Genesis 50:9

9 Chariots and horsemen went with him. It was a very large group.

Genesis 50:9 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 50:9

And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen
Which was done both for the sake of honour and grandeur, and for safety and defence, should they be attacked by robbers in the deserts, or opposed by the Canaanites, and be refused the use of the cave of Machpelah, and the right to it disputed: and it was a very great company;
both for quantity and quality; the attendants at this funeral were very numerous, and many of them great personages, and upon the whole was a very honourable company, as the word F11 signifies, and made a very great figure and grand appearance: or a very great army
F12, consisting of chariots and horsemen fit for war; if there should be any occasion for it: and the Jews F13 pretend that Esau came out with a large army, and met Joseph at the cave of Machpelah, and endeavoured to hinder the burial of Jacob there, where he lost his life, having his head struck off with the sword of Chushim, the son of Dan: some say it was Zepho, the grandson of Esau, with the sons of Esau, that made the disturbance there, on which a battle ensued, in which Joseph was the conqueror, and Zepho was taken captive, (See Gill on Genesis 36:11), the Jews F14 give us the order and manner of the above procession thus; first Joseph, next the servants of Pharaoh, or the princes, then the elders of the court of Pharaoh, then all the elders of the land of Egypt, then the whole house of Joseph, next to them the brethren of Joseph, who were followed by their eldest sons, and after them were the chariots, and last of all the horses.


FOOTNOTES:

F11 (dbk) "honorabilis"; so Abendana.
F12 (hnxmh) "exercitus ille"; Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius, Schmidt.
F13 T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 13. 1. Targum Jon. in ver. 13. Pirke Eliezer, c. 39. Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 5. 1.
F14 R. Bechai apud Hottinger. Smegma, c. 8. p. 381.

Genesis 50:9 In-Context

7 So Joseph left to bury his father. All Pharaoh's officials, the leaders in his palace staff, and all the leaders of Egypt went with him.
8 Joseph's household, his brothers, and his father's household also went with him. (Only their children, their flocks, and their cattle were left in Goshen.)
9 Chariots and horsemen went with him. It was a very large group.
10 When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is on the east side of the Jordan River, they began a great and solemn ceremony to mourn Jacob's death. Joseph took seven days to mourn his father's death.
11 When the Canaanites living there saw the funeral ceremonies at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, "These funeral ceremonies are taken very seriously by the Egyptians." That's why that place on the east side of the Jordan was named Abel Mizraim [Egyptian Funeral Ceremonies].
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