The practice of embalming a dead person may not have begun in Egypt, but its practice probably reached its greatest extent there. It had been practiced for over 5000 years, perhaps begun during Egypt’s First Dynasty (3200 BC). The work of embalming included opening the body and removing its liquids, and covering it with certain salts for preservation. The brain was removed through the nostrils, and some of the body’s organs were also removed. The idea behind embalming was to keep the body from decomposing.
Ancient physicians were given the task of embalming, because it was their duty to act as healers, vis-à-vis restore the body to its original healthy condition. In this context, then, they embalmed a dead body in order to halt its decomposition, in an effort to permit the soul to reenter it at a later time, and the man would live again. Of course, this idea is contrary to the word of God (Ezekiel 18:20), but many Christians, even today, believe in the immortality of the soul, even though the text says immortality comes only through Christ (Romans 6:23).
When Jacob died, Joseph reached down and embraced and hugged his father, wept over him and kissed him (Genesis 50:1). Afterward, he ordered the Egyptian physicians to embalm his father’s corpse, which they did (Genesis 50:2). One may ask why Joseph had his father embalmed, if its practice in Egypt was founded upon religious error. One doesn’t have to believe Egyptian philosophy to embalm one’s dead relative. We do it today, but who gives a thought to Egyptian philosophy, while doing so? The fact is, if Joseph had not embalmed his father, it would have been an act of disrespect for a man, so highly regarded by the Egyptians, the father of the man who saved their country! Therefore, Jacob was embalmed and received the most elaborate funeral ever recorded in the Bible.
The process of embalming took 40 days, and the Egyptians mourned Jacob for 70 days (Genesis 50:3),[1] which probably included the 40 days of embalming. Later, Josephus, the first century AD Jewish historian, recorded the death and funeral arrangements of Herod the Great, which seem very similar to what we find done in Genesis 50 for Jacob. The practice of mourning important dignitaries 30 days after the embalming period continued in Israel’s history, and both Moses and Aaron were mourned by Israel for a full month (Numbers 20:29; Deuteronomy 34:8). This practice continues even today in many of our own countries. In the United States, when an important dignitary dies, or a terrible event occurs that affects the entire nation, the flag is lowered to half-mast for 30 days.
Joseph’s later, private, mourning of 7 days (cp. Genesis 50:10) also continued in later Jewish history. This is understood from Josephus’ history, which records that Archelaus mourned his father, Herod the Great, privately for seven days after the public mourning was completed.[2]
Afterward, Joseph went before Pharaoh and asked him to permit him to fulfill his vow to his father and bring him to his burying place in the Land of Canaan, and after he accomplished his vow to his father, he would return to Egypt (Genesis 50:4-5), and Pharaoh agreed to allow Joseph to return to the Land of Canaan to bury his father, and so he went (Genesis 50:6-7).
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[1] According to Allen P. Ross, this was only two days less than the Egyptian mourned the death of Pharoah: see “The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament” Genesis; page 100 (sited from The Expository Notes of Dr. Constable.
[2] Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews; Book 17; Chapter 8; Paragraph 4.
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