Knowing The Word in Genesis 50:22-26, The Death of Joseph

22 So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father's house. [Abraham’s sons did not get along. Isaac’s sons did not get along. Not until Jacob’s sons is the future firmly established.] Joseph lived 110 years [the ideal lifespan in Egypt and the same age as Joshua]. [The age in years of the patriarchs follows a sequence: Abraham 175 = 7 x 52; Isaac 187 = 5 x 62; Jacob 147 = 3 x 72; and Joseph 110 = 1 x (52 + 62 + 72). Joseph is the successor in the pattern (7, 5, 3, 1) and the sum of his predecessors (52 + 62 + 72).] 23 And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were counted as Joseph's own. [To live to see grandchildren and great grandchildren is a mark of God’s favor.] 24 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” [Joseph’s dying concern is the fulfillment of the promise.] 25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” [Here the promises that constitute the theme of Genesis are linked to the exodus.] 26 So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. [The story is now complete but also incomplete. We must wait for the rise of a Pharaoh who did not know Joseph (Exodus 1:8).]