When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians.” Therefore the place was named Abel-mizraim; it is beyond the Jordan.
Egypt sends a royal escort with Jacob's body, and on the way to the burial cave the procession stops to mourn at a threshing floor. The local people watch, and the name they give the place says as much about them as about the grief they saw.
The Name the Onlookers Gave
The Canaanites named the place, not Joseph's family. What the name means depends on how you read the Hebrew:
Morrish Bible DictionaryWith the Hebrew points, the name means "meadow of the Egyptians." Read without them, or with different points, it means "mourning of the Egyptians." The context in Genesis 50:11 points to "mourning" as part of the name. The place was the threshing floor of Atad, "beyond the Jordan." That seems to put the seven days of mourning east of the Jordan, before they carried the body into Canaan for burial. But some hold that Moses means the west by "beyond the Jordan," because he stood on the east side. The name Canaanites for the people of the land also points to the west.
Commentators differ on exactly where this took place. One writer notes that not everyone in the procession went all the way to the grave:
J. N. DarbyThey went to Atad, and Joseph went on to Canaan. "Beyond the Jordan" only makes sense from where the writer was standing. Verse 13 shows, I think, that Jacob's sons carried him and buried him in Machpelah. That was not Atad, and not everyone in verse 9 crossed over.
Why Egypt Wept for Jacob
Strangers named a place after this grief. Joseph is the reason Egypt grieved:
L. M. GrantThe Canaanites living in the land were so impressed by this sight that they named the place Abel-mizraim, meaning "the mourning of the Egyptians" (v. 11). Joseph had saved Egypt, so the Egyptians recognized that salvation came from Israel (John 4:22). The nations therefore have every reason to show deep respect for Israel. We Christians today must never forget that our Savior came from Israel.
Earlier funerals in this family were nothing like it:
L. M. GrantThere was nothing like this at the funerals of Abraham or Isaac. Here God is showing us the sovereignty of His great power and grace. He produced sympathy among the Gentiles for His people Israel. Israel's immediate father dies, but his descendants remain, and God gives them favour among the Gentiles.
What the Canaanites Could Not See
The Canaanites saw one crowd of mourners and called the grief Egyptian. One writer shows how much they missed. A threshing floor is where grain is beaten loose from the chaff:
Numerical Bible NotesAtad is the buckthorn. The threshing floor expresses well the whole lesson of Jacob's life of discipline. The thorn is the sign of the curse — what grows on barren soil… Here are the thorns, and here is the threshing floor; and here, too, is the mourning. The world can see the thorns, and so can faith; but faith alone can see the threshing floor. The world mourns the "few and evil days" — the spoiling and the poverty of life. Faith, smiling through her tears, accepts the necessary chastening of a Father's love. Joseph and the Egyptians are not one, even though the Canaanites may well mix them up.
The Grave That Contradicted the Pomp
The funeral showed how high Joseph had risen. The grave said something else:
F. B. HoleJacob's funeral showed the extraordinary place of power and influence Joseph had reached. Pharaoh gave his permission at once. All Jacob's sons joined Joseph in it, and so did many important people of Egypt. Canaan saw it as a great mourning of the Egyptians. Yet they laid his body in a grave that showed these men of faith were still strangers and pilgrims.
Why Such Funerals Are Behind Us
The splendour was fitting for its moment, but that moment has passed:
J. G. BellettIn earlier days funerals were meant to be magnificent. Resurrection was then still ahead. A funeral was a kind of pledge of the resurrection they expected, and it was fitting that the pledge should be magnificent, matching the glory of what it promised. But resurrection has now come true in the person of the Lord Jesus, the Son of God. So the grand funeral, like ceremonious worship, is more of a reproach, as if the great mystery had not yet come true in substance and power.
The same contrast is felt in how the onlookers described the scene:
William KellyThe closing chapter tells us of his sons carrying him to the field of Machpelah in Canaan, where his fathers were buried: a grievous mourning in the eyes of the people of the land. What a difference for those who know Christ glorified in heaven, when those who are "not of the world" depart to be with Him!
Summary
- Named — the watching Canaanites called the place Abel-mizraim, "mourning of the Egyptians." The name records what outsiders saw. Writers differ over whether the spot lay east or west of the Jordan.
- Caused — Egypt wept for Jacob because Joseph had saved Egypt. The nation that received salvation through Israel honoured Israel's father.
- Given — Abraham and Isaac had no funeral like this. The sympathy of the nations was God's own gift of favour to His people.
- Missed — the world saw the thorns of a hard life, but not the threshing floor. Faith takes the same sorrows as a Father's chastening. Joseph and the Egyptians were never one.
- Ended — the grave in Canaan marked these men as strangers and pilgrims. Grand funerals once pledged a resurrection still to come; Christ is risen, so that pledge is no longer needed.