to them Why make you this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.
- Deut 6:7And thou shalt tell them to thy children, and thou shalt meditate upon them sitting in thy house, and walking on thy journey, sleeping and rising.
- Deut 6:8And thou shalt bind them as a sign on thy hand, and they shall be and shall move between thy eyes.
- 1 Thess 4:13For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again: even so them who have slept through Jesus, will God bring with him.