Jacob Dies

29 Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am about to be (A)gathered to my people; (B)bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in (C)the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the (D)cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is opposite Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a [a]burial site. 31 There they buried (E)Abraham and his wife (F)Sarah, there they buried (G)Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and there I buried Leah— 32 the field and the cave that is in it, purchased from the sons of Heth.” 33 When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and (H)breathed his last, and was (I)gathered to his people.

Jacob Is Buried

50 Then Joseph fell on his father’s face, and wept over him and kissed him. Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians (J)embalmed Israel. Now forty days were [b]required for [c]it, for [d]such is the period required for embalming. And the Egyptians (K)wept for him seventy days.

When the days of [e]mourning for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please speak [f]to Pharaoh, saying, (L)My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am about to die; in my grave (M)which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.” Now then, please let me go up and bury my father; then I will return.’” Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.”

So Joseph went up to bury his father, and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household and all the elders of the land of Egypt, and all the household of Joseph and his brothers and his father’s household; they left only their little ones and their flocks and their herds in the land of Goshen. Chariots with teams of horses also went up with him; and it was a very great company. 10 When they came to the [g]threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they (N)mourned there with a very great and [h]sorrowful lamentation; and he [i]observed seven days of mourning for his father. 11 Now when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at [j]the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a [k]grievous [l]mourning for the Egyptians.” Therefore it was named [m]Abel-mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.

Burial at Machpelah

12 And so his sons did for him as he had commanded them; 13 for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in (O)the cave of the field of Machpelah opposite Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field as a [n]burial site from Ephron the Hittite. 14 And after he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers, and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 49:30 Lit possession of a burial place
  2. Genesis 50:3 Lit fulfilled
  3. Genesis 50:3 Or him
  4. Genesis 50:3 Lit so are fulfilled the days of embalming
  5. Genesis 50:4 Lit weeping
  6. Genesis 50:4 Lit In the ears of
  7. Genesis 50:10 Heb Goren ha-Atad
  8. Genesis 50:10 Lit heavy
  9. Genesis 50:10 Lit made a mourning for seven days
  10. Genesis 50:11 Heb Goren ha-Atad
  11. Genesis 50:11 Lit heavy
  12. Genesis 50:11 Heb ebel
  13. Genesis 50:11 I.e., the meadow (or mourning) of Egypt
  14. Genesis 50:13 Lit possession of a burial place

Jacob’s Death and Burial

29 Then Jacob instructed them, “Soon I will die and join my ancestors. Bury me with my father and grandfather in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite. 30 This is the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a permanent burial site. 31 There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried. There Isaac and his wife, Rebekah, are buried. And there I buried Leah. 32 It is the plot of land and the cave that my grandfather Abraham bought from the Hittites.”

33 When Jacob had finished this charge to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and joined his ancestors in death.

50 Joseph threw himself on his father and wept over him and kissed him. Then Joseph told the physicians who served him to embalm his father’s body; so Jacob[a] was embalmed. The embalming process took the usual forty days. And the Egyptians mourned his death for seventy days.

When the period of mourning was over, Joseph approached Pharaoh’s advisers and said, “Please do me this favor and speak to Pharaoh on my behalf. Tell him that my father made me swear an oath. He said to me, ‘Listen, I am about to die. Take my body back to the land of Canaan, and bury me in the tomb I prepared for myself.’ So please allow me to go and bury my father. After his burial, I will return without delay.”

Pharaoh agreed to Joseph’s request. “Go and bury your father, as he made you promise,” he said. So Joseph went up to bury his father. He was accompanied by all of Pharaoh’s officials, all the senior members of Pharaoh’s household, and all the senior officers of Egypt. Joseph also took his entire household and his brothers and their households. But they left their little children and flocks and herds in the land of Goshen. A great number of chariots and charioteers accompanied Joseph.

10 When they arrived at the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan River, they held a very great and solemn memorial service, with a seven-day period of mourning for Joseph’s father. 11 The local residents, the Canaanites, watched them mourning at the threshing floor of Atad. Then they renamed that place (which is near the Jordan) Abel-mizraim,[b] for they said, “This is a place of deep mourning for these Egyptians.”

12 So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded them. 13 They carried his body to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. This is the cave that Abraham had bought as a permanent burial site from Ephron the Hittite.

Joseph Reassures His Brothers

14 After burying Jacob, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had accompanied him to his father’s burial.

Footnotes

  1. 50:2 Hebrew Israel. See note on 35:21.
  2. 50:11 Abel-mizraim means “mourning of the Egyptians.”