It has been a matter of conjecture among commentators why Joseph, at the end of this period of mourning, did not place his request before the king personally, rather than through other courtiers. His reasons for this apparently strange procedure are unknown, but it may have been perfectly normal in his time. Some have suggested that Joseph did so in recognition of the courtiers and to earn their good will. Perhaps the men through whom Joseph addressed the king were priests, and as such directly concerned with the interment of the dead. It is possible that Joseph, having allowed his beard and hair to grow, incident to the customs of mourning, could not enter the king’s presence without first being shaved. The suggestion made by some, that Joseph’s authority had been restricted after the famine, or that another Pharaoh who was less friendly to Joseph had come to the throne, is without foundation. Jacob’s death was mourned by the Egyptians, and this would not have been the case had the popularity of Joseph waned. Again, Joseph’s procedure of approaching the king through mediaries may have been due to nothing more than the Oriental tendency to transact important personal business through a middleman.