So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him,
So Joseph died, being, an hundred and ten years old. Bunsen, whose semi-rationalistic system led him to reduce the longevity of the patriarchs to the present ordinary standard of life, does not allow ('Egypt's Place,'
iii., p. 342) that Joseph, when he died, exceeded 78 years of age, grounding an argument on the circumstance that, had he been as old as the text represents, he must have seen not the children of Machir only, but Machir's grandchildren. Gesenius shows, on critical principles, that Joseph actually did so: for (Genesis 50:23) he saw Ephraim's х bªneey (H1121) shileeshiym (H8029)] children of the thirds, i:e., children of great-grandchildren-viz., the fourth generation. [See Exodus 34:7, where bªneey (H1121) baaniym (H1121) are the grandchildren, and shileeshiym (H8029), the third, is expressly distinguished from ribee`iym, the fourth generation.] Keil proves (Keil and Delitzch, 'On the Pentateuch,' p. 412, Clarke's edition) by a minute calculation on Genesis 41:50, that there is no practical difficulty in the way of this explanation. And if the translation of the recently-discovered papyrus is to be relied on, the great age of their honoured prime minister became proverbial among the Egyptians ('Parthenon,' No. 11: -`Longevity among the Ancient Egyptians, and a Record of the Patriarchal Age,' by D.J. Heath).
And they embalmed him. The practice of embalming prevailed in Egypt at a very early period, for Rosellini states (chapter 11, 3) that mummies have been found from the dates of the first kings. Joseph might have been induced to comply with this Egyptian custom, both in his own and his father's case, with a view to the conservation of their corpses for final removal to Canaan. The idea, however, that originated the practice seems not to have been a vain wish to immortalize the body, but a dim traditional belief of a future state, in which the conservation of the body would be essential to the vigour and happiness of the soul. But further, 'we have now abundant reason for concluding that the perfect purification of the body, and not its conservation was at the root of the ideas expressed in every act of mummification' (Brugsch, quoted by Hardwick, 2:, p. 296: cf. Wilkinson, 'Ancient Egypt,' second series, 2:, p. 445-7; Kenrick, 1:, 480; Prichard's 'Egyptian Mythology,' p. 198; Cormack, 'On Creosote,' with the catalogue of books on embalming referred to).
And he was put in a coffin in Egypt, х `aarown (H727) - a wooden chest (Herodotus and Diodorus, as quoted on verse 3; Wilkinson's 'Ancient Egypt,' volume 5:, p. 459); the Septuagint, soros (G4673), a specially-constructed theekee (G2336)], for the incasement of a mummified body, generally of sycamore wood, sometimes of pasteboard, formed by glueing together numerous folds, plastered and painted with hieroglyphics. Stone or basalt was the exception; and besides that wood was the ordinary material, a good reason for employing it in Joseph's case was, greater facility in the conveyance of his remains to Canaan, in accordance with his last injunctions. The putting of a corpse in a coffin was peculiarly an Egyptian custom, since it did not obtain among the Hebrews (2 Kings 13:21; Matthew 27:59-60); nor does it in the modern East, either among Turks or Christians. But even in ancient Egypt it was not universal; and while the lower classes were simply embalmed and swathed, or often interred without embalming, the enclosure in a coffin was a distinction reserved for persons of rank and wealth. It is probable that, since each family had a burial place for itself, Joseph's corpse would be placed on a niche, where it would be preserved until the exodus, instead of being buried in the great pyramid, as is maintained by a modern writer (Dr. E. Clarke's 'Travels,' volume
v., pp. 253, 261).