Is there any evidence that Genesis chapter 50 once contained more verses beyond verse 26?

Question

The following is from a recent answer on CSE:

First, to show how the Book of Mormon and the Bible are related: The Bible originally contained a prophecy of Joseph, that some of his descendants would write a book that would eliminate the confusion arising from the redactions to the Bible:

And again, a seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins, and unto him will I give power to bring forth my word unto the seed of thy loins; and not to the bringing forth of my word only, saith the Lord, but to the convincing them of my word, which shall have already gone forth among them in the last days; Wherefore the fruit of thy loins shall write, and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together unto the confounding of false doctrines, and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to a knowledge of their fathers in the latter days; and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord. (Genesis 50:30-31, JST)

Is there any evidence whatsoever that could lend credence to the claim that Genesis chapter 50 may not have always ended at verse 26 but, rather, once contained the above?

Answer 1

The simple and clear answer is: "Genesis ends where it ends (at vs. 26)

The Proof within the Hebrew Text

The Hebrew text we have is based on the Lenigrad Codex. That codex ends with these words:

In our electronic texts, they read: ”וַיָּ֣מָת יוֹסֵ֔ף בֶּן־מֵאָ֥ה וָעֶ֖שֶׂר שָׁנִ֑ים וַיַּחַנְט֣וּ אֹת֔וֹ וַיִּ֥ישֶׂם בָּאָר֖וֹן בְּמִצְרָֽיִם׃“ (Genesis 50:26 BHS-T)

Translation: "And Joseph died, a son of 110 years, and they embalmed him, and placed [him] in a box in Egypt."

The reason the picture is useful is that it gives us the "parashot" markings (the text delimitations, paragraphs, etc.). Here we find the ending markers at the end of the book. We also note that there are no extra words at the end of the text (before we move into the next book).

Finally, when it comes to the Hebrew texts, all of them end this way.

Versional support

All of the non-Hebrew versions end the same way:

• “καὶ ἐτελεύτησεν Ἰωσὴφ ἐτῶν ἑκατὸν δέκα· καὶ ἔθαψαν αὐτὸν καὶ ἔθηκαν ἐν τῇ σορῷ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ.” (Genesis 50:26 LXXS-T) ("And Joseph ended, 110 years, and they buried him and placed [him] in the coffin/bier in Egypt."
• “mortuus est expletis centum decem vitae suae annis et conditus aromatibus repositus est in loculo in Aegypto” (Genesis 50:25 VULG-T) ("He died, after 110 of the years of his own life were completed. And, having been buried, they prepared him with spices in a coffin in Egypt."
• ”ܘܡܝܬ ܝܘܣܦ ܒܪ ܡܐܐ ܘܥܣܪ̈ ܫܢܝ̈ܢ. ܘܚܢܛܘܗܝ ܘܣܡܘܗܝ ܒܕܘܦܢܐ ܒܡܨܪܝܢ. ܀“ (Genesis 50:26 PESHOT-T) ("And Joseph died, a son of 100 and 10 years. And they embalmed him and place him in a coffin in Egypt."

All of the versions contain the same thoughts. And they all end at the same place.

The burden of proof

With all this in mind, the burden of proof lies with those on the Mormon side of the fence to produce evidence that every Hebrew Manuscript and all the versions are incorrect.

Answer 2

The last verses in Bible books almost always stress key events, Spiritual statements, and demands, messages, and summaries. You can find them in the article The Last Verse of Every Book in the Bible.

Genesis 50:26 merely shows Joseph died at the age of 110 and was put in a coffin. Genesis 50:26 has to be read with Genesis 50:22.

Genesis 50:22 shows Joseph “lived” 110 years. Genesis 50:26, that last verse, shows Joseph died at the “age” of 110.

Very few readers recall that Joseph lived 110 years. Is that important enough to “repeat” 4 verses later? It makes some readers wonder about other characters/people in Genesis and learn that no one else in Genesis has his/her total years shown more than once. The author does it only with Joseph, and only via using specifically Genesis 50:26, that last verse. One theory is that the author is conveying that human “life” starts at conception, but “age” starts at birth. In that case, the total years could both be 110. That theory led to finding a lot of “numerical signs”, which prove nothing. What the nine signs did do though was help answer three unresolved math enigmas. The only way to (find the final six signs and) solve the three math enigmas is by applying the belief that fatherhood, motherhood, and “life”/childhood start simultaneously at conception. Also, “age” and “years old” begin at birth. The three enigmas could not have been solved prior to about 1970 AD when science discovered “life” begins at conception. We’d been misinterpreting Genesis’ “life” and assuming it starts at birth, causing calculations to be off by one.

There was an unresolved question I posted, along with two others I sought and found. Frankly, I also posted the answer members happened to appreciate most.

Q: How can the 3 Questions be resolved with the math still correct?

A: Only by applying the belief that fatherhood and childhood/"life" begin together at conception.

Otherwise, the math won't work. Genesis 50:26, where and as it is, helps convey Genesis supports ProLife.