Genesis 50 illustrates Jesus' forgiveness process before Jesus' birth (Note: Yeshua)

 Genesis 50, NIV emphasis in blue and green, my comments in yellow

Note: In early 2024 I learned his mom and dad in Nazareth named and called him "Yeshua", and "Jesus" is a consequence of translations from Aramaic/Hebrew to Greek, to Latin, to old English then to Protestant English. "Christ" supports Paul, and some people believe Paul without civic objection. This discovery is wonderful and to be shared.

[I read the Bible to consider the perhaps 5500 year old Sumerian political philosophy. It’s partially expressed by Hebrew scholars 3000 years ago in Genesis 1:26-28:  Female& male-human-being may and can, independent of other entities, choose to constrain political chaos on earth. In other words, on earth, humankind has the power to pursue the good. Jesus affirmed this idea in Matthew 19:3-8, in Matthew 5:48, and in other dialogue. I think the next Bible canon should include the law codes of Sumer and competing civilizations. Resulting insights would take the heat off Judeo-Christianity, a Messiah vs Christ conflict that egregiously deludes Jesus’ civic influence. The broader view could accelerate collaborative pursuit of human being (verb) and lessen baby killing.]

^50:1 Joseph threw himself on his father and wept over him and kissed him. ² Then Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. So the physicians embalmed him, ³ taking a full forty days, for that was the time required for embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.

⁴ When the days of mourning had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s court, “If I have found favor in your eyes, speak to Pharaoh for me. Tell him, ⁵ ‘My father made me swear an oath and said, “I am about to die; bury me in the tomb I dug for myself in the land of Canaan.” Now let me go up and bury my father; then I will return.’”

⁶ Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear to do.”

⁷ So Joseph went up to bury his father. All Pharaoh’s officials accompanied him—the dignitaries of his court and all the dignitaries of Egypt— ⁸ besides all the members of Joseph’s household and his brothers  [See Note 1, below.] and those belonging to his father’s household. Only their children and their flocks and herds were left in Goshen [land south of Alexandria, Egypt, where the Israelites settled]. [I oppose this ancient disregard for children upon the passing of their grandparent.] ⁹ Chariots and horsemen also went up with him. It was a very large company.

¹⁰ When they reached the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan, they lamented loudly and bitterly; and there Joseph observed a seven-day period of mourning for his father. ¹¹ When the Canaanites who lived there saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “The Egyptians are holding a solemn ceremony of mourning.” That is why that place near the Jordan is called Abel Mizraim [mourning of the Egyptians],

¹² So Jacob’s sons [They were sons of 4 wives.] did as he had commanded them: ¹³ They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite [the Hittites were Indo-European speaking people rather than Semitic speaking people. I guess they could have been early anti-Semites.]. ¹⁴ After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, together with his brothers and all the others who had gone with him to bury his father.

Joseph Reassures His Brothers

¹⁵ When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” ¹⁶ So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: ¹⁷ ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father. [Because they expressed humility to Jacob and his God, I would accept the apology and in the future alert them if I noticed any subsequent bad behavior. I think this is Jesus’ formula for civic forgiveness: opine a wrong, discuss it, reach an assessment, the offender makes amends and reforms. One party can make a mistake and start the process over.]” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.

¹⁸ His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said.

¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? [Genesis 1:26-28 does not suggest fearing God, unless the person does not want to pursue human being (verb)] ²⁰ You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. ²¹ So then, don’t be afraid [Jesus might say:  You, like Joseph, are gods facing death (John 10:34) but you have not accepted your power to pursue the good]. I will provide for you and your children.” [An opportunity-usurpation I do not think Jesus would propose.] And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

The Death of Joseph

²² Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with all his father’s family. He lived a hundred and ten years ²³ and saw the third generation of Ephraim’s children. Also the children of Makir son of Manasseh were placed at birth on Joseph’s knees. [No tribe of Israel is named for Joseph, but both his sons founded tribes.]

²⁴ Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. [This ancient Israeli claim cannot be held as ineluctable truth: No one, ancient, old, current, or future knows either theGod’s will or plan or the ultimate good humankind may and can attain.]” ²⁵ And Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath and said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.” [James 5:12 advises against taking oaths.]

²⁶ So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

[Note 1: I asked Nomads Sunday school class if Jacob’s 12 sons headed the 12 tribes of Israel, and heard a casual “Yes”. I studied the question and found a sticky red-ant-hill. My study goes from Genesis 29 and 30 to Ezekiel 47 and 48 and more.

Wikipedia’s article “Documentary Hypothesis” informs us “the Pentateuch is a compilation of four originally independent documents: the Jahwist (J), Elohist (E), Deuteronomist (D), and Priestly (P) sources”, from 10^th, 9^th, 7^th, and 5^th centuries BCE, respectively. The story of the tribes is built on these revisions of text.]