Joseph’s Lovely Bones

Joseph’s Lovely Bones

Rabbi Yehudah ben Shomeyr

Ever since I was a child mummies and skeletons have always fascinated me. Well, what little boy doesn’t like bones and mummies!? Though I am a Rabbi and not a Mortician or Medical Examiner I am still fascinated with human remains. It’s the first place I look for at museums. There is something awe inspiring to gaze upon the remains of a real person who lived hundreds or thousands of years before you and they are still here.

Possibly one of the most famous Jewish mummies, besides Jacob who was mummified by the Egyptians (Gen. 50), was Joseph.

The following is the account of Joseph’s bones according to Scriptural and extra-Scriptural texts:

Gen. 50:24-26 (KJV)And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence. So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

Jasher 59:21-28 And when the days of Joseph drew nigh that he should die, he sent and called for his brethren and all his father's household, and they all came together and sat before him.  And Joseph said unto his brethren and unto the whole of his father's household, Behold I die, and God will surely visit you and bring you up from this land to the land which he swore to your fathers to give unto them.  And it shall be when God shall visit you to bring you up from here to the land of your fathers, then bring up my bones with you from here.  And Joseph made the sons of Israel to swear for their seed after them, saying, God will surely visit you and you shall bring up my bones with you from here.  And it came to pass after this that Joseph died in that year, the seventy-first year of the Israelites going down to Egypt.  And Joseph was one hundred and ten years old when he died in the land of Egypt, and all his brethren and all his servants rose up and they embalmed Joseph, as was their custom, and his brethren and all Egypt mourned over him for seventy days.  And they put Joseph in a coffin filled with spices and all sorts of perfume, and they buried him by the side of the river, that is Sihor, and his sons and all his brethren, and the whole of his father's household made a seven day's mourning for him.  And it came to pass after the death of Joseph, all the Egyptians began in those days to rule over the children of Israel, and Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who reigned in his father's stead, took all the laws of Egypt and conducted the whole government of Egypt under his counsel, and he reigned securely over his people.

Exodus 13:19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.

Jasher 80:62-63 And Moses hastened and rose up and went to the river of Egypt, and brought up from thence the coffin of Joseph and took it with him.  The children of Israel also brought up, each man his father's coffin with him, and each man the coffins of his tribe.

Testament of Joseph 2:80-84 But ye shall carry up my bones with you; for when my bones are being taken up thither, the Lord shall be with you in light, and Beliar shall be in darkness with the Egyptians. And carry ye up Asenath your mother to the Hippodrome, and near Rachel your mother bury her. And when he had said these things he stretched out his feet, and died at a good old age. And all Israel mourned for him, and all Egypt, with a great mourning. And when the children of Israel went out of Egypt, they took with them the bones of Joseph, and they buried him in Hebron with his fathers, and the years of his life were one hundred and ten years.
Hebrews 11:22 By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.

Now here is what the Torah says in regards to the effect of human remains:

Numbers 19:16-19 And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days. And for an unclean person they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel: And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave: And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even.
Leviticus 21:1-3 And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people: But for his kin, that is near unto him, that is, for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother. And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him, which hath had no husband; for her may he be defiled.

“Become a dreamer like me. Come here to gather up my bones. Carry them like compass of vision through the long years in the desert.” – Judith Schmidt, “Joseph’s Bones”

The Talmud Tractate Sotah says that when Moses came to retrieve Joseph’s Bones and Moses declared unto them that it was time to journey to the Promised Land, that the coffin Joseph lay in shook!

Like a divining rod pointing to water, Joseph, the last vestige and direct link to the Patriarchs and the Patriarchal promise YHWH gave to them, being the possession of the Promised Land. Joseph’s bones are portrayed in the modern Midrash mentioned above by Judith Schmidt. Joseph’s bones is like a compass, an ancient GPS navigational tool that always pointed the way to the Promised Land that the Children of Israel was destine to posses.

It says Moses took the bones, meaning most likely that his house, his kin, his clan, the Kohathites of the Tribe of Levi, whose responsibility it was to care for and bear the most holy sacred Ark of the Covenant along with the other holy pieces of furniture also carried Joseph’s bones.

Numbers 19:16-19 And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days. And for an unclean person they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel: And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave: And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even.

Little is known about those who carried Joseph’s bones because little information is presented in the Biblical narrative and so we must extrapolate such conclusions by other information available to us, such as the extra-biblical and rabbinical texts as well as taking into consideration various laws, customs and traditions of the Jewish people.

