The Stone of Joseph's Burial and Paul's Allusion
The burial of Joseph, son of Jacob, is not explicitly detailed in the biblical narrative in a way that describes a specific "stone of Joseph's burial." However, the general practice of using stones in burials and as memorials is well-attested in ancient Israelite culture and the broader ancient Near East [1, 2]. Josephus, in his Antiquities of the Jews, recounts the death of Jacob and Joseph, but does not focus on the specifics of Joseph's burial monument [3]. The biblical account of Joseph's death in Genesis 50:26 states that he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt, with his bones later carried by the Israelites to be buried in Shechem (Joshua 24:32). This narrative does not mention a specific stone marking his burial site.
Stones held significant symbolic and practical importance in biblical times. They were used for constructing buildings, marking boundaries, and serving as memorials for important events or individuals [1, 2]. For instance, Jacob set up a stone pillar at Bethel to commemorate his dream (Genesis 28:18) and another over Rachel's grave (Genesis 35:14) [2]. Joshua set up a large stone under an oak near the sanctuary of the Lord as a witness to the covenant made with Israel (Joshua 24:26-27) [1]. Samuel also set up a stone, calling it Ebenezer, to commemorate God's help against the Philistines (1 Samuel 7:12) [1]. Heaps of stones were also piled over the graves of notorious offenders, such as Achan (Joshua 7:26) and Absalom (2 Samuel 18:17) [2]. These examples illustrate the common use of stones to mark significant places or events, including burials.
While there is no direct biblical or historical record of a specific "stone of Joseph's burial," the concept of a significant stone associated with a prominent figure's resting place resonates with the cultural practices of the time. The New Testament, particularly the Gospels, frequently mentions a "great stone" rolled to the entrance of Jesus' tomb [5]. This detail highlights the practical use of stones to seal tombs and the symbolic weight they carried in funerary contexts.
Paul's allusions to stones in his epistles are primarily metaphorical, drawing on Old Testament imagery to convey theological truths. He often refers to Christ as the "cornerstone" or "foundation stone," and believers as "living stones" built into a spiritual house [1, 4]. For example, in 1 Peter 2:4-5, believers are described as "living stones" being built up as a spiritual house, with Christ as the "living stone" rejected by men but chosen by God [1, 4]. This imagery connects to Psalm 118:22 and Isaiah 28:16, which prophesy about a stone that would become the cornerstone [1]. Daniel 2:45 also refers to the Messiah as a "stone cut out of the mountain" [1].
One of Paul's most significant allusions to a "rock" in the Old Testament context appears in 1 Corinthians 10:1-4, where he discusses the experiences of the Israelites in the wilderness: "For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ."
This passage is a crucial example of Paul's interpretive method, where he identifies Old Testament figures and events as types or foreshadowings of Christ and Christian realities. John Calvin, in his Institutes of the Christian Religion, discusses this passage, noting that Paul uses the Israelites' experiences to warn the Corinthians against similar wickedness [7]. Calvin emphasizes that the Lord provided the Israelites with the same mercies and distinguished His grace among them with the same symbols, such as the spiritual food and drink, which Paul identifies with Christ [7]. This interpretation suggests that the rock from which the Israelites drank was not merely a physical rock but a spiritual manifestation of Christ's provision.
The concept of a "spiritual Rock" following the Israelites is rooted in the Old Testament accounts of God providing water from a rock in the wilderness (Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:7-11). While the Old Testament narrative describes a stationary rock, Paul's phrase "the Rock that followed them" has been interpreted in various ways. Some scholars suggest it refers to the continuous presence of God's provision throughout their journey, rather than a literal moving rock. Others, drawing on Jewish traditions, point to rabbinic legends that speak of a miraculous well or rock that accompanied the Israelites [7]. Regardless of the precise origin of the "following rock" imagery, Paul's theological point is clear: Christ was present with and sustained the Israelites in the wilderness, just as He sustains believers in the New Covenant.
Tertullian, an early Church Father, also engaged with the symbolic interpretation of Old Testament events. In Against Marcion, he argues that the events in Jesus' life, including his crucifixion, are symbols of deeper truths [6]. This patristic approach aligns with Paul's method of finding Christological significance in Old Testament narratives, such as the rock in the wilderness. Augustine, another influential Church Father, frequently employed allegorical and typological interpretations of Scripture. In his homilies, he discusses Jacob's vision of a ladder to heaven and the stone at his head, connecting these Old Testament narratives to Christ [8, 9]. This demonstrates a broader patristic tradition of seeing Christ prefigured in various Old Testament "stones" and events.
Paul's use of the "spiritual Rock" in 1 Corinthians 10 serves as a warning against complacency and a reminder of God's judgment on those who, despite receiving divine blessings, fall into sin [7]. He draws a parallel between the Israelites' baptism "into Moses" in the cloud and sea and Christian baptism, and between the spiritual food and drink they consumed and the Christian Eucharist [7]. By identifying the spiritual Rock with Christ, Paul underscores the continuity of God's redemptive plan and the consistent nature of His grace and judgment across covenants.
