Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you, and bring you again to the land of your fathers.
Parallel Translations
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Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you, and bring you again to the land of your fathers.
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And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.
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And Israel said unto Joseph: 'Behold, I die; but God will be with you, and bring you back unto the land of your fathers.
Cross-references (25)
Passages linked to Genesis 48:21 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 46:4 I will go down with you into Egypt. I will also surely bring you up again. Joseph’s hand will close your eyes.”
- Genesis 50:24 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am dying, but God will surely visit you, and bring you up out of this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”
- Genesis 26:3 Live in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you. For I will give to you, and to your offspring, all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.
- Genesis 28:15 Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you, until I have done that which I have spoken of to you.”
- Hebrews 7:3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God), remains a priest continually.
- Hebrews 7:23-25 Many, indeed, have been made priests, because they are hindered from continuing by death. But he, because he lives forever, has his priesthood unchangeable. Therefore he is also able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, seeing that he lives forever to make intercession for them.
- Genesis 12:5 Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother’s son, all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they went to go into the land of Canaan. They entered into the land of Canaan.
- Genesis 15:14 I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth;
- Genesis 37:1 Jacob lived in the land of his father’s travels, in the land of Canaan.
- Deuteronomy 1:1-46 These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suf, between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea. In the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that Yahweh had given him in commandment to them, after he had struck Sihon the king of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan who lived in Ashtaroth, at Edrei. Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses began to declare this law, saying, “Yahweh our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying, ‘You have lived long enough at this mountain. Turn, and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the places near there: in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the lowland, in the South, by the seashore, in the land of the Canaanites, and in Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. Behold, I have set the land before you. Go in and possess the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers—to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob—to give to them and to their offspring after them.’ ” I spoke to you at that time, saying, “I am not able to bear you myself alone. Yahweh your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as the stars of the sky for multitude. Yahweh, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, as he has promised you! How can I myself alone bear your problems, your burdens, and your strife? Take wise men of understanding who are respected among your tribes, and I will make them heads over you.” You answered me, and said, “The thing which you have spoken is good to do.” So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and respected men, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, captains of hundreds, captains of fifties, captains of tens, and officers, according to your tribes. I commanded your judges at that time, saying, “Hear cases between your brothers and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the foreigner who is living with him. You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.” I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do. We traveled from Horeb and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw, by the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as Yahweh our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh Barnea. I said to you, “You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which Yahweh our God gives to us. Behold, Yahweh your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as Yahweh the God of your fathers has spoken to you. Don’t be afraid, neither be dismayed.” You came near to me, everyone of you, and said, “Let’s send men before us, that they may search the land for us, and bring back to us word of the way by which we must go up, and the cities to which we shall come.” The thing pleased me well. I took twelve of your men, one man for every tribe. They turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the valley of Eshcol, and spied it out. They took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us, and brought us word again, and said, “It is a good land which Yahweh our God gives to us.” Yet you wouldn’t go up, but rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh your God. You murmured in your tents, and said, “Because Yahweh hated us, he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us. Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our heart melt, saying, ‘The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to the sky. Moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there!’ ” Then I said to you, “Don’t be terrified. Don’t be afraid of them. Yahweh your God, who goes before you, he will fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness where you have seen how that Yahweh your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went, until you came to this place.” Yet in this thing you didn’t believe Yahweh your God, who went before you on the way, to seek out a place for you to pitch your tents in: in fire by night, to show you by what way you should go, and in the cloud by day. Yahweh heard the voice of your words and was angry, and swore, saying, “Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land which I swore to give to your fathers, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it. I will give the land that he has trodden on to him and to his children, because he has wholly followed Yahweh.” Also Yahweh was angry with me for your sakes, saying, “You also shall not go in there. Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, shall go in there. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. Moreover your little ones, whom you said would be captured or killed, your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, shall go in there. I will give it to them, and they shall possess it. But as for you, turn, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.” Then you answered and said to me, “We have sinned against Yahweh. We will go up and fight, according to all that Yahweh our God commanded us.” Every man of you put on his weapons of war, and presumed to go up into the hill country. Yahweh said to me, “Tell them, ‘Don’t go up and don’t fight; for I am not among you, lest you be struck before your enemies.’ ” So I spoke to you, and you didn’t listen; but you rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh, and were presumptuous, and went up into the hill country. The Amorites, who lived in that hill country, came out against you and chased you as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, even to Hormah. You returned and wept before Yahweh; but Yahweh didn’t listen to your voice, nor turn his ear to you. So you stayed in Kadesh many days, according to the days that you remained.
