Pharaoh replied, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear to do.”
6. And Pharaoh said. We have seen that Joseph adopts a middle course. For he was not willing utterly to fail in his duty; yet, by catching at a pretext founded on the command of his father, he did not conduct himself with sufficient firmness. It is possible that Pharaoh was inclined, by the modesty of his manner, more easily to assent to his requests.
Joseph is here paying his last respects to his deceased father. 1. With tears and kisses, and all the tender expressions of a filial affection, he takes leave of the deserted body, Gen 50:1. Though Jacob was old and decrepit, and must needs die in the course of nature - though he was poor comparatively, and a constant charge to his son Joseph, yet such...
Commenting on Genesis 50:1-6
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...