Genesis 50:6

6 And Pharao said to Joseph, Go up, bury thy father, as he constrained thee to swear.

Genesis 50:6 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 50:6

And Pharaoh said
To Joseph, by the courtiers that waited upon him at Joseph's request, who having delivered it to him had this answer: go up, and bury thy father, as he made thee swear;
the oath seems to be the principal thing that influenced Pharaoh to grant the request, it being a sacred thing, and not to be violated; otherwise, perhaps, he would not have chosen that Joseph should have been so long absent from him, and might have thought a grave in Egypt, and an honourable interment there, which he would have spared no cost to have given, might have done as well, or better.

Genesis 50:6 In-Context

4 And when the days of mourning were past, Joseph spoke to the princes of Pharao, saying, If I have found favour in your sight, speak concerning me in the ears of Pharao, saying,

5 My father adjured me, saying, In the sepulchre which I dug for myself in the land of Chanaan, there thou shalt bury me; now then I will go up and bury my father, and return again.

6 And Pharao said to Joseph, Go up, bury thy father, as he constrained thee to swear.

7 So Joseph went up to bury his father; and all the servants of Pharao went up with him, and the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt.

8 And all the household of Joseph, and his brethren, and all the house of his father, and his kindred; and they left behind the sheep and the oxen in the land of Gesem.