Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were one hundred forty-seven years. The time came near that Israel must die, and he called his son Joseph, and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please don’t bury me in Egypt, but when I sleep with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place.” Joseph said, “I will do as you have said.”
Israel said, “Swear to me,” and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself on the bed’s head.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv28–31 28. And Jacob lived. It was no common source…
28. And Jacob lived. It was no common source of temptation to the holy old man, to be an exile from the land of Canaan, for so many years. Be it so, that on account of the famine, he was compelled to go to Egypt; why could he not return when the fifth year was passed? For he did not stupidly lie there in a state of torpor, but he remained quiet, because free egress was not allowed him. Wherefore, also, in this respect, God did not lightly exercise his patience. For, however sweet might be the delights of Egypt, yet he was more than miserable to be deprived of the sight of that land which was the lively figure of his celestial country. With the men of this world, indeed, earthly advantage would have prevailed: but such was the piety of the holy man, that the profit of the flesh weighed nothing against the loss of spiritual good. But he was more deeply wounded, when he saw his death approaching: because, not only was he himself deprived of the inheritance promised to him, but he was leaving his sons, of doubtful, or at least of feeble, faith, buried in Egypt as in a sepulcher. Moreover, his example is proposed to us, that our minds may not languish or become enfeebled by the weariness of a protracted warfare: yea, the more Satan attempts to depress them to the earth, the more fervently let them look and soar towards heaven.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv30–31 Hereby he protested that he died in the faith…
Hereby he protested that he died in the faith of his fathers, teaching his children to hope for the promised land.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv28–31 Gen 47:28 And Jacob lived in the land of…
Gen 47:28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years.
Ver. 28. Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years.] So long he had nourished Joseph; and so long Joseph nourished him; paying his αντιθρεπτηρια to the utmost penny. These were the sweetest days that ever Jacob saw. God reserved his best to the last. "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for," be his beginning and his middle never so troublesome, "the end of that man is peace." {Psa 37:37} A Goshen he shall have, either here or in heaven.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv29–31 Put thy hand under my thigh, i.e. swear to…
Put thy hand under my thigh, i.e. swear to me, as Gen 47:31, that thou wilt do what I am now desiring of thee; see Poole on "Gen 24:2". He requires this, not out of any distrust of Joseph’s promise, but partly, as a more solemn protestation of his right to and affection for that promised land; partly, us a motive to all his children to have their minds and hearts there, even when their bodies were in Egypt; and partly, to give Joseph an argument and excuse to Pharaoh, that he might more willingly permit Joseph to fulfil his father’s desire, because of his own oath.
And deal kindly and truly, or, that thou wilt deal; as the Hebrew vau joined with the future tense is elsewhere used, as Psa 24:7; 35:24; 51:15. Kindly in promising, and truly in performing thy promise.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv28–30 And the time drew nigh that Israel must die,....…
And the time drew nigh that Israel must die,.... As all men must, by the appointment of God, even good men, the Israel of God; though they shall not die a spiritual death, nor an eternal one, yet a corporeal one, which is for their good, and is a blessing to them; the sting being removed, and so not a penal evil, which is owing to Christ's dying for them, who has abolished death as such; and there is a time fixed for their death, beyond which they must not live, and before which they must not die, but when the time comes there is no avoiding it; the time of Jacob's death was drawing on, as he perceived by the great decline of his natural strength, and perhaps by a divine impulse on his mind:
and he called his son Joseph; sent for him, by a messenger, to come to him:
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and said unto him; when he was come:
if now I have found grace in thy sight; which is not spoken in a way of submission, as from an inferior to a superior, as the phrase is sometimes used; or as signifying what would be esteemed as a favour should it be granted, but it is as if he should say, if thou hast any filial affection for me as a parent, and art willing to show love and respect to me, do as follows:
put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh: a gesture in swearing, as Jarchi observes, Gen 24:2; adding, for explanation's sake:
and deal kindly and truly with me; "kindly", by promising and swearing to do what he after desires; and "truly", by observing his oath, and fulfilling his promise:
bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt; not choosing to lie among idolaters at death, with whom he cared not to have any fellowship in life.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv28–29 Jacob lived seventeen years after he came into Egypt,…
Jacob lived seventeen years after he came into Egypt, far beyond his own expectation: seventeen years he had nourished Joseph, for so old he was when he was sold from him, and now, seventeen years Joseph nourished him. Observe how kindly Providence ordered Jacob's affairs; that when he was old, and least able to bear care and fatigue, he had least occasion for it, being well provided for by his son without his own forecast.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv29–31 Verse 29. Put - thy hand under my thigh]…