Seeing as those who most likely carried the Ark were the Levitical Kohathites, such a responsibility would be seen as a blessing and a burden. A blessing in that it must have been considered such a privilege to carry the bones of the beloved Patriarch, but a burden in that it puts one in s state of ritual uncleanness which required particular days of sacrifices and washings to return one to a ritually pure state so as to be able to participate in the task imbued to the priests of the Tabernacle. This likely being the case, we can safely deduce that just as there was an established rotation of priestly service (Luke 1) that there too was likely a rotation among the Kohathites on who carried the Ark, Menorah, the Altars and finally Joseph’s bones so that all had the privilege to experience carrying the Patriarchs bones and becoming unclean for a most holy and noble reason. In Judaism it is considered a great mitzvah to care for the dead because it is a good deed in which the recipient cannot repay. Matter of fact, there are Jewish Burial Societies (Chevra Kadisha) dedicated to this holy task.

Leviticus 21:1-3 And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people: But for his kin, that is near unto him, that is, for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother. And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him, which hath had no husband; for her may he be defiled.

Legends of the Bible compiled by Louis Ginzberg says regarding the caretaking of Joseph’s bones:

“During the 40 years of wandering through the desert, the coffin was in the midst of Israel, as a reward for Joseph’s promise to his brethren, “I will nourish you and take care of you.” God had said, “As thou livest, for 40 years they will take care of thy bones.”

All this time in the desert Israel carried two shrines with them, the one the coffin containing the bones of the dead man Joseph, the other the Ark containing the Covenant of the Living God. The wayfarers who saw the two receptacles wondered and they would ask, “How doth the Ark of the dead come next to the Ark of the Ever-Living?” The answer was, “The dead man enshrined in the one fulfilled the commandments enshrined in the other.””

In the Talmud Tractate Sotah Joseph’s bones was like a protection against Ishmael and Esau’s kin who desired to fight Israel.

“They all came to wage war; but when they saw Joseph’s crown hanging upon Jacob’s coffin they all took their crowns and hung them upon Jacob’s coffin… 63 crowns were hung upon Jacob’s coffin.”

Upon further mussing one may wonder where was Joseph’s casket put when Israel stopped to set up camp? Legends of the Bible says it was put in the “midst” of Israel. What was in the midst of the camp? The Tabernacle. Could it be that within the center of camp surrounded by the Levitical clans they erected a special tent in which to rest Joseph’s bones?

Joseph’s bones were like an ancient seed with an ancient promise locked inside and when Israel finally made it to the Promised Land they buried him and then all Israel (Land and People) sprung to life.

Jill Hammer in her book, “The Jewish Book of Days” said:

“The story of Joseph bones… the descent into the grave and the rising to new life. Isaiah (66:14) states: “Your bones will flower like new grass.” Surely this verse must refer to Joseph.”

The journey of Jospeh’s bones ends with Joshua.

Joshua 24:31-32 And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the LORD, that he had done for Israel. And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.

What is recognized today as Joseph’s Tomb is located in Palestinian occupied West Bank city of Nablus.

“Some archeologists believe that the site is only a few centuries old and may contain the remains of a Muslim sheikh named Yossef….

When violent clashes between Israelis and Palestinians began in the West Bank in October 2000, six Palestinians and one Israeli were killed in fighting around the tomb. The Israeli army subsequently agreed to withdraw on October 7 and turn over control of the site to the Palestinian police, who were supposed to guard it. Instead, the Palestinian Police stood by as a mob ransacked the site, burned books and destroyed reading stands; the mob also burned down the army outpost. On that same day, an American-born rabbi, who taught at the seminary, was found slain outside Nablus.
The Mayor of Nablus, Ghassan Shakaa, said that the site would be repaired. Workers were seen fixing the damage, however, they were also painting the top of the dome green - the color of Islam. Workers say that they want to return the shrine to its former appearance before 1967, but news reports indicated the Palestinians were planning to build a mosque on the spot.
For Israelis, the destruction of a Jewish shrine raised serious doubts as to whether the Palestinian Authority would protect religious sites belonging to Jews and Christians and guarantee access to them. Israel guarantees access to all holy places under their control according to 1967 Law for the protection of the holy places.” -- http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/joetomb.html

The future of Joseph’s bones:

Hebrews 11:22 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment.

According to the Psudopigraphal book, The Testament of Joseph, he prophecies of Israel’s enslavement and Exodus and has faith that his bones would one day rest in the Promised Land

I Thess. 4:16-18 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
I Cor. 15:20-22 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

One day upon Messiah ben Joseph’s return, Joseph’s coffin will shake again and those bones will rattle, connect and be robed in resurrected incorruptible flesh as in Ezekiel 37. They will be raised up to life forever more! So too is the future of all who die in the Torah obedient faith Messiah walked and taught.
In museums I gaze at mummies and bones of those who lived so long ago and wonder if I will see them alive again in the World to Come. I may not have seen Joseph’s bones, but I will see Joseph one day when Messiah returns!