Coffin

The coffin appears only once in the Hebrew Bible, in the account of Joseph's death in Egypt: Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt (Genesis 50:26). This is the sole instance in the Old Testament of a specifically Egyptian burial practice — the use of an enclosed wooden or decorated sarcophagus. The Israelites generally did not use coffins; burial in a rock-hewn tomb wrapped in linen cloths was the typical Israelite practice.

The word rendered coffin in Genesis 50:26 is the Hebrew aron, the same word used throughout the Pentateuch for the ark of the covenant, translated differently by context. This linguistic parallel between Joseph's coffin and the covenant ark has occasionally been noted as meaningful: the bones of Joseph — which Israel was commanded to carry out of Egypt at the Exodus (Exodus 13:19) — traveled in an aron, as did the law of God. Joseph's preserved bones were ultimately buried at Shechem (Joshua 24:32), fulfilling his deathbed request.