Genesis 50:10-11
This page isn't yet indexed by search engines.
The sheer scale of this lamentation, described as "very great and grievous," wasn't just about expressing grief; it was so significant that the place itself was renamed "Abel-Mizraim" (mourning of Egypt) by the Canaanites. This event wasn't merely a private sorrow but a public spectacle that announced the presence of Jacob's family and their impact, even to the surrounding inhabitants.
When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and grievous lamentation, and he made a mourning for his father seven days. 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.
English Standard Version (ESV)
After Jacob's death, Joseph leads a grand procession from Egypt to Canaan to bury his father, accompanied by many Egyptians and elders of Pharaoh's court. This elaborate journey, marked by a significant mourning period at the threshing floor of Atad beyond the Jordan, highlights the respect Jacob commanded and sets the stage for Joseph's subsequent interactions with his brothers and return to Egypt. This solemn observance is a crucial step before the final interment and the unfolding reconciliation among the brothers.
When Jacob died, the text says the lamentation was 'great and very grievous.' What does this intense sorrow reveal about the bonds of family and the human experience of loss?
The mourning for Jacob at the threshing floor of Atad was more than just a ritual; it was a profound expression of grief. The text emphasizes the intensity of the lamentation, describing it as 'great and very grievous.'
A Son's Love
Joseph's personal mourning for seven days highlights a deep, filial love. This wasn't just a formality; it was a tangible act of honor and affection for the father who had shaped his life.
Collective Sorrow
The extended mourning period, involving both Joseph's family and the Egyptians, shows the impact of Jacob's life. It underscores how the passing of a righteous person can leave a significant void, prompting a community-wide recognition of loss. The Egyptians' participation, even if partly ceremonial, demonstrates respect for Jacob and, by extension, for Joseph and his family.
Why does the Bible pinpoint this specific 'threshing floor of Atad'? What makes this location, and the events that transpired there, so noteworthy?
The location, the threshing floor of Atad, becomes more than just a geographical marker; it's imbued with meaning through the events that occurred there.
A Name Etched in Sorrow
Ask a follow-up
The place was renamed 'Abel-Mizraim' (mourning of Egypt) because of the intense lamentation that took place. This signifies that the grief was so profound and public that it left an indelible mark on the landscape and the memory of those present.
Transition and Preparation
Stopping at Atad for mourning served as a crucial transition point. It was a place where the family could collectively process their loss before entering the land of Canaan for the final burial. This pause allowed for a formal period of lamentation, separating the journey's end from the final act of internment.
Even amidst deep sorrow and the practicalities of burial, God's overarching plan is subtly at work. How do we see His hand in this moment?
While the passage focuses on the immediate human experience of grief and the logistical task of burying Jacob, it also reveals the subtle but powerful working of God's providence.
Respect and Witness
The Egyptians' involvement in the mourning and their recognition of the lamentation served as a testament to Jacob's life and God's faithfulness. This public display, while initiated by human grief, acted as a witness to God's people and His promises, even among a foreign nation.
Foreshadowing Future Deliverance
The journey to Canaan for burial was a critical step in God's unfolding plan for His people. It reinforced the promise of the land, a promise that would sustain them through future hardships. The very act of burying Jacob in the promised land connected the past faithfulness of God with the future hope of His people.
Understand the original words
goren · Hebrew Noun
A place where harvested grain was beaten to separate the wheat from the chaff. It was often a large, elevated open-air location, frequently serving as a significant geographical or ritual landmark.
misped · Hebrew Noun
To express deep sorrow, grief, or mourning, often through outward signs such as weeping or formal ritual. Lamentation is a significant cultural response to death and judgment in the biblical narrative.
'ebel · Hebrew Noun
The practice of outward expressions of grief following a death. Biblical mourning is characterized by formal rites, the display of humility, and the recognition of the finality of life under the sovereignty of God.
kena‘ani · Hebrew Noun
A term used to identify those living in a specific geographical region, often used in the Old Testament to describe the pagan inhabitants of the promised land who were culturally and religiously distinct from the patriarchs.
ebel · Hebrew Noun
A formal expression of grief, typically through weeping, lamentation, or outward signs like tearing clothes or wearing sackcloth, often associated with the death of a loved one or national calamity.
goren · Hebrew Noun
A place where harvested grain is separated from the chaff, often used in Scripture as a place of judgment, meeting, or significant activity.
Abel-mitsrayim · Hebrew Proper Noun
A Hebrew term often associated with 'mourning' or 'meadow,' here used to commemorate a specific site of lamentation, signifying the intersection of human death and divine promise.