Verse 29. Put - thy hand under my thigh] See Clarke on Ge 24:2.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv28–29 Gen 47:28. Jacob lived seventeen years after he came…
Gen 47:28. Jacob lived seventeen years after he came into Egypt, far beyond his own expectation: seventeen years he had nourished Joseph, for so old he was when he was sold from him, and now, seventeen years Joseph nourished him. Observe how kindly Providence ordered Jacob’s affairs; that when he was old, and least able to bear care and fatigue, he had least occasion for it, being well provided for by his son without his own forecast.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv29–31 Thigh. To swear, as the steward of Abraham did,…
Thigh. To swear, as the steward of Abraham did, chap. xxiv. 2. --- Kindness and truth. This act of real mercy; or, shew me mercy, by promising freely to comply with my request; and truth, by fulfilling this oath. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv29, 31 the time drew nigh that Israel must die--One only…
the time drew nigh that Israel must die--One only of his dying arrangements is recorded; but that one reveals his whole character. It was the disposal of his remains, which were to be carried to Canaan, not from a mere romantic attachment to his native soil, nor, like his modern descendants, from a superstitious feeling for the soil of the Holy Land, but from faith in the promises. His address to Joseph--"if now I have found grace in thy sight," that is, as the vizier of Egypt--his exacting a solemn oath that his wishes would be fulfilled and the peculiar form of that oath, all pointed significantly to the promise and showed the intensity of his desire to enjoy its blessings (compare Num 10:29).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv28–31 JACOB’S DESIRE TO BE BURIED WITH HIS FATHERS, Gen_47:27-31.
JACOB’S DESIRE TO BE BURIED WITH HIS FATHERS, Gen_47:27-31.
28. Seventeen years — He survived the famine, and lived twelve years thereafter to see the result of the wise administration of Joseph. Yet the spiritually minded patriarch sees something better for his posterity than the land of Egypt.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv28–31 28. seventeen years] This verse, giving the years of…
28. seventeen years] This verse, giving the years of Jacob’s life, comes from P: see Gen_47:9. Note that 147 = 7 × 7 × 3, sacred numbers.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv29, 31 (29) The time drew nigh that Israel must die—For…
ISRAEL IN EGYPT.
(29) The time drew nigh that Israel must die—For seventeen years Jacob lived in Egypt, and saw the growing prosperity of his race under the fostering hand of Joseph. Placed at the entrance of Egypt, on the side of Arabia and Palestine, the clans of his sons would daily grow in number by the addition of Semitic immigrants, by whose aid they would make the vast and fertile region assigned them, and which had previously had but a scanty population, a well-cultivated and thriving land. But at last Jacob feels his end approaching, though apparently he was not as yet in immediate danger of death. But there was a wish over which he had long pondered; and desiring to have his mind set at rest, he sends for Joseph, and makes him promise that he will bury him in the cave at Machpelah. We find him again charging all his sons to grant him this request (Gen_49:29-32); nor need we seek for any remote reason for it. Jacob’s whole nature was a loving one, and strongly influenced by home and domestic feelings; and at Machpelah his nearest relatives were buried. In the next chapter he dwells upon Rachel’s death, and his burial of her apart from the rest at Ephrath; and this seems to have increased his grief at her loss. At Machpelah, Abraham. whom he had known as a boy, his beloved father and mother, and Leah, who had evidently at last won his affections, all lay; and there, naturally, he too wished to lie among his own.
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Put . . . thy hand under my thigh.—See Note on Gen_24:2.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv28–31 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen…
CHAPTER 47:28-31
And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was (literally, the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were) a hundred forty and seven years. He had lived seventy-seven years in Canaan, twenty years in Padanaram, thirty-three in Canaan again, and seventeen in Egypt, in all 147 years.
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HOMILETICS.
Vers. 28-31.
Jacob"s residence in Egypt.
I JACOB"S PEACEFUL OLD AGE. "And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years." After an eventful and checkered pilgrimage of 130 years, during which Jacob had made largo experience of the ills of life, having encountered adversity in forms both more numerous and severe than are allotted to most, he had at length reached a happy harbor of rest in the calm contemplative evening of old age, exchanging the anxieties and toils of his previously wandering condition for a home of ease and comfort in the fat land of Goshen, and bidding farewell to all his past tears and sorrows in the enjoyment of the tender care and rich love of Joseph, Rachel"s son. Verily, with this old weather-beaten traveler it had become light at eventide. It is noticeable that Jacob lived as long a time in Egypt as Joseph had spent in Jacob"s home in Canaan seventeen years thus receiving an ample recompense for the affection he had lavished on his son. Let parents be encouraged thereby to love and care for their children in the tender years of infancy and youth; and let children see in Joseph an example of the rich return which they should give their parents, cherishing amid the infirmities of age those who have watched over them, and loved them, and prayed for them with so much solicitude and affection.
