c. Death and burial of Jacob (49:29-50:14)

It is said that Tertullian once observed of the Christian community, “Our people die well!” If there is an art to dying well, then Jacob certainly possessed it. His is the death of one confident in the promise. His final charge to his sons is that he be buried in the land of the promise with his fathers Abraham and Isaac (49-29). It is a vivid lesson for his children, whom he has sought to bind to the promise. Egypt can never be their home. They must remain children of the promise, and the realization of the promise will come only in their return home. The sons of the patriarch are true to their word. Jacob is buried in Hebron. He is given the burial rites of an Egyptian (50:2-3) and is attended with great honor (vv.7-9). But he does not die an Egyptian. He dies embracing the promise of a future hope for his people.