- Deuteronomy 31:8 Yahweh himself is who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be discouraged.”
- Joshua 1:5 No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not fail you nor forsake you.
- Joshua 1:9 Haven’t I commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be dismayed, for Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go.”
- Joshua 3:7 Yahweh said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.
- Joshua 23:14 “Behold, today I am going the way of all the earth. You know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which Yahweh your God spoke concerning you. All have happened to you. Not one thing has failed of it.
- Joshua 24:1-33 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. Joshua said to all the people, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘Your fathers lived of old time beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor. They served other gods. I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his offspring, and gave him Isaac. I gave to Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave to Esau Mount Seir, to possess it. Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. “ ‘I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out. I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and you came to the sea. The Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and with horsemen to the Red Sea. When they cried out to Yahweh, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea on them, and covered them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. You lived in the wilderness many days. “ ‘I brought you into the land of the Amorites, that lived beyond the Jordan. They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand. You possessed their land, and I destroyed them from before you. Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. He sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you, but I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you still. So I delivered you out of his hand. “ ‘You went over the Jordan, and came to Jericho. The men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I delivered them into your hand. I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; not with your sword, nor with your bow. I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities which you didn’t build, and you live in them. You eat of vineyards and olive groves which you didn’t plant.’ “Now therefore fear Yahweh, and serve him in sincerity and in truth. Put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, in Egypt; and serve Yahweh. If it seems evil to you to serve Yahweh, choose today whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh.” The people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake Yahweh, to serve other gods; for it is Yahweh our God who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way in which we went, and among all the peoples through the middle of whom we passed. Yahweh drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve Yahweh; for he is our God.” Joshua said to the people, “You can’t serve Yahweh, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your disobedience nor your sins. If you forsake Yahweh, and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you evil, and consume you, after he has done you good.” The people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve Yahweh.” Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen Yahweh yourselves, to serve him.” They said, “We are witnesses.” “Now therefore put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to Yahweh, the God of Israel.” The people said to Joshua, “We will serve Yahweh our God, and we will listen to his voice.” So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a great stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of Yahweh. Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all Yahweh’s words which he spoke to us. It shall be therefore a witness against you, lest you deny your God.” So Joshua sent the people away, each to his own inheritance. After these things, Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died, being one hundred ten years old. They buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash. Israel served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, and had known all the work of Yahweh, that he had worked for Israel. They buried the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, in Shechem, in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of silver. They became the inheritance of the children of Joseph. Eleazar the son of Aaron died. They buried him in the hill of Phinehas his son, which was given him in the hill country of Ephraim.
- 1 Kings 2:2-4 “I am going the way of all the earth. You be strong therefore, and show yourself a man; and keep the instruction of Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies, according to that which is written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do, and wherever you turn yourself. Then Yahweh may establish his word which he spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your children are careful of their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail you,’ he said, ‘a man on the throne of Israel.’
- Psalms 18:46 Yahweh lives! Blessed be my rock. Exalted be the God of my salvation,
- Psalms 146:3-4 Don’t put your trust in princes, in a son of man in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, and he returns to the earth. In that very day, his thoughts perish.
- Zechariah 1:5-6 Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? But my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, didn’t they overtake your fathers? “Then they repented and said, ‘Just as Yahweh of Armies determined to do to us, according to our ways, and according to our practices, so he has dealt with us.’ ”
- Luke 2:29 “Now you are releasing your servant, Master, according to your word, in peace;
- Acts 13:36 For David, after he had in his own generation served the counsel of God, fell asleep, was laid with his fathers, and saw decay.
- 2 Timothy 4:6 For I am already being offered, and the time of my departure has come.
- Hebrews 7:8 Here people who die receive tithes, but there one receives tithes of whom it is testified that he lives.
- 2 Peter 1:14 knowing that the putting off of my tent comes swiftly, even as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 21. And Israel said unto Joseph. Jacob repeats what…
21. And Israel said unto Joseph. Jacob repeats what he had said. And truly all his sons, and especially Joseph and his sons, required something more than one simple confirmation, in order that they might not fix their abode in Egypt, but might dwell, in their minds, in the land of Canaan. He mentions his own death, for the purpose of teaching them that the eternal truth of God by no means depended on the life of men: as if he had said, my life, seeing it is short and fading, passes away; but the promise of God, which has no limit, will flourish when I also am dead. No vision had appeared unto his sons, but God had ordained the holy old man as the intermediate sponsor of his covenant. He therefore sedulously fulfills the office enjoined upon him, taking timely precaution that their faith should not be shaken by his death. So when the Lord delivers his word to the world by mortal men, although they die, having finished their course of life according to the flesh; yet the voice of God is not extinguished with them, but quickens us even at the present day. Therefore Peter writes, that he will endeavor, that after his decease, the Church may be mindful of the doctrine committed unto him. (2 Peter 1:15.)