II JACOB"S APPROACHING DISSOLUTION. "The time drew nigh that Israel must die." It was a time that Israel had now for some considerable period been anticipating. When he stood before Pharaoh he informed that august but benevolent monarch that he reckoned his earthly pilgrimage as good as closed. At least his words imply that he had no expectation of living to the ago of his revered ancestors. Consequently he was not surprised, though he perceived that death was rapidly gaining ground upon his feeble steps. Perfectly aware that it was appointed unto all men once to die, he had been piously, while reposing beneath the shadow of Joseph"s wing, reckoning up the number of his own days m particular, and had found that the allotted span was nearly passed. Nor does it appear that he was alarmed by the knowledge of that melancholy fact. The man who had fought with God and prevailed was not likely to be dismayed by the prospect of engaging with the king of terrors. He who had been so long in the enjoyment of Jehovah"s friendship and salvation would scarcely regard it as a hardship to be translated to Jehovah"s presence. Let the saints learn to number their days that so they may apply their hearts to heavenly wisdom; to live in habitual contemplation of the end, that they may not be afraid when death comes, and to cultivate that holy alliance with the God of salvation which will enable them to say, For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
III JACOB"S DYING REQUEST. "Bury me not in Egypt; but I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their, burying place." This request was addressed to his son Joseph, whom he had hastily summoned to his side. It is not quite certain that at this moment Jacob was confined to bed, or that he was actually so near his decease as he imagined. The probability is that he survived for some little while longer, but that with the knowledge that his departure from the earth could not be long delayed, he desired to leave his last instructions for his funeral with his honored and beloved son. Accordingly, in a conversation, he explained that he was anxious that Joseph should convey his remains to the family vault at Hebron, and lay them beside the dust of Abraham and Isaac. It was a natural desire that the old man should seek to sleep among his kindred; but the wish had a higher origin than simply the instincts of nature. Canaan was the God-given inheritance of himself and his descendants; and though as yet a long interval must elapse before his children could enter on its possession, he would manifest his faith in the Divine promise by laying his bones in the sacred soil. It becomes God"s people to imitate the patriarch in still holding on to God"s sure word of promise, although the fulfillment should be long delayed, and in particular to remember that as with Jacob so with them, God"s best promises will be realized not on earth, but in the better country, even an heavenly.
IV JACOB"S DEEP ANXIETY. "And he said, Swear unto me." It might have been supposed that Joseph"s word of promise, "I will do as thou hast said," would be sufficient to allay the aged patriarch"s apprehensions, but it was not. Remembering the old form of oath which Abraham had employed in connection with Eliszer, he imposed it on his son, as if to bind him by the holiest obligations to fulfill his last request. Joseph, we may be sure, would have honored his aged parent"s wish without the additional ceremony of swearing; but inasmuch as it was not necessarily sinful, and it would tend to dispel his father"s fears, he consented to the proposal, "and he swore unto him." Jacob perhaps might have dispensed with the oath, and certainly Christians should be satisfied with a simple "yea" or "nay," remembering that whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil; but sons may learn from Joseph to bear with an aged parent"s infirmities and to humor his inclinations, when these are not sinful.
V JACOB"S SOLEMN WORSHIP. "And Jacob bowed himself upon the bed"s head," or "worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff." But whatever was the exact position of the patriarch, his exercise was devotion. With reverent inclination of his aged head he poured out his soul in grateful adoration to his God, who had enabled him so successfully to arrange everything connected with his funeral that he had now nothing left to do but die. And in this too the patriarch might advantageously be followed by his spiritual children. Happy they who before being summoned to put off this tabernacle are able to say, "Father, I have finished the work thou gavest me to do!" It is a special mercy for which they may well give God thanks.
HOMILIES BY W. ROBERTS Vers. 28-31.
Jacob"s apprehension.
I WHAT IT WAS.
1. It was not anxiety about temporal support, for that had been generously made sure to him by his son Joseph.
2. It was not concern about the future fortunes of his family, for these had been graciously taken under God"s protection.
3. It was not uncertainty as to his own personal acceptance with Jehovah, for of that he had long ago been assured.
4. It was scarcely even fear of his approaching death, for besides being a thought with which Jacob had long been familiar, to a weary pilgrim like him the event itself would not be altogether unwelcome.
5. It was dread lest his lifeless body should be interred in Egypt, far from the graves of his ancestors in the holy land.
II WHENCE IT AROSE.
1. From the deeply-seated instinct in human nature, which makes men wish, if possible, to sleep beside their fathers and friends. Though religion teaches us to believe that every spot on earth is in a manner holy ground, yet it does not induce a spirit of indifference as to the last resting-place where we shall lie.
