Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah

Ibn Ezra on Genesis 50:7/אבן עזרא על בראשית נ׳:ז׳

אויעלו אתו כל עבדי פרעה. כל אנשי מצרים לבד מיוסף עבדי פרעה יקראו:

1AND WITH HIM WENT UP ALL THE SERVANTS OF PHARAOH. All of Egypt with the exception of Joseph are called servants of Pharaoh.⁴. If the aforementioned are elders, why does the Bible refer to them as servants? Hence I.E.’s comment. According to Cherez and Krinsky, I.E. was troubled by the clause all the servants of Pharaoh. If all the servants went along with Joseph to bury Jacob then no servants remained in Egypt to serve Pharaoh. This appears highly unlikely. Hence I.E. points out that all the servants refers to the Egyptians who accompanied Jacob’s body, for all the Egyptians are called Pharaoh’s servants.