The embalming process took the usual forty days. And the Egyptians mourned his death for seventy days.
Parallel translations
- WEB 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.
- KJV And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days.
- BSB taking the forty days required to complete the embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.
- NKJV Forty days were required for him, for such are the days required for those who are embalmed; and the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.
- NASB Now forty days were required for it, for such is the period required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The embalming takes forty days, and Egypt mourns Jacob seventy days.
Overview
The lengthy mourning period, nearly that accorded to royalty, reveals the honor in which Jacob and Joseph were held in Egypt. Egypt itself laments a Hebrew patriarch, a striking testimony to God's exaltation of Joseph's family. Even in a foreign land, God grants His people favor and dignity.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Deut 34:8The children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the days of weeping in the mourning for Moses were ended.
- Num 20:29When all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they wept for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.
- Gen 50:10They came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and there they lamented with a very great and severe lamentation. He mourned for his father seven days.
- Deut 21:13She shall take the clothing of her captivity off of herself, and shall remain in your house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month. After that you shall go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife.
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 50:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.