2. From a firm faith in the Divine promise that his descendants should yet return to Canaan. Even if Jacob did not anticipate that this would immediately occur, if, as is probable, he had already dark forebodings that the period of exile and servitude spoken of by Jehovah to Abraham was about to commence, he was yet able to detect a silver lining in the cloud, to see the happy time beyond, when his children, in accordance with the promise "I will surely bring thee up again," should return home to their presently abandoned inheritance.
III HOW IT WAS REMOVED.
1. By Joseph"s promise. Requested by his aged parent to convey his body back to Canaan, when the life had departed, Joseph solemnly, engages to carry out that parent s wishes to the letter. "I will do as thou hast said.
2. By Joseph"s oath. As if to remove every possible ground of apprehension, the old man further binds his son by an appeal to heaven. And he said, Swear unto me; and he (Joseph) sware unto him." The venerable patriarch"s anxieties were at an end. "And Israel bowed himself upon the bed"s head. W.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v29 Bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt
Gen_47:29-30
Bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt
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Lessons -
1.
Approaching death should make men put their houses in order, and prepare for the grave.
2. The best of sons are best trusted with the interring of parents.
3. Favour, benevolence, and fidelity dying parents may beg of surviving children.
4. Parents may bind children not to bury them in places inconvenient (Gen_47:29).
5. The law of nature may appoint burial with fathers, much more the law of faith.
6. The faith of the Patriarchs did work as to the place of burial to appoint it.
7. The testamental word of parents, though hard, yet should be sacred with good sons (Gen_47:30).
8. Holy worship of God is meet from dying saints, for His gracious disposal to the grave. (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Prepared for death
Montmorency, constable of France, having been mortally wounded at an engagement, was exhorted by those who stood around him to die like a good Christian, and with the same courage which he had shown in his lifetime. To this he most nobly replied in the following manner:--Gentlemen and fellow-soldiers, I thank you all very kindly for your anxious care and concern about me; but the man who has been enabled to endeavour to live well for fourscore years past can never need to seek now how to die well for a quarter of an hour. (Dictionary of Religious Anecdote.)
Ready for death
At the time when His Majesty, George the Third, desirous that himself and family should repose in a less public sepulchre than that of Westminster Abbey, had ordered a royal tomb to be constructed at Windsor, Mr. Wyatt, his architect, waited upon him with a detailed report and plan of the building, and of the manner in which he proposed to arrange its various recesses. The king minutely examined the whole, and when finished, Mr. Wyatt, in thanking His Majesty said he had ventured to occupy so much of His Majestys time and attention with these details in order that it might not be necessary to bring so painful a subject again under his notice. To this the good king replied, Mr. Wyatt, I request that you will bring the subject before me whenever you please. I shall attend with as much pleasure to the building of a tomb to receive me when I am dead as I would to the decoration of a drawing-room to hold me while living, for, Mr. Wyatt, if it please God that I shall live to be ninety or a hundred years old I am willing to stay; but if it please God to take me this night I am ready to obey the summons. (Dictionary of Religious Anecdote.)
Love of home in death
It is almost the universal custom in America, and seems to be growing in favour here, for great men to be buried in the place where they have mostly lived, and among their own kith and kin. Washington lies at Mount Vernon; Lincoln at Springfield; Emerson and Hawthorne under the pines of New England; Irving on the banks of the Hudson; Clay in Kentucky. They are laid to rest not in some central city or great structure, but where they have lived, and where their families and neighbours may accompany them in their long sleep. (One Thousand New Illustrations.)