This solemn funeral procession for Jacob, marked by a week of intense mourning at Atad, highlights the deep respect the Egyptians held for the patriarch, a stark contrast to the later oppression of his descendants.
c. 1800 BC
Abraham purchases burial plot
Abraham purchased the cave of Machpelah and the surrounding field from Ephron the Hittite, establishing it as a family burial site.
c. 1700 BC
Jacob's family settles in Goshen
Jacob and his entire family, numbering about 70 people, moved to the land of Goshen in Egypt at the invitation of Joseph, who had risen to high office.
c. 1690 BC— this verse
Death of Jacob
Jacob dies in Egypt. His son Joseph, along with many Egyptian officials and elders, accompanies the body on a lengthy procession back to Canaan for burial.
c. 1690 BC
Mourning at Atad
The funeral procession stops at the threshing floor of Atad, located east of the Jordan River, for a period of intense mourning before proceeding to Hebron.
c. 1690 BC
Burial at Machpelah
After the extended mourning period, Jacob's body is finally laid to rest in the cave of Machpelah, the ancestral burial site purchased by Abraham.
c. 1690 BC
Joseph's brothers seek reassurance
Fearing Joseph's resentment after their father's death, his brothers send a message imploring forgiveness. Joseph, moved to tears, reassures them of his love and protection.
c. 1600 BC
Joseph's Death
Joseph dies at the age of 110, after a long life of service in Egypt. He makes his brothers and their descendants swear to carry his bones out of Egypt when God leads them to the Promised Land.
This passage describes God calling for professional mourners and skilled women to lament for the dead, highlighting the common practice and intensity of public grief in ancient Near Eastern cultures, similar to the 'great and very sore lamentation' at the threshing floor of Atad.
Deuteronomy 21:13This passage, regarding the treatment of a captive woman taken as a wife, mentions a period of mourning for one month. While the specific context differs, it shows a prescribed period for mourning among the Israelites, reinforcing the idea that set times for grieving were culturally understood.
1 Samuel 31:13After the death of Saul and his sons, the people of Israel mourned and fasted for seven days. This parallels the seven-day mourning period for Jacob, illustrating a similar duration for significant grief within Israelite custom.
Luke 7:12-13When Jesus encountered a funeral procession in Nain, He saw a widow mourning her only son, and the whole town was with her in great lamentation. This highlights the profound public and communal nature of grief, mirroring the intense mourning described for Jacob.
John 11:35Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus, a simple yet profound expression of sorrow. This shows that even for one with divine knowledge and purpose, deep personal grief is a natural and accepted human response.
calvinGenesis 50:1-26: "And Joseph fell upon his father's face, and wept upon him, and kissed him."
- Et viderunt habitatores terrae Chenaaneaei luctum in area Atad, et dixerunt, Luctus gravis est iste Aegyptiis: idcirco vocatum fuit nomen ejus Abel -- Misraim, (id est luctus Aegyptorum,) qui est trand Jordanem.
12 And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them:
- Fecerunt ergo filii ejus ei sic, quemadmodum praeceperat eis.
13 For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and bu…
bensonGenesis 50:10: "And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days."
Genesis 50:10 . They mourned with a very great and sore lamentation — “This,” says Sir John Chardin, quoted by Harmer, (vol. 2. p. 136,) “is exactly the genius of the people of Asia, especially of the women. Their sentiments of joy or grief are properly transports; and their transports are ungoverne…
The sheer scale of this lamentation, described as "very great and grievous," wasn't just about expressing grief; it was so significant that the place itself was renamed "Abel-Mizraim" (mourning of Egypt) by the Canaanites. This event wasn't merely a private sorrow but a public spectacle that announced the presence of Jacob's family and their impact, even to the surrounding inhabitants.
After Jacob's death, Joseph leads a grand procession from Egypt to Canaan to bury his father, accompanied by many Egyptians and elders of Pharaoh's court. This elaborate journey, marked by a significant mourning period at the threshing floor of Atad beyond the Jordan, highlights the respect Jacob commanded and sets the stage for Joseph's subsequent interactions with his brothers and return to Egypt. This solemn observance is a crucial step before the final interment and the unfolding reconciliation among the brothers.
After Jacob's death, Joseph leads a grand procession from Egypt to Canaan to bury his father, accompanied by many Egyptians and elders of Pharaoh's court. This elaborate journey, marked by a significant mourning period at the threshing floor of Atad beyond the Jordan, highlights the respect Jacob commanded and sets the stage for Joseph's subsequent interactions with his brothers and return to Egypt. This solemn observance is a crucial step before the final interment and the unfolding reconciliation among the brothers.
"When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and grievous lamentation, and he made a mourning for his father seven days. When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites,…" — The sheer scale of this lamentation, described as "very great and grievous," wasn't just about expressing grief; it was so significant that the place itself was renamed "Abel-Mizraim" (mourning of Eg…
Get the original Greek and Hebrew, verse-by-verse context, and related passages inside the app.
Last reviewed October 2026
