So Israel [Jacob’s name after his struggle with the angel] dwelt in Egypt, that is, in the land of Gessen, and possessed it; and grew, and was multiplied exceedingly. And he lived in it seventeen years: and all the days of his life came to a hundred and forty-seven years.
And when he saw that the day of his death drew nigh, he called his son Joseph, and said to him: “If I have found favor in thy sight, put thy hand under my thigh; and thou shalt show me this kindness and truth, not to bury me in Egypt. But I will sleep with my fathers, and thou shalt take me away out of this land, and bury me in the burying place of my ancestors.”
And Joseph answered him: “I will do what thou hast commanded.” (…)
Jacob's last blessing to Joseph and his sons
And he said to Joseph, his son: “Behold I die, and God will be with you, and will bring you back into the land of your fathers. I give thee a portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorrhite with my sword and bow.”(…)
And Jacob called his sons, and said to them: “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you the things that shall befall you in the last days. Gather yourselves together, and hear, O ye sons of Jacob, hearken to Israel, your father.” (…)
And he charged them, saying: “I am now going to be gathered to my people: bury me with my fathers in the double cave, which is in the field of Ephron the Hethite, over against Mambre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought together with the field, of Ephron the Hethite, for a possession to bury in. There they buried him, and Sara his wife: there was Isaac buried with Rebecca, his wife: there also Lia doth lie buried.”
Joseph and His Brothers Carry Jacob Back into the Land of Canaan To Be Buried in the Cave where Abraham and Sarah Were Buried
And when he had ended the commandments, wherewith he instructed his sons, he drew up his feet upon the bed, and died: and he was gathered to his people.
And when Joseph saw this, he fell upon his father’s face, weeping and kissing him. And he commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father.
And while they were fulfilling his commands, there passed forty days: for this was the manner with bodies that were embalmed, and Egypt mourned for him seventy days.
And the time of the mourning being expired, Joseph spoke to the family of Pharaoh: “If I have found favor in your sight, speak in the ears of Pharaoh, for my father made me swear to him, saying: ‘Behold I die; thou shalt bury me in my sepulcher which I have dug for myself in the land of Canaan.’ So I will go up and bury my father, and return.”
Joseph and all the household with the body of Jacob.
And Pharaoh said to him: “Go up and bury thy father according as he made thee swear.”
So he went up, and there went with him all the ancients of Pharaoh’s house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt. And the house of Joseph with his brethren, except their children, and their flocks and herds, which they left in the land of Gessen. He had also in his train chariots and horsemen: and it was a great company.
And they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is situated beyond the Jordan: where celebrating the exequies with a great and vehement lamentation, they spent full seven days. And when the inhabitants of Canaan saw this, they said: “This is a great mourning to the Egyptians.” And therefore the name of that place was called, “The mourning of Egypt.”
So the sons of Jacob did as he had commanded them. And carrying him into the land of Canaan, they buried him in the double cave, which Abraham had bought together with the field for a possession of a burying place, of Ehpron, the Hethite, over against Mambre.
And Joseph returned into Egypt with his brethren, and all that were in his company, after he had buried his father.
Genesis 47:27-30. 48: 21-22. 49:1-2; 29- 32; 50: 1-14
Short Stories on Honor, Chivalry, and the World of Nobility—no. 140