Preparation for death
This may suggest to those who have family arrangements to make, that they should not defer the making of them until they come to be in the article of death, but should settle their affairs while yet they are in full health, in the possession of a sound mind, and in calm, unbiassed spirit. If, for example, a will has to be made by a man--and every man, if he have anything to leave, both for his own sake and for the sake of those who are most nearly related to him, should make a will--why should he postpone the making of it until he come to die? It will not bring death any sooner if he should make it at once, and it may prevent many evils if it is made now. Then, if God should greatly prosper him in future years, and should thus alter his circumstances, let him destroy the former will and make another, lest terrible injustice and hardship be done to the survivors by putting them back into a scale of living to which they have not for long been accustomed, and leaving them with a pitiful provision instead of an ample sustenance such as could easily have been provided. I have known cases of great suffering just from this cause. Let every man keep his affairs well in hand, so that those around him shall have to mourn only his departure when he dies, and shall have no cause to blame him for want of thought for his nearest and his dearest relations. If there is anything that you feel you ought to do in the way of settling your affairs, so as to secure peace and comfort among the members of your family when you die, do it at once, for the uncertainty of life is proverbial, and you know not what a day may bring forth. You cannot read the newspapers for a week together without discovering that many unseemly squabbles over the division of property might have been prevented if those who in business were so energetic in the making of money had possessed only the foresight to arrange calmly, and in circumstances in which there could be no ground for the insinuation either of undue influence on the part of ethers, or of incompetence on their own, for its division. If there is anything you feel impelled to say or do before you die, then say or do it now, and the older you are, let the now be only the more emphatic. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
Jacobs request to be buried in Canaan
This request was rooted in something deeper than the merely natural desire of a man to have his body laid beside those of his nearest kindred. Under the New Testament dispensation, indeed, we have learned that it makes no matter where our bodies are buried, for by His brief occupancy of the tomb of Joseph the Lord Jesus Christ has consecrated the whole earth as a cemetery for His people; and by His resurrection from the grave He has given us the assurance that they that sleep in Him, wheresoever their resting-places are, shall hear His voice at the last great day, and shall come forth in spiritual and incorruptible forms to meet Him in the skies. The mere locality of our grave, therefore, is of comparatively small importance, whether we are laid away under the arctic snows, like the brave explorers who accompanied the dauntless Franklin, or beneath the shade of tropical shrubs on the rim of the Dark Continent, like those missionary martyrs who by their sepulchres have taken possession of the Machpelah in that new Land of Promise, or in the dark, unfathomed caves of ocean, with the white foam of the waves for our shroud, and the whistling of the winds for our requiem. It is all one to the Christian where his body is laid. And yet even the Christian has the natural desire to be laid beside his kindred; so that in all our cemeteries we have family lots, and in many of our old country homesteads we come yet upon the quiet and secluded enclosure where the ashes of the first settlers and those of their successors lie. But Jacobs desire that his body should be laid in Machpelah had a deeper root than nature. The land of Canaan was his by Gods covenant. He had not yet obtained it. For aught that he could see, he was to die without entering on its possession; but even in his death he would show that he still believed that his children would have its ownership, and therefore he made Joseph swear that he would bury him in the sepulchre of his fathers. Nor was this all. He wanted his sons and his descendants to know that Egypt was not their rest. He desired to fix their minds on Canaan, and to fan in their hearts the desire to return thither when God should open up the way. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
Buried where born
The inclination to return in old age to the place which is endeared by the recollections of infancy is very general. It is mentioned by Goldsmith, with that finished delicacy of description which scarcely admits of improvement, and by Chalien, in some of the most beautiful lines in the French language. It is thus described in some of the practical prose of Chateaubriand: After having wandered over the globe, man, by an affecting species of instinct, likes to return and die on the spot which gave him birth, and to sit for a moment, on the border of the grave, under the same tree which overshadowed his cradle. As John Leyden lay dying in India, whither he had gone to make his fortune, his heart dwelt on its child-memories, and his last words were about the little rural hamlet where he was born..
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v29 MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Gen_47:29-31
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Gen_47:29-31
ISRAEL’S PREPARATION FOR DEATH
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Jacob felt that the inevitable hour was drawing nigh. “The time drew nigh that Israel must die,”—even this man who had “power over the angel and prevailed.” He calmly prepares for the end of his earthly pilgrimage:—
I. By an act of faith. He engages Joseph by a solemn oath not to bury him in Egypt, but in the sepulchre of his fathers in Canaan. There was in this request the expression of a natural feeling. Men naturally desire to have at last with their kindred some kind of union in the grave. But with Jacob, there was a desire beyond this; a desire born of strong faith in God. Like Joseph, afterwards, he “by faith gave commandment concerning his bones.” He believed in God’s promise, and remembered His holy covenant. And as a sign of his faith, he desired that his body should take a previous possession of the promised land.
II. By an act of adoration. “Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head.” In Heb_11:21, it is said that “he worshipped leaning on the top of his staff.” He adored the power and the goodness of God. He expressed the gratitude of his heart for past mercies, for God’s appearances to him in the time of trouble, for his faith often in darkness, but still patient to wait for the light; for the assurance of the truth of the Divine promise that his seed should inherit the land, and for the prospect before him of seeing God’s salvation, which he had so long waited for. He would also thank God for the closing token of filial duty rendered by his beloved son. The staff by which he crossed the Jordan, and which was with him through all his weary pilgrimage would, by the power of association, aid him to remember all the way which the Lord, his God, had led him.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Gen_47:29-30. This he requested, partly to testify his faith concerning the Promised Land, heaven, and the resurrection; partly to confirm his family in the same faith; and that they might not be glued to the pleasures of Egypt, but wait for their return to Canaan; and partly also to declare his love to his ancestors, together with the felicity he took in the communion of saints.—(Trapp).
