Genesis 50:3Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

He grieved for him for forty days, the duration of his entombment, and 'Egypt mourned for seventy days.'

For a duration of forty days, it is also posited by Diodorus that this was the case. The Egyptians engaged in mourning for a period of seventy days. Herodotus suggests that this specific number of days was designated for the actual process of embalming, as well as the mourning rituals. This time was marked by mourning practices that involved laying feathers upon the head and face, parading through the streets while striking the body, abstaining from baths, wine, meat, fine clothing, and other forms of indulgence.

The process of preparing Jacob for burial took forty days, while the period of grief extended to seventy days, which included the embalming. The mourning rituals involved various expressions of sorrow: individuals smeared mud on their faces and heads, roamed the city with unkempt hair, donned torn garments, struck their bare chests, filled the atmosphere with wails of profound grief, and abstained from bathing, wine, meat, and all forms of indulgence. The Egyptians engaged in these mourning practices as a sign of honor for their benefactor Joseph, despite having no personal connection to Jacob.