The passage for translation today is actually three-fold. The first passage is in Exodus 13:19
Exodus 13:19 (New King James Version)
19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, "God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you."
By Roy B. Blizzard
The passage for translation today is actually three-fold. The first passage is in Exodus 13:19
Exodus 13:19 (New King James Version)
19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, "God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you."
Translation:
And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because he had sworn an oath to the children of Israel saying, "Elohim will surely remember you and you will take up my bones with you from here."
Oaths play a very important role in the Biblical text and in the history of ancient Israel. In Exodus 20, one of the Ten Commandments is translated in English, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain."
However, in Hebrew it says, "You will not carry or take up the name of the Lord your God in vain for God will not hold guiltless anyone who takes His name in vain. In Hebrew, the word vain is "lashav" and it has nothing to do with the use of profanity or cursing.
Profanity can be defined as the feeble attempt on the part of the uneducated mind to express itself forcefully. But, in this passage, the word "lashav" is best translated "falsely."
One premier Talmudic scholar, Saadiah Gaon (882-942 CE) said one may not take an oath using God’s name for any purpose. A vain oath is either an oath taken regarding an obvious fact or one that has no purpose at all. Taking a false oath or an oath in vain is regarded as a serious violation of this commandment.
Swearing an oath actually involves the creation of a sanctified relationship. In our passage in Exodus 13:19, Moses swore an oath, i.e., a sanctified relationship between Joseph, himself and the children of Israel, that they would surely bring up with them the bones of Joseph for burial in the promised land.
And, the question is – Did this happen?
At Hebron, Abraham purchased a cave, the cave of Machpelah, for his and his family’s burial. In our last passage, you will remember that we discussed the burial of Rachel. When one visits the Cave of Machpelah today, there is a separate section where a cenotaph, i.e., a burial marker for Joseph is seen. However, was Joseph buried in the Cave of Machpelah?
For many years there have been two tombs for Joseph shown to tourists in the land of Israel: One to the north at Shechem and the other at the Cave of Machpelah. If one turns to Joshua 14:32, it says, "and the bones of Joseph, the children of Israel brought up from Egypt they buried in Shechem."
The point of these passages is that the children of Israel considered this oath regarding the bones of Joseph to be a sacred covenant between them and God. And, so they fulfilled their oath and Joseph was buried at Shechem. The cenotaph of Joseph at Machpelah is simply a tradition for those paying homage to the patriarchal family to be able to pay homage to Joseph as well without having to journey all the way to Shechem far to the north.
The point of it all is the Bible considers an oath as a relationship not only between two people but in a sense with God as well. The moral of this story is, (1) do not swear an oath or make a commitment to do something lightly and, (2) if you do, make sure you carry it out.
Gated door to the room where Joseph’s cenotaph is located at Hebron.
Drapery over Joseph’s cenotaph at Hebron.
