gen 50

Question	Answer	Note---10-02-2016
Why did it take 40 days to embalm Israel?	According to the (http://rabbimichaelsamuel.com/2010/01/how-was-jacob-embalmed/) this was the normal process of mummifying a body. It could have taken as along as 70 days, but in this instance, it only took 40 days.	50:3
The embalmed him 40 days and mourned for him 70. Is this period combined or separate?
		50:9 It was a very large funeral for Israel.
Seven more days are here mentioned is this to be added to the previous numbers?		50:10
		50:15 The brothers still fear repraisal from joseph after his father’s death
		50:17 jospeh tears are close. He is always crying,  very emotional man
		50:16-21 Sermon: Although Joseph had forgiven them, they still did not seem like they could accept his forgiveness.

How was Jacob embalmed?

Byline: January 3rd, 2010 at 3:00 PM

Genesis 50:3: they spent forty days in doing this, for that is the time required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days.- This figure does not quite correspond either to Herodotus or to the Roman historian Diodorus (Histories 1:91) Herodotus wrote that the period of embalming took 30 days, while according to the Diodorus, it took 70 days. Perhaps in the case of Jacob, 40 days were all that was necessary for embalming. The 70 days of mourning may have also included the 40 days of embalming while the thirty additional days were necessary to complete the period of mourning  before the journey to Canaan began.

The famous Greek historian Herodotus (II, 86) offers one of the more detailed sources on these matters, mentions three methods of embalming. The first, and most expensive, necessitated extracting the brains by means of an iron hook. The emptied skull was subsequently filled with spices. Next, an incision was made with a sharp “Ethiopic stone” which is believed to be obsidian — a  glassy black volcanic rock that can be flaked to a razor’s edge.

Obsidian can be sharper and thinner than any surgeon’s scalpel.  The first organs to be removed are the upper intestinal tract, and the pancreas. Then comes the spleen, kidneys, bladder, and more of the digestive tract; then comes the colon, stomach and spleen. After the liver comes out the lungs. Only the heart is left in the rib cage because the Egyptians believed that when the deceased approached Osiris, the heart would be weighed.

If it was as light as the feather of Ma’at, the goddess of truth, the person was one step closer to becoming accepted by the gods. All the emptied parts of the body were then cleansed and also filled with spices. Afterwards the body was packed in dry natron for a period of seventy days.

The last stage of embalming by this method consisted of washing the body and wrapping it tightly in cloths soaked in resins. In this state the embalmed body was delivered to the relatives, who would put it in a wooden coffin made in the shape of a human body; this was then placed in an upright position in the burial chamber. The second method, a cheaper one, consisted of dissolving the intestines by infusing cedar oil through the anus.

As with the previous method, the body was packed in dry natron and after seventy days the oil, together with the dissolved intestines, would emerge, so that all that remained of the body were the bones and the skin. The third and cheapest method of embalming involved cleansing the body by means of an enema before packing it in natron for seventy days. The embalmed body was then ready for burial. The secrets of the art of embalming were forgotten early in the Roman period.

It is interesting to note that nowadays, Jewish law rules that embalming is forbidden unless the body is being transported over state lines, in which case it is permitted.

gen 49

Question	Answer	Note---10-02-2016
		Jacob interprets what shall befall all his sons.
		49:7 apparently this is God speaking through Jacob. Mention of the name here is actually the country` and not so much the man.
		49:28 according to this verse Jacob blesses them. However it does not seem consistent with the text that there were given a present or a wish of prosperity.

gen 48

Question	Answer	Note---10-02-2016
Why was it important to Jacob that Joseph’s two sons be his?		48:3
Jacob had many other grandchildren, why is it recorded that the children of Joseph should be his?
Was this more favoritism of Jacob being displayed, that he should name the children of Joseph among his inheritance, and not the children of the other brothers?
	New Living Translation But any children born to you in the future will be your own, and they will inherit land within the territories of their brothers Ephraim and Manasseh.	48:6
		48:9 Not how Joseph gives God the praise in everything he does. He praises the name of the Lord for giving him his two sons.
		O that we would develop this mindset where God is praised for everything that is  done in these mortal bodies.
		Israel blesses the younger Ephraim and not Manaseh the elder.
		48:22 Even when Israel is about to die he still gives chosen a greater portion than his brethren.

