Genesis 49:29-50:14
Expanded Bible
29 Then Israel gave them a command and said, “I am about to ·die [L be gathered to my people/relatives; 25:8]. Bury me with my ·ancestors [fathers] in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite [23:7–20; 25:9]. 30 That cave is in the field of Machpelah east of Mamre in the land of Canaan. Abraham bought the field and cave from Ephron the Hittite for a ·burying place [burial site]. 31 Abraham and Sarah his wife are buried there. Isaac and Rebekah his wife are buried there, and I buried my wife Leah there. 32 The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittite people.” 33 After Jacob finished ·talking to [or instructing] his sons, he lay down. He put his feet back on the bed, took his last breath, and ·died [L was gathered to his people/relatives; 25:8].
Jacob’s Burial
50 When Jacob died, Joseph ·hugged [L fell on the face of] his father and cried over him and kissed him. 2 He commanded the doctors who served him to ·prepare his father’s body [embalm his father], so the doctors ·prepared Jacob’s body to be buried [L embalmed Israel; C another name for Jacob; 32:28]. 3 It took the doctors forty days to ·prepare his body [embalm him] (the usual time it took). And the Egyptians ·had a time of sorrow for Jacob that lasted [L wept over him for] seventy days.
4 When this time of ·sorrow had ended [L weeping passed], Joseph spoke to ·the king’s officers [L household of Pharaoh] and said, “If ·you think well of me [L I have found grace in your eyes], please ·tell this to the king [L speak now in the ear of Pharaoh]: 5 ‘When my father was near death, ·I made a promise to him [L my father made me swear] that I would bury him in a cave in the land of Canaan, in a burial place that he cut out for himself. So please let me go and bury my father, and then I will return.’ ”
6 ·The king [L Pharaoh] answered, “·Keep your promise. Go [L As he made you swear, go] and bury your father.”
7 So Joseph went to bury his father. All ·the king’s officers [L servants of Pharaoh], the elders of his ·court [L house], and all the elders of Egypt went with Joseph. 8 ·Everyone who lived with [L All the house of] Joseph and his brothers went with him, as well as ·everyone who lived with [L all the house of] his father. They left only their ·children [little ones], their flocks, and their herds in the land of Goshen [45:10]. 9 They went with Joseph in chariots and on horses. It was a very large ·group [camp].
10 When they came to ·the threshing floor of Atad [or Goren-ha-atad; or the threshing floor of the bramble], near the Jordan River, they ·cried loudly and bitterly for his father [L lamented there with a great and exceedingly strong lament]. Joseph’s time of ·sorrow [mourning] continued for seven days. 11 The people that lived in Canaan saw the ·sadness [mourning] at the threshing floor of Atad [or Goren-ha-atad; or threshing floor of the bramble] and said, “Those Egyptians are ·showing great sorrow [intense in their mourning]!” So now that place is named ·Sorrow of the Egyptians [or Abel-mizraim].
12 So Jacob’s sons did as their father commanded. 13 His sons carried ·his body [L him] to the land of Canaan and buried ·it [or him] in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre. Abraham had bought this cave and field from Ephron the Hittite to use as a burial ·place [site]. 14 After Joseph buried his father, he returned to Egypt, along with his brothers and everyone who had gone with him to bury his father.
Genesis 49:29-50:14
Amplified Bible
29 He charged them and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the cave in the field at Machpelah, east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, that Abraham bought, along with the field from Ephron the Hittite, to possess as a burial site.(A) 31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah— 32 the field and the cave that is in it was purchased from the sons of Heth.” 33 When Jacob (Israel) had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and was [a]gathered to his people [who had preceded him in death].
Burial Preparations and Mourning for Jacob
50 Then Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept over him and kissed him [tenderly]. 2 Then Joseph ordered his servants the physicians to embalm (mummify) his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel (Jacob). 3 Now forty days were required for this, for that is the customary number of days [of preparation] required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept and grieved for him [in public mourning as they would for royalty] for seventy days.
4 When the days of weeping and public mourning for him were past, Joseph spoke to [the nobles of] the house of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please speak to Pharaoh, saying, 5 ‘My father made me swear [an oath], saying, “Hear me, I am about to die; bury me in my tomb which I prepared for myself in the land of Canaan.” So now let me go up [to Canaan], please, and bury my father; then I will return.’” 6 And Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.”
7 So Joseph went up [to Canaan] to bury his father, and with him went all the officials of Pharaoh, [the nobles of his court and] the elders of his household and all [the nobles and] the elders of the land of Egypt— 8 and all the household of Joseph and his brothers and his father’s household. They left only their little ones and their flocks and herds in the land of Goshen. 9 Both chariots and horsemen also went up [to Canaan] with Joseph; and it was a very great company. 10 When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they mourned there with a great lamentation (expressions of mourning for the deceased) and [extreme demonstrations of] sorrow [according to Egyptian custom]; and Joseph observed a seven-day mourning for his father. 11 When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning for the Egyptians.” Therefore the place was named Abel-mizraim (mourning of Egypt); it is west of the Jordan.
Burial at Machpelah
12 So Jacob’s sons did for him as he had commanded them; 13 for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, east of Mamre, which Abraham bought along with the field as a burial site from Ephron the Hittite. 14 After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers, and all who had gone up with him.
Footnotes
- Genesis 49:33 See note 25:8.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