The absence of a specific "stone of Joseph's burial" in the biblical record does not diminish the broader significance of stones in biblical culture or Paul's metaphorical use of "rock" imagery. Instead, it highlights how Paul, and later Christian interpreters, drew upon the rich symbolism of stones and rocks in the Old Testament to articulate profound theological truths about Christ's person and work. The "Rock" in the wilderness, identified as Christ, exemplifies how Paul reinterprets historical events to reveal their deeper, Christocentric meaning, thereby connecting the Old Covenant experiences of Israel to the New Covenant realities of the Church.
Sources
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Stone — Stones were commonly used for buildings, also as memorials of important events (Gen. 28:18; Josh. 24:26, 27; 1 Sam. 7:12, etc.). They were gathered out of cultivated fields (Isa. 5:2; comp. 2 Kings 3:19). This word is also used figuratively of believers (1 Pet. 2:4, 5), and of the Messiah (Ps. 118:22; Isa. 28:16; Matt. 21:42; Acts 4:11, etc.). In Dan. 2:45 it refers also to the Messiah. He is there described as "cut out of the mountain." (See [611]ROCK.) A "heart of stone" denotes great insensibility (1 Sam. 25:37). Stones were set up to commemorate remarkabl”
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Stones — Besides the ordinary uses to which stones were applied, we may mention that large stones were set up to commemorate any remarkable event. (Genesis 28:18; 35:14; 31:45; Joshua 4:9; 1 Samuel 7:12) Such stones were occasionally consecrated By anointing. (Genesis 28:18) Heaps of stones were piled up on various occasions, as in token of a treaty, (Genesis 31:47) or over the grave of some notorious offender. (Joshua 7:26; 8:29; 2 Samuel 18:17) The "white stone" noticed in (Revelation 2:17) has been variously regarded as referring to the pebble of acquittal used in ”
- Project Gutenberg “Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, CHAPTER 8, section 1: . Of The Death Of Jacob And Joseph.”
- John (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on John 2:21: temple of his body--in which was enshrined the glory of the eternal Word. (See on Joh 1:14). By its resurrection the true Temple of God upon earth was reared up, of which the stone one was but a shadow; so that the allusion is not quite exclusively to Himself, but takes in that Temple of which He is the foundation, and all believers are the "lively stones." (Pe1 2:4-5).”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 6: Augustine — Homilies on the Gospels — CHAP. XXIII.--OF THE QUESTION WHETHER THE FIRST THREE EVANGELISTS ARE QUITE IN HARMONY WITH JOHN IN THE ACCOUNTS GIVEN OF HIS BURIAL. (part 1): 60. Matthew proceeds thus: "And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed."[6] Mark's version is as follows: "And he bought fine linen,[7] and took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen, and laid Him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of ”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 4: Tertullian IV, Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen — CHAP. LXIX. (part 1): But we wish to show that His instantaneous bodily disappearance from the cross was not better fitted to serve the purposes of the whole economy of salvation (than His remaining upon it was). For the mere letter and narrative of the events which happened to Jesus do not present the whole view of the truth. For each one of them can be shown, to those who have an intelligent apprehension of Scripture, to be a symbol of something else. Accordingly, as His crucifixion contains a truth, represented in the words, "I a”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 46: Corinthians from falling into similar wickedness, he begins with premising that they have no ground to claim for themselves any privilege which can exempt them from the divine vengeance which overtook the Jews, since the Lord not only visited them with the same mercies, but also distinguished his grace among them by the same symbols: as if he had said, If you think you are out of danger, because the Baptism which you received, and the Supper of which you daily partake, have excellent promises, and if, in the meantime, despising the”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 6: Augustine — Homilies on the Gospels — ON THE WORDS OF THE GOSPEL, MATT. XXI. 19, WHERE JESUS DRIED UP THE FIG-TREE; AND ON THE WORDS, LUKE XXIV. 28, WHERE HE MADE A PRETENCE AS THOUGH HE WOULD GO FURTHER. (part 8): an Israelite in whom is no guile;" remember Jacob in whom was no guile; and recollect of what he is speaking, the stone at his head, the vision in his sleep, the ladder from earth to heaven, the Angels ascending and descending; and so see what it is that the Lord would say to "the Israelite without guile"); "Verily I say unto you, Ye shall see heaven opened" (hear, thou”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 7: Augustine — Homilies on John — CHAPTER I. 34--51. (part 20): it have been to us if we had remained where He saw us? Should we not be lying there? What is this greater thing ? When have we seen angels ascending and descending upon the Son of man ? 23. Already on a former occasion I have spoken of these ascending and descending angels; but lest you should have forgotten, I shall speak of the latter briefly by way of recalling it to your recollection. I should use more words if I were introducing, not recalling the subject. Jacob saw a ladder in a dream; and on a ladder he saw angels”