Although we know that we can have no converse with our kindred in that house of silence, yet it gives us some pleasure while we yet live to think that our dust shall mingle with the dust of those whom we love. But the Apostle acquaints us with the secret of his injunction. (Heb_11:22). By having his dead body conveyed to that land, he published to his seed and to the world that he believed and embraced the promise, and that he was well satisfied both with the country and with the security given him for the possession of it. In this emphatic declaration of his faith he had in view also the benefit of survivors.—(Bush).
Gen_47:31. He could not go to an altar built for sacrifices of praise; but he exerted all the vigour left him, with the help of his staff, on which he leaned, and performed his devotions in such a posture as showed his reverence and joy.—(Bush).
The venerable man, however, is not yet at the point of death, but is desirous of setting things in order, that when he comes to die he may have nothing else to think about.—(Fuller).
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain On v28 Section 5. (Gen 47:28-31; Gen 48:1-22; Gen 49:1-27.)
Section 5. (Gen 47:28-31; Gen 48:1-22; Gen 49:1-27.)
The moral conclusion: the end as the way.
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The fifth section, well-nigh the close of the whole book, is Deuteronomic in character, giving moral results. Here, Jacob again, rather than Joseph, is the central figure, his day brightening at the end to a serene sunset. He dies at a hundred and forty-seven years old,—a number not without meaning, we may believe, in its 7 X 7 X 3, the number of complete accomplishment intensified, with that of divine manifestation. With him, the single, simple, patriarchal life is ended, the first division of this primitive divine history is over.
In the first place, here we have the vow which Jacob exacts from Joseph—that he shall be buried in Canaan, in the sepulchre of his fathers. He thus links himself with them as waiting, even in death, for the promise to be fulfilled. Thus the promise is a promise of life which death cannot vanquish or undo.
Next, we have the blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh, in whom Joseph receives the double portion of the birthright, Reuben having lost it. (1Ch 5:1-2.) It shows how Joseph fulfills his name, which is, "adding," or "increase." This is, indeed, the beautiful lesson of his life. The law of spiritual increase we find in him, as indicated by the name of his son, "Ephraim." -"fruitfulness." But the way to fruitfulness is by "Manasseh" -"forgetfulness," as with the apostle, "Forgetting that which is behind, I press on." (Php 3:13-14.) Manasseh is the first-born, in fact; but as the end is greater than the means, so Ephraim is, in the mind of God, greater than Manasseh. Nature would often with us, as in Joseph here, resist so simple a conclusion. Manasseh before Ephraim is in truth the very principle of asceticism in all times.
In the third place, we have the blessing of the tribes as a whole, in which, from their characters as already shown, or their names as indicating character, their future is predicted. Thus the government of God shows itself throughout it.
In the enumeration, we have, first, the sons of Leah, then those of the bond-maids intermingled with one another, and then Rachel’s children. These are plainly three divisions.
Of Leah’s, the first-born is Reuben; but just as the might of nature which is fallen, he is necessarily deposed from his primacy: we have seen Joseph getting what Reuben loses here; the two are opposites. Reuben represents, not the flesh, -for God does not bless the flesh; but the dignity of nature, -of man as natural, now indeed fallen, but not necessarily fallen. And man’s nobility lies essentially in that intelligent will, which alone is "will," and without which he would be the mere machine worked by other hands, or the boat adrift without oar or rudder. Reuben -"see a son" -is thus man in that which makes him the "offspring of God," His image, -not merely a cause, but a causer. Sin has come in, alas! and his will has become self-will -an independent energy with "vanity" stamped on it; a "bubbling over," as the word "unstable," said here of Reuben, really means, which scruples not to shame and defile the man himself, the source of it. Thus the will in man has lost its dignity, and become his degradation; and that which is his glory as man lowers him beneath the beast. For indeed his pre-eminence is necessarily connected with this power for self-debasement, which the beast has not.
But one may ask, Where is the blessing of Reuben in all this? for it is said of all, "Every one he blessed according to his own blessing," -that is, according to what would be blessing in each case. For Reuben, it must be found, then, in this very deprivation of his. When the will accepts its humiliation, -when we say, but from a different cause from that which made the Lord say it, "Not my will, but Thine"! then is it blessed, and its glory returns to it.
Dispensationally for Israel, Reuben represents the time of its energetic youth, when upon the ground of the first covenant, -that is, of its own responsibility, when its corruption deposed it from the primacy among the nations with which God had endowed it, and the birthright passed to Him who alone is able to support it; here the blessing could only be attained in their humiliation.
