🌱WEB · Genesis 50:6
What does Genesis 50:6 mean?
"Pharaoh said, “Go up, and bury your father, just like he made you swear.”"
— Genesis 50:6 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Forty days were fulfilled for him, for that is how many the days it takes to embalm. The Egyptians wept for him for seventy days.
When the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the house of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,
‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am dying. Bury me in my grave which I have dug for myself in the land of Canaan.” Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come again.’”
Pharaoh said, “Go up, and bury your father, just like he made you swear.”
Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, all the elders of the land of Egypt,
All the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen.
There went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company.
Explanation
Genesis 50:6 records Pharaoh's brief but significant response to Joseph's request for permission to leave Egypt temporarily. In plain language, Pharaoh simply says, "Go ahead, go bury your father, just as you promised him you would." This is a moment of official approval, granting Joseph leave from his duties as Egypt's second-in-command so he can fulfill a solemn family obligation.
The context leading up to this verse matters. Jacob, on his deathbed in Egypt, had made Joseph swear an oath that he would not bury him in Egypt but would carry his body back to Canaan to be buried with his ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Sarah in the cave at Machpelah (Genesis 47:29-31; 49:29-32). After Jacob dies, Joseph, out of respect for both his father's wishes and the customs of Pharaoh's court, does not presume to leave Egypt on his own authority. Instead, he goes through Pharaoh's officials to request permission (50:4-5), explaining the oath he had sworn. This shows the careful, honoring relationship Joseph maintained with Egyptian authority even as a man of great personal power in the kingdom.
Theologically, this verse highlights several themes running through the Joseph narrative. First, it shows the fulfillment of a sacred promise. Oaths in the ancient world, especially those made to a dying parent, carried de
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