Genesis 50:2

Summary

Genesis 50:2 narrates that Joseph gave a command to two groups — his servants and the physicians — to embalm his father, and that the physicians then carried out the embalming of Israel. The verse uses two parallel narrative verbs framing the command and its execution.

Key words

• yiTzav ("he commanded", H6680) — Piel narrative verb; the intensive stem marks a formal, authoritative directive rather than a simple request.
• 'avaday ("his servants", H5650) — masculine plural noun in construct with the suffix "his", identifying the first group addressed by Joseph.
• roFe'im ("the physicians", H7495) — Qal active participle, masculine plural, with the definite article; a participle here functions as a noun ("those who heal/embalm"), naming a specific professional group.
• chanot ("to embalm", H2590A) — Qal infinitive, expressing the purpose of the command ("in order to embalm").
• yaChantu ("they embalmed", H2590A) — Qal narrative verb, third person plural, reporting the completed action that fulfills the command.

What the text says

The sentence divides into two narrative clauses joined by the vav-consecutive pattern typical of Hebrew storytelling: first va-yiTzav ("and he commanded"), then va-yaChantu ("and they embalmed"). In the first clause, Joseph is the subject, and two objects are marked with 'et ("", H0853): 'avadav ("his servants") and, separately, ha-Rofe'im ("the physicians"). The repetition of the object marker before each noun phrase suggests these are presented as two distinct entities — the servants and the physicians — both objects of the command, followed by the infinitive la-chanot ("to embalm") stating its purpose, with 'et-'aviv ("his father") as the object of the infinitive.

The second clause repeats ha-Rofe'im ("the physicians") as the grammatical subject of the finite verb yaChantu ("they embalmed"), and the object is now 'et-Yisra'el ("Israel"), using the patriarch's covenantal name rather than "father" as in the first clause. This shift from 'avi ("my/his father") to Yisra'el is a feature of the Hebrew text's naming pattern, not something the grammar itself explains.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the two Hebrew nouns 'avadav ("his servants") and ha-Rofe'im ("the physicians") as a single appositional phrase, τοῖς παισὶν αὐτοῦ τοῖς ἐνταφιασταῖς ("to his servants, the embalmers"), treating "servants" and "physicians/embalmers" as one identified group rather than two separate objects marked independently as in the Hebrew. The Vulgate text given, "Præcepitque servis suis medicis ut aromatibus condirent patrem," similarly merges "servants" and "physicians" into one phrase ("servis suis medicis") and does not include a second clause repeating the embalming action upon "Israel" as the Hebrew and LXX do.