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And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company.

A very great company. — This was for the honour of Jacob at his death, whose greatest care had been to honour God in his whole life.

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10. they came to the threshing-floor of Atad, &c.--"Atad" may be taken as a common noun, signifying "the plain of the thorn bushes." It was on the border between Egypt and Canaan; and as the last opportunity of indulging grief was always the most violent, the Egyptians made a prolonged halt at this spot, while the family of Jacob probably proceeded by themselves to the place of sepulture.

The threshing-floor of Atad - As אטד atad signifies a bramble or thorn, it has been understood by the Arabic, not as a man's name, but as the name of a place; but all the other versions and the Targums consider it as the name of a man. Threshing-floors were always in a field, in the open air; and Atad was probably what we would call a great farmer or chief of some clan or tribe in that place. Jerome supposed the place to have been about two leagues from Jericho; but we have no certain information on this point. The funeral procession stopped here, probably as affording pasturage to their cattle while they observed the seven days' mourning which terminated the funeral solemnities, after which nothing remained but the interment of the corpse. The mourning of the ancient Hebrews was usually of seven days' continuance, Numbers 19:19; 1 Samuel 31:13; though on certain occasions it was extended to thirty days, Numbers 20:29; Deuteronomy 21:13; Deuteronomy 34:8, but never longer. The seventy days' mourning mentioned above was that of the Egyptians, and was rendered necessary by the long process of embalming, which obliged them to keep the body out of the grave for seventy days, as we learn both from Herodotus and Diodorus. Seven days by the order of God a man was to mourn for his dead, because during that time he was considered as unclean; but when those were finished he was to purify himself, and consider the mourning as ended; Numbers 19:11, Numbers 19:19. Thus God gave seven days, in some cases thirty, to mourn in: man, ever in his own estimation wiser than the word of God, has added eleven whole months to the term, which nature itself pronounces to be absurd, because it is incapable of supporting grief for such a time; and thus mourning is now, except in the first seven or thirty days, a mere solemn ill-conducted Farce, a grave mimicry, a vain show, that convicts itself of its own hypocrisy. Who will rise up on the side of God and common sense, and restore becoming sorrow on the death of a relative to decency of garb and moderation in its continuance? Suppose the near relatives of the deceased were to be allowed seven days of seclusion from society, for the purpose of meditating on death and eternity, and after this to appear in a mourning habit for thirty days; every important end would be accomplished, and hypocrisy, the too common attendant of man, be banished, especially from that part of his life in which deep sincerity is not less becoming than in the most solemn act of his religious intercourse with God.

In a kind of politico-religious institution formed by his late majesty Ferdinand IV., king of Naples and the Sicilies, I find the following rational institute relative to this point: "There shall be no mourning among you but only on the death of a father, mother, husband, or wife. To render to these the last duties of affection, children, wives, and husbands only shall be permitted to wear a sign or emblem of grief: a man may wear a crape tied round his right arm; a woman, a black handkerchief around her neck; and this in both cases for only two months at the most." Is there a purpose which religion, reason, or decency can demand that would not be answered by such external mourning as this? Only such relatives as the above, brothers and sisters being included, can mourn; all others make only a part of the dumb hypocritical show.

