Add parallel Print Page Options

29 Then he instructed them,[a] “I am about to go[b] to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite. 30 It is the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought for a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite. 31 There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah; there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah; and there I buried Leah. 32 The field and the cave in it were acquired from the sons of Heth.”[c]

33 When Jacob finished giving these instructions to his sons, he pulled his feet up onto the bed, breathed his last breath, and went[d] to his people.

The Burials of Jacob and Joseph

50 Then Joseph hugged his father’s face.[e] He wept over him and kissed him. Joseph instructed the physicians in his service[f] to embalm his father, so the physicians embalmed Israel. They took forty days, for that is the full time needed for embalming.[g] The Egyptians mourned for[h] him seventy days.[i]

When the days of mourning[j] had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s royal court,[k] “If I have found favor in your sight, please say to Pharaoh,[l] ‘My father made me swear an oath. He said,[m] “I am about to die. Bury me[n] in my tomb that I dug for myself there in the land of Canaan.” Now let me go and bury my father; then I will return.’” So Pharaoh said, “Go and bury your father, just as he made you swear to do.”[o]

So Joseph went up to bury his father; all Pharaoh’s officials went with him—the senior courtiers[p] of his household, all the senior officials of the land of Egypt, all Joseph’s household, his brothers, and his father’s household. But they left their little children and their flocks and herds in the land of Goshen. Chariots and horsemen also went up with him, so it was a very large entourage.[q]

10 When they came to the threshing floor of Atad[r] on the other side of the Jordan, they mourned there with very great and bitter sorrow.[s] There Joseph observed a seven-day period of mourning for his father. 11 When the Canaanites who lived in the land saw them mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a very sad occasion[t] for the Egyptians.” That is why its name was called[u] Abel Mizraim,[v] which is beyond the Jordan.

12 So the sons of Jacob did for him just as he had instructed them. 13 His sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. This is the field Abraham purchased as a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite. 14 After he buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, along with his brothers and all who had accompanied him to bury his father.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 49:29 tn The Hebrew text adds “and he said to them,” which is not included in the translation because it is redundant in English.
  2. Genesis 49:29 tn Heb “I am about to be gathered.” The participle is used here to describe what is imminent.
  3. Genesis 49:32 tn Some translate the Hebrew term “Heth” as “Hittites” here (see also Gen 23:3), but this gives the impression that these people were the classical Hittites of Anatolia. However, there is no known connection between these sons of Heth, apparently a Canaanite group (see Gen 10:15), and the Hittites of Asia Minor. See H. A. Hoffner, Jr., “Hittites,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 152-53.
  4. Genesis 49:33 tn Heb “was gathered.”
  5. Genesis 50:1 tn Heb “fell on.” The expression describes Joseph’s unrestrained sorrow over Jacob’s death; he probably threw himself across the body and embraced his father.
  6. Genesis 50:2 tn Heb “his servants the physicians.”
  7. Genesis 50:3 tn Heb “and forty days were fulfilled for him, for thus are fulfilled the days of embalming.”
  8. Genesis 50:3 tn Heb “wept for.”
  9. Genesis 50:3 sn Seventy days. This probably refers to a time of national mourning.
  10. Genesis 50:4 tn Heb “weeping.”
  11. Genesis 50:4 tn Heb “the house of Pharaoh.”
  12. Genesis 50:4 tn Heb “in the ears of Pharaoh.”
  13. Genesis 50:5 tn Heb “saying.”
  14. Genesis 50:5 tn The imperfect verbal form here has the force of a command.
  15. Genesis 50:6 tn Heb “he made you swear on oath.”
  16. Genesis 50:7 tn Or “dignitaries”; Heb “elders.”
  17. Genesis 50:9 tn Heb “camp.”
  18. Genesis 50:10 sn The location of the threshing floor of Atad is not certain. The expression the other side of the Jordan could refer to the eastern or western bank, depending on one’s perspective. However, it is commonly used in the OT for Transjordan. This would suggest that the entourage came up the Jordan Valley and crossed into the land at Jericho, just as the Israelites would in the time of Joshua.
  19. Genesis 50:10 tn Heb “and they mourned there [with] very great and heavy mourning.” The cognate accusative, as well as the two adjectives and the adverb, emphasize the degree of their sorrow.
  20. Genesis 50:11 tn Heb “this is heavy mourning for Egypt.”
  21. Genesis 50:11 tn The verb has no expressed subject and so it may be translated as passive.
  22. Genesis 50:11 sn The name Abel Mizraim means “the mourning of Egypt.”

Jacob’s death and burial

29 Jacob ordered them, “I am soon to join my people. Bury me with my ancestors in the cave that’s in the field of Ephron the Hittite; 30 in the cave that’s in the field of Machpelah near Mamre in the land of Canaan that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a burial property. 31 That is where Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried, and where Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried, and where I buried Leah. 32 It is the field and the cave in it that belonged to the Hittites.” 33 After he finished giving orders to his sons, he put his feet up on the bed, took his last breath, and joined his people.

50 Joseph fell across his father’s body, wept over him, and kissed him. Joseph then ordered the physicians in his service to embalm his father, and the physicians embalmed Israel. They mourned for him forty days because that is the period required for embalming. Then the Egyptians mourned him for seventy days. After the period of mourning had passed, Joseph spoke to Pharaoh’s household: “If you approve my request, give Pharaoh this message: My father made me promise, telling me, ‘I’m about to die. You must bury me in the tomb I dug for myself in the land of Canaan.’ Now, let me leave and let me bury my father, and then I will return.”

Pharaoh replied, “Go, bury your father as you promised.”

So Joseph left to bury his father. All of Pharaoh’s servants went with him, together with the elder statesmen in his household and all of the elder statesmen in the land of Egypt, Joseph’s entire household, his brothers, and his father’s household. Only the children, flocks, and cattle remained in the land of Goshen. Even chariots and horsemen went with him; it was a huge collection of people. 10 When they arrived at the threshing floor of Atad on the other side of the Jordan River, they observed a solemn, deeply sorrowful period of mourning. He grieved seven days for his father.

11 When the Canaanites who lived in the land saw the observance of grief on Atad’s threshing floor, they said, “This is a solemn observance of grief by the Egyptians.” Therefore, its name is Abel-mizraim.[a] It is on the other side of the Jordan River. 12 Israel’s sons did for him just as he had ordered. 13 His sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre, which Abraham had purchased as burial property from Ephron the Hittite. 14 Then[b] Joseph returned to Egypt, he, his brothers, and everyone who left with him to bury his father.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 50:11 Or the Egyptians’ observance of grief
  2. Genesis 50:14 LXX; MT includes after he buried his father.