Genesis 50:11 (ASV)

Passage

And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians: wherefore the name of it was called Abel-mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.

Nearby Context

Genesis 50:9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company.

Genesis 50:10 And they came to the threshing-floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and there they lamented with a very great and sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days.

Genesis 50:11 And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians: wherefore the name of it was called Abel-mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.

Genesis 50:12 And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them:

Genesis 50:13 for his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field, for a possession of a burying-place, of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "called", "inhabitants", "land", "canaanites", "mourning", "floor", "atad", and "said". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "called" and "inhabitants", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 10's "And they came to the threshing-floor of..." into verse 12's "And his sons did unto him according...", so "called" and "inhabitants" belong inside that flow. In Genesis context, the local focus is creation, human rebellion, covenant promise, and God's providence.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "called" and "inhabitants" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.