And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad,.... Which was either the name of a man the owner of it, or of a place so called from the thorns and brambles which grew here, and with which the threshingfloor was surrounded, as Jarchi says, see Jdg 9:14 and it was usual to make a hedge of thorns round about a threshingfloor (o), that it might be preserved; mention is made in the Talmud (p) of the wilderness of Atad, perhaps so called from the thorns and brambles in it: Jerom says (q) it was three miles from Jericho and two from Jordan, and was in his time called Bethagla, the place of a circuit, because there they went about after the manner of mourners at the funeral of Jacob. This, according to some (r), was two hundred and forty miles from On, where Joseph was supposed to live, sixteen from Jerusalem, and forty from Hebron, where Jacob was buried: nay, Austin (s) says it was above fifty miles from that place, as affirmed by those who well knew those parts: which is beyond Jordan; as it was to those that came out of Egypt: and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation; being now entered into the country where the corpse was to be interred; and perhaps they might choose to stop here and express tokens of mourning, that the inhabitants might be apprised of their design in coming, which was not to invade them and make war upon them, only to bury their dead: this mourning seems to be made chiefly by the Egyptians, which was done in an external way, and it may be by persons brought with them for that purpose; since both the name of the place after given was from their mourning there, and the mourning of Joseph is next observed as distinct from theirs: and he made a mourning for his father seven days; which was the time of mourning, afterwards observed by the Jews, see Sa1 31:13, this Joseph ordered and observed after he had buried his father, as Aben Ezra says, is affirmed by their ancient Rabbins, and perhaps might be at this same place upon their return. (o) T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 13. 1. & Gloss. in ib. Aruch in voc. fol. 39. 4. (p) T. Hieros. Nedarim, fol. 40. 1. (q) De locis Heb. fol. 87. G. (r) Bunting's Travels, p. 79, 80. (s) Quaest. is Gen. l. 1. p. 54. "inter opera ejus", tom. 4.

Atad, a man so called; or, of thorn, or thorns, as the word signifies, Judges 9:14 Psalm 58:9. So it might be a place either abounding or encompassed with thorns.

Beyond, or on this side; for the word signifies both, and it may be taken either way here; the one in respect of Egypt, the other in regard of the place in which Moses wrote. It is certain they fetched a great compass, whether for the commodiousness of the way for their chariots, and for conveniences for so great a company, or to prevent all jealousies in the people, as if they came thither with ill design, is not material.

There they mourned, because there was the entrance into that country or territory where he was to be buried. Though the Egyptians were not much grieved nor concerned for Jacob’s death, yet they used bitter cries and lamentations, which possibly were made or aggravated by persons hired and used upon such occasions. See Jeremiah 9:17.

Seven days, according to the custom. See 1 Samuel 31:13.

Verse 10. - And they came to the threshing-floor of Atad. The threshing-floor, or goren, was a large open circular area which was used for trampling out the corn by means of oxen, and was exceedingly convenient for the accommodation of a large body of people such as accompanied Joseph. The goren at which the funeral party halted was named Atad (i.e. Buckthorn), either from the name of the owner, or from the quantity of buck-thorn which grew in the neighborhood. Which is beyond Jordan - literally, on the other side of the Jordan, i.e. west side, if the narrator wrote from his own standpoint (Jerome, Drusius, Ainsworth, Kalisch, 'Speaker's Commentary,' Wordsworth, et alii), in which case the funeral train would in all probability follow the direct route through the country of the Philistines, and Goren Atad would be situated somewhere south of Hebron, in the territory (afterwards) of Judah; but east side of the river if the phrase must be interpreted from the standpoint of Palestine (Clericus, Rosenmüller, Hengstenberg, Kurtz, Keil, Lange, Gerlach, Havernick, Murphy, and others), in which case the burial procession must have journeyed by the wilderness, as the Israelites on a latter occasion did, and probably for not dissimilar reasons. In favor of the former interpretation may be claimed ver. 11, which says the Canaanites beheld the mourning, implying seemingly that it occurred within the borders of Canaan, i.e. on the west of the Jordan; while support for the latter is derived from ver. 13, which appears to state that after the lamentation at Goren Atad the sons of Jacob carried him into Canaan, almost necessarily involving the inference that Goren Atad was on the east of the Jordan; but vide infra. If the former is correct, Goren Atad was probably the place which Jerome calls Betagla tertio ab Hiericho lapide, duobus millibus ab Jordane; if the latter is correct, it does not prove a post-Mosaic authorship (Tuch, Bohlen, &c.), since the phrase appears to have had an ideal usage with reference to Canaan in addition to the objective geographical one (Hengstenberg 'On the Genuineness of the Pentateuch,' vol. 2. p. 260; Keil's 'Introduction,' vol. 1. p. 189; Kalisch 'On Genesis,' p. 776). And there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation. The Egyptians were exceedingly demonstrative and vehement in their public lamentations for the dead, rending their garments, smiting on their breasts, throwing dust and mud on their heads, calling on the deceased by name, and chanting funeral dirges to the music of a tambourine with the tinkling plates removed (Wilkinson's 'Ancient Egyptians,' vol. 3. p. 440, ed. 1878). And he made a mourning for his father seven days. This was a special mourning before interment (cf. Ecclus. 22:11).