Violence necessarily follows corruption, as Simeon and Levi follow Reuben. They are united together, as brethren well agreed in character, and actually united upon that terrible occasion of which Jacob here so energetically speaks. Notice how the thought of agreement -confederacy -runs through what is said, and how the doom upon them, which, as in Reuben’s case, works for blessing, is to be disunited, "divided," "scattered." To be brought into loneliness, individuality, weakness, would be the reproof and the remedy for that "strength" which comes of "union," and which so constantly manifests itself in deeds of violence. Conscience is individual, and brings in God. The weakness of individuality makes Him our necessary resource. But thus all the highest character of manhood is developed by it. Confederacy annuls the individual conscience, begins in craft, and develops into tyranny as power is acquired. The doom is here the remedy, and is to bring Simeon and Levi back to the true meaning of their names: Simeon -"hearing," to find the answer which God gives to human prayer; and Levi -"joined," to own the ties only which have divine origin and sanction.
Here, then, relationship to others is the question, as in Reuben, what man is in himself. In the divine life both must be met; and one’s associations come only next in importance to the fundamental one, Who is my Master? Indeed, the first question truly answered answers all; but because we answer it so little truly, God would search us out with one upon another, till He has shown us all.
Dispensationally, we find here, as it would seem, the history of Israel during the times of the Judges, and until David. Coalitions and divisions, strife and violence, fill up this period: there is no king, and no real turning to God.
The blessing of Judah comes in the third place. "Judah," as we know, means "praise," Leah saying, when she bore him, "Now will I praise the Lord." It is striking to see in the history of the people of which these blessings give us the general outline, how, when Judah came to power with David, the worship of Jehovah revived. The ark in the days of Saul the Benjamite had never been inquired at. (1Ch 13:3.) David brought it to Jerusalem with rejoicing, and Solomon built the house in which it was enshrined. When the great schism came, and the ten tribes went after the golden calves, Judah remained thus far faithful. David was himself Israel’s sweet psalmist, and has given to the saints of every generation since songs of praise that never grow old. Thus Judah’s name has vindicated its prophetic character, and the rise of the tribe to power is connected with a real revival of spiritual power, which in Israel ever was the basis of political revival. Judah, therefore, was not to lose the sceptre until Shiloh came (the "Man of peace") -Christ springing out of Judah, and to Him would the obedience of the people be. This carries us plainly through the whole of the Old-Testament history, and into the New, while then, (strange as it might seem,) Judah’s sceptre, it is implied, would pass away, just when the coming of Christ would seem to make it permanent. We know well the reason, and see once more how prophecy justifies itself. Messiah comes to His own, and is rejected and cut off.
In its individual application, we find the spirit of praise as that of power -necessarily, because God is exalted in it. It is what the fiftieth psalm challenges on His part from His people: "Offer unto God thanksgiving, and pay thy vows unto the Most High; . . . . whoso offereth praise glorifieth Me." It is this that marks the life which comes from God, that it turns back to God again; and the joy of the Lord is ever its principle of strength. A simple lesson, but, oh, that it were learnt! The "wine" so abundant in the portion of Judah is the sign of a joy in which there can be no excess; and the "milk" may show that here there is not merely stimulus, but nourishment as well, and that in a form in which the merest babe may find it.
In the fourth place, we come to Zebulon; and again his name is plainly referred to. It is a "dwelling with," in intimacy, as Leah’s use of it shows; but Jacob here uses another word, which has, in this place, evidently a bad significance. Its primary meaning is, "to lay one’s self down," and Zebulon does this at the haven of the sea -the haven for ships, and his border is toward Zidon. While the idea of prosperity, or at least the industrious seeking of it, is plain, yet for Israel, we must remember, this commerce with the idolatrous nations was not a good sign, nor in result good, and her border reaching out toward Zidon prophesies dangerous obliteration of what divided Israel from the nations. Coming in the place in which it does also, there is a clear intimation of how the people, having turned from their God-sent Deliverer, would turn to the world.
What is the blessing here for Zebulon? and what is the principle which underlies it, similar to what we have found in the former blessings? Openly, God does not come in at all, either to bless or judge, except it be in this, that his portion comes to him from Him in that which it is evident he chooses. And is not this often for us judgment and blessing in one, when God apportions us the very thing we desire, that we may taste the bitterness of our own ways, and learn, in result, the happiness of His? It is not the best way of learning; but yet it is not seldom the only way in which we can learn, and God means at any rate to teach us. What these nations would be -have been -for Israel, we shall learn in Issachar.
In Issachar, we find Israel content to be the drudge of the Gentiles; one who would not endure God’s yoke tamely accepting that of men. Here, too, the name is dwelt upon: "there is reward;" ease and gain are alone what is sought. How true to the character of unbelieving Israel! And these are the governmental ways of God, who, unknown by them, yet ordains their circumstances; and this is more plainly from Him, and for good, than in the case we were last considering.