gen 47

Question	Answer	Note---10-02-2016
		Joseph presents his brothers to Pharoah but not before putting words in their mouth.
		47:6 It seems that Joseph knew Pharoah well, that he would make an offer to employ the brother’s of Joseph, and this is not what Joseph had wanted.
		Jacob says that compared to the age of his father, he is young.
Which is worse death of slavery?	During the peak of the famine Jacob and his entire family is nourished.  They inherit the best of the land, for their cattle during a time of little.	Although the children of Israel eventually went into slavery, it is not to be overlooked that they were very blessed.
How is it that the land is experiencing famine and yet the people have cattle?	It seems that they were not much on meat eating back then, but this seems to raise other questions?
If they were not big on eating the meat of animals, why did they raise livestock, like sheep and goats.	It is understood that Cows were very useful and valuable, because the cows, helped to play, and to carry load and the hide was used for covering, and their meat for sacrifice, milk, etc, However the need for goats is not so clear. The sheep would have been kept for their wool.
		47:16 The people have no more money, and cry unto joseph for food.
		47:22These were the Egyptian priests, since the Levitical priesthood had not yet been estazblished.
What is the definition of famine? What is the nature of this famine? How is it that Joseph offers seed for them to sow, yet there is a famine?	It seems that the famine is about to end, or there is some other psychology at play. Note that the seed was not offered to plant previously.	47:23 20% tax on the people levied, and they agreed
		47:29 Note that Jacob asks joseph to put his hand on his thigh, in the same way that the servant of Abraham had put his hand on his thigh. This was definitely a way of making a covenant in those days.
Why was it important thtat Jacob should not be buried in the land of Egypt?	Maybe it has to do with the memprial of him. He probably wanted his descendants to know his tomb and fondly remember him along with the other patriachs (Abraham and Isaac).	47:30 Jacob’s dting request is not to be buried in the land of Egypt.

GEN 46

Question	Answer	Note---10-02-2016
		Jacob is on his way to Egypt when God appears to him in a dream.
Why are the two names used here? God usually addresses Jacob as Israel, how come in the dream he is called Jacob?
		46:4 Here God promises Jacob that while he goes into Egypt with him, God will take his people out of Egypt. The promise seems personal but it is actually generic and meant for all of Israel’s descendants.
		46:5-7 This description is so picturesque. This is the second time Jacob is leaving Canaan, and the second time he gathers his entire offspring and moves with them.
Joseph		46:29 Joseph is so anxious to see his father that he does not wait until  he (the father) comes to meet him in the palace but instead goes to meet him in Goshen.
Joseph seems to be a man of tears, one who is easily moved. Is it because he was spoiled as a young man that this is so?
Why does Joseph instruct his brothers to tell the Egyptians that they are shepherd, knowing that the Egyptians would avoid them.
Was it not enough that they were already separated living in Goshen?
Does Joseph give such instruction because he wants them to be forever separate and not intermingle with the Egyptians?

GEN 45

		As joseph recounts his experience from being sold, his hatred, his sadness, his love for family is caught in turmoil in his heart, and he cannot truly express one or the other, so he just cries.  His actions here say way more than his words ever could.
		So, joseph cannot refrain himself from crying out loud. He is totally overwhelmed with emotion and cries to the extent that the men on the outside of the house could hear and identify that it was Joseph that was crying. This must have been a response which was out of his control.
		45:5-7 Joseph finally understands and explains to his brethren that God sent him to Egypt to preserve the life of his family.
		The brothers at first could not recognize joseph because he looked like an Egyptian.
		45:8 Joseph confirms that he has the power of pharaoh.
		45:9 In this verse Joseph does not order the brothers to explain to their father, that they were the ones who sold him into slaver into Egypt. Instead just gives the order for Israel to come to Egypt because he has sustenance enough to provide for him and his family. Joseph is accepting that it was God who caused him to be sold into slavery into Egypt.
		45:16-24 Note that Pharaoh is pleased to entertain the brethren of Joseph. He invites them in and offers the good of the land to them.
		Jacob purposes in his heart to see Joseph before he dies.