(10) Threshingfloor of Atad.—Atad means “a thorn-bush,” the rhamnus paliurus of Linnaeus, translated “bramble” in Judges 9:14. As agriculture was only beginning to be practised in Canaan, this threshing. floor would be common property, situated in some place easy of access, and probably a village would grow up near it.

Beyond Jordan.—It is disputed whether this means on the east or on the west of the Jordan. It is certain that the route taken by Joseph lay to the east of the Dead Sea; for Goren-Atad is placed by Jerome at Beth-Hoglah, which lay between the Jordan and Jericho, and Joseph could have gone thither only by travelling through the territories of Moab and Amnion. This may seem a long detour, but, as may be seen in the Excursus on the Expedition of Chedorlaomer, the route through the wilderness of Judah was very difficult; and though the western shore of the Dead Sea was practicable as far as Engedi, it was necessary there to ascend a mountain-path so steep that a few Amorites might have guarded it against any number of invaders; and probably it was absolutely impracticable for chariots. It would have been easy, however, to reach Hebron through the Philistine country; but it is remarkable that we find hostilities going on between the descendants of Joseph and the Philistines (1Chronicles 7:21); and if raids were of common occurrence between the Semitic clans in Goshen and the Philistines, Joseph would not expose his father’s remains to the danger of an attack. Possibly they may even have refused their consent, and hence the attack upon them by Ephraim’s sons. On the other hand, the sons of Esau would show great respect to the body of their uncle—(Jewish tradition makes even the sons of Ishmael and of Keturah take part in the mourning)—and moreover they had not yet attained to any great power; and we gather from Esau’s march through the lands on the west of the Dead Sea (Genesis 32:6) that the natives there were too few and feeble to resist the chariots and horsemen which formed the escort. While therefore “beyond Jordan” would naturally mean “on the east of Jordan,” it may here express the fact that Joseph had just crossed the Jordan when the lamentation was made. The only other tenable explanation is that Goren-Atad was really on the eastern bank of the Jordan, and that though Beth-Hoglah was the nearest village, the two were not identical. It would be natural to make the solemn seven days’ mourning, either when just about to enter the Canaanite territory or at the tomb.

10. the threshing-floor of Atad] Goren-ha-Atad, a threshing-floor of “the thornbush,” or “bramble” (Jdg 9:14-15). The place is nowhere else referred to.

beyond Jordan] By this expression is generally meant “on the east side of Jordan.” If so, we must suppose that for some reason the burial company leaving Egypt travelled round the southern extremity of the Dead Sea. But this appears extremely improbable. The traditional burial-place of Jacob was at Machpelah. No Israelite could suppose that, even for the purpose of doing honour to Jacob, it would have been necessary to go round into trans-Jordanic territory. Winckler conjectures that the original reading was “on the other side of the river” (viz. “the River of Egypt,” or ‘El-Arîsh, the boundary of Egypt and Canaan, cf. Numbers 34:5; 1 Kings 8:65), and that this was carelessly altered by the error of a scribe to the more familiar phrase “beyond Jordan.” Whether this conjecture be accepted or not, the present text is unintelligible. It is very unlikely that any legend would have arisen connecting Jacob’s burial-place with the eastern bank of the Jordan.

seven days] See note on Genesis 50:3. “Lamentation” (cf. Genesis 23:2), i.e. the Oriental custom of “wailing” for the dead.