This ends the tale of Leah’s sons, who give us, as it appears to me, the history of Israel according to the flesh until the present time of God’s seeming forgetfulness is ended, the Church removed to heaven, and the "end of the (Jewish) age," God’s determined time upon them, in which He brings them back to Himself, begins. The children of the bond-maids represent this, for it is in the time of their lowest degradation that He brings in salvation for them. In the first place here we have Dan; and Dan judges his people as one of the tribes of Israel. This is the prophecy of the restoration of the people to self-government, -Dan as well as the rest, though the least of them all. The rise from Issachar’s burdened condition is very evident. Yet it is just at this time that their worst trouble and their deepest fall are found. Hence the mingled character of the abrupt address. For it is when the Jews, restored, though in unbelief, by Gentile aid, have once more become a nation, at least partially independent, that the last antichrist, claiming to be their Messiah will appear amongst them (long since, from this very prophecy, connected with the tribe of Dan). He will be the "lawless one" of 2Th 2:1-17, and the willful king of Dan 11:1-45. He will be "a serpent in the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse-heels, so that the rider falleth backward." Here, satanic character is apparent, and the cry bursts from Jacob -prophetically, the cry of the remnant of grace in those darkest hours before the dawn, -"I have waited for Thy salvation, O Lord." Thus cast upon Him, now the road is upward.
2. Or, "Gad, a troop shall rush upon him, but he shall rush upon the heel." Conflict, with final victory, is depicted here: the assaulting foes are routed and pursued.
3. Quiet possession of the land, and abundance, follow with Asher, the "happy one." And —
4. Naphtali is free as the hind, the female deer, no longer a warrior, with nothing to dread; and giving goodly words: for Israel’s tongue will at last be loosed also, and she shall give forth words of joy and praise and sweetness such as she has never done.
Thus God has come in, and salvation is attained; but we have yet Rachel’s children, as a third series, and we are in no doubt as to the significance of these. Joseph, the One separated from His brethren, and Benjamin, the Son of the right hand: both these we know, -the Christ they knew not, now their joy and boast, and the Christ they clung to, but whose dependence upon the rejected One they knew not. Now they are together, the double witness of a double salvation.
1. Joseph whom they despised is, however, the main figure here, whose fruit, maintained for us by the living power of the Spirit, has run over the Jewish wall; and will run over, that the Gentiles also may rejoice in Him; galled, shot at, hated by the archers, yet His bow abides in strength, and the arms of His hands are made strong by the hands of Jacob’s Mighty One, the God of grace. Resurrection has confirmed in this way His power, and as the Risen One He becomes the Shepherd of Israel, the Stone made the head of the corner. Fullness of all blessings are on the head of Him who was separated from His brethren. What a testimony for the Jew today!
2. Benjamin ravens as a wolf, but the notice is slight as compared with that of Joseph. The Messiah believed in by Israel is but little indeed beside the greater and more glorious figure. Still, Christ will fulfill both types; and judgment also be His needed though "strange work."
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v28 whole age Or, days of the years of his…
whole age Or, days of the years of his life.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v29 When the time approached for Israel to die
When the time approached for Israel to die
This speaks about time as if it travels and comes to a place. AT: "When it was almost time for Israel to die" (See: Metaphor)
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If now I have found favor in your eyes
Here "eyes" is a metonym for sight, and "sight" stands for thoughts or opinions. AT: "If I have found favor with you" or "If I have pleased you" (See: Metonymy and Metaphor)
now
This does not mean "at this moment," but is used to draw attention to the important point that follows.
found favor
This means that someone is approved of by someone else. (See: Idiom)
put your hand under my thigh
This act is a sign of making a serious promise. See how you translated this in Genesis 24:2. (See: Symbolic Action)
show me faithfulness and trustworthiness
The abstract nouns "faithfulness" and "trustworthiness" can be translated as adjectives. AT: "treat me in a faithful and trustworthy manner" (See: Abstract Nouns)
Please do not bury me in Egypt
The word "please" adds emphasis to this request.
When I sleep with my fathers
Here "sleep" is a polite way to refer to dying. AT: "When I die and join my family members who died before me" (See: Euphemism)
Swear to me
"Promise me" or "Make an oath to me"
swore to him
"promised him" or "made an oath to him"
translationWords
Jacob
faithful
trust
bury
ancestor
oath
bow
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv29, 31 47:29-31 bury me with my ancestors: Cp. 49:29-33. Jacob…
47:29-31 bury me with my ancestors: Cp. 49:29-33. Jacob wanted to be buried with Abraham and Isaac in the cave of Machpelah (see study note on 49:29-33; see 23:1-20; 25:7-10; 35:27-29). • Put your hand under my thigh: This custom (cp. 24:1-9 and study note on 24:2) was a serious oath to carry on the covenant, which had as its main promise innumerable descendants in the Promised Land.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.