Joseph’s Death

According to my chart below, certain things about the Patriarchs and Jacob’s sons can be understood by comparing the lives of each with that of one or more of the others. For example, Joseph was 38 years old when Jacob came to Egypt, at 130 years of age. Therefore, when Jacob died, 17 years later,…

According to my chart below, certain things about the Patriarchs and Jacob’s sons can be understood by comparing the lives of each with that of one or more of the others. For example, Joseph was 38 years old when Jacob came to Egypt, at 130 years of age. Therefore, when Jacob died, 17 years later, at the age of 147, Joseph would have been 55 years old, which means he lived another 55 years in Egypt before he died at the age of 110 (Genesis 50:22).

According to Dr. Bob Utley’s You Can Understand the Bible Study Guide Commentary, Joseph died at the ideal age, according to Egyptian literature of that period. We aren’t told in the text how long Joseph served in the Egyptian palace or how many administrations he served, but he seems to have lived out the remainder of his life in peace and prosperity and probably as an important dignitary in Egyptian life. Nevertheless, sometime later a new king arose in Egypt who refused to acknowledge Joseph’s contribution to the nation, and he began to be suspicious of the loyalty of Joseph’s descendants and the descendants of his brethren, Therefore, he began to mistreat them (Exodus 1:8-11).

So, Joseph stayed in Egypt and lived to be 110 years of age; he lived to see both Ephraim’s and Manasseh’s children to the third generation, vis-à-vis he became a great grandfather before his death, receiving them into the family as they sat upon his knees (Genesis 50:22-23). When it came time for Joseph to die, he called his brethren before him and caused them to swear that, when the Lord came to visit them and remove them to the Land of Canaan, they would carry his bones to the land also and not leave him behind in Egypt (Genesis 50:24-25). They kept their promise, and Joseph’s final resting place was in Shechem in the parcel of land that Jacob bought from Hamor, the prince of Shechem (Genesis 33:19; cp. Exodus 13:19; Joshua 24:32). Thus, we are able to also see Joseph’s faith that the Lord would keep his promises (Hebrews 11:22).

Surprisingly, we don’t see this in any of his brethren, but we know least about Benjamin. Nevertheless, neither is there a record of any of Josephs brothers demanding their children to take them to the Promised Land, nor is there a record in any of the writings of Moses that any other tribe brought its patriarch to the Promised Land for a permanent burial. For all we know, their bones remain in Egypt.

Afterward, when Joseph died, the Egyptians embalmed him, as they did for all important dignitaries, and they laid him in a coffin (Genesis 50:26). Where he was taken is uncertain, for there are several explanations. However, wherever the coffin or chest was laid, it remained there until it was taken up to the Land of Canaan by Moses, when the Lord took his people out of Egypt to the Promised Land.

My estimation of how this should look is as follows:

From the Promise to the Law

Scripture

Timeline

Difference

Total Years

The Calling

(Begin 430 years)

Genesis 12:4

Abraham is 75 years old

Isaac Born

Genesis 21:2-3

Abraham was 100 years old (Genesis 21:5)

25years

25

Isaac Persecuted

(begin 400 years)

Genesis 21:9 (cp. Galatians 4:29)

Isaac was about 5 years old (cp. afflicted for 400 years in Genesis 15:13)

5 years

30

Isaac’s Death

Genesis 35:28

180 years old minus 5 years equals 175

175 years

205

Jacob’s Death

Genesis 47:28

147 years old (60 years younger than Isaac; Genesis 25:26); Jacob was 120 years old at the death of Isaac.

27 years (147 – 120 = 27)

232

Joseph’s Death

Genesis 50:26

110 years old (55 years old at the death of Jacob; lives another 55 years)

55 years

287

Coming of the Law

Galatians 3:17

About 143 years after Joseph’s death[1]

143 years

430

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[1] Moses was 120 years old when he died, just prior to Israel entering the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 34:7). Israel wandered for 40 years after leaving Egypt, making Moses about 80 years of age at the giving of the Law. Therefore, there are only 63 years unaccounted for in the Biblical record, between the death of Joseph and when Moses was given the Law (cp. Exodus 7:7 and 12:40-41).