Unto the land of your fathers. It is not without reason that he claims for himself and his fathers, the dominion over that land in which they had always wandered as strangers; for whereas it might seem that the promise of God had failed, he excites his sons to a good hope, and pronounces, with a courageous spirit, that land to be his own, in which, at length, he scarcely obtained a sepulcher, and that only by favor. Whence then was this great confidence, except that he would accustom his sons, by his example, to have faith in the word of God? Now this doctrine is also common to us; because we never rely with sufficient firmness on the word of God, so long as we are led by our own feelings. Nay, until our faith rises to lay hold on those things which are removed afar off, we know not what it is to set our seal to the word of God.
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 Which they had by faith in the promise.
Which they had by faith in the promise.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 48:21 And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I…
Gen 48:21 And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.
Ver. 21. Behold, I die.] This was a speech of faith, uttered without the least fear, consternation, or dismayment. As it was no more betwixt God and Moses, but "Go up and die"; so betwixt God and Jacob, but "Behold, I die." Death, he knew, to him should neither be total, but of the body only; nor perpetual of the body, but for a season only. See both these set forth by the apostle, Rom 8:10-11. The Chaldee Paraphrast on this text hath: Behold, I die; and the word of the Lord, i.e., Christ, shall be your help.
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 Behold, I die, i.e. I am about to die;…
Behold, I die, i.e. I am about to die; the present time for that which will shortly and certainly be, as Gen 19:13; 20:3; Joh 14:2.
The land of your fathers, i.e. Canaan; their land,
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1. By habitation, as Nazareth is called Christ’s country because he dwelt in it.
2. By the donation of God, who had promised, and would in his time give the actual possession of it to them, i.e. to their seed.
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 And Israel said unto Joseph, behold, I die,.... Expected…
And Israel said unto Joseph, behold, I die,.... Expected to die very shortly; and he not only speaks of it as a certain thing, and what would quickly be, but with pleasure and comfort, having no fear and dread of it on him, but as what was agreeable to him, and he had made himself familiar with:
but God shall be with you; with Joseph and his posterity, and with all his brethren, and theirs, to comfort and support them, to guide and counsel them, to protect and defend them, to carry them through all they had to endure in Egypt, and at length bring them out of it; he signifies he was departing from them, but God would not depart from them, whose presence would be infinitely more to them than his; and which, as it made him the more easy to leave them, so it might make them more easy to part with him:
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and bring you again unto the land of your fathers; the land of Canaan, where their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had dwelt, and which was given to them and theirs for an inheritance, and where Joseph and his brethren had lived, and would be brought thither again, as the bones of Joseph were, and as all of them in their posterity were in Joshua's time.
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 I die, but God shall be with you, and…
I die, but God shall be with you, and bring you again - This assurance was given them, and carefully preserved among them, that they might neither love Egypt too much when it favoured them, nor fear it too much when it frowned upon them. These words of Jacob furnish us with comfort in reference to the death of our friends: But God shall be with us, and his gracious presence is sufficient to make up the loss. They leave us, but he will never fail us. He will bring us to the land of our fathers, the heavenly Canaan, whither our godly fathers are gone before us. If God be with us while we stay behind in this world, and will receive us shortly to be with them that are gone before to a better world, we ought not to sorrow as those that have no hope.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 21. Behold, I die] With what composure is…
Verse 21. Behold, I die] With what composure is this most awful word expressed! Surely of Jacob it might be now said, "He turns his sight undaunted on the tomb;" for though it is not said that he was full of days, as were Abraham and Isaac, yet he is perfectly willing to bid adieu to earthly things, and lay his body in the grave. Could any person act as the patriarchs did in their last moments, who had no hopes of eternal life, no belief in the immortality of the soul? Impossible! With such a conviction of the being of God, with such proofs of his tenderness and regard, with such experience of his providential and miraculous interference in their behalf, could they suppose that they were only creatures of a day, and that God had wasted so much care, attention, providence, grace, and goodness, on creatures who were to be ultimately like the beasts that perish? The supposition that they could have no correct notion of the immortality of the soul is as dishonourable to God as to themselves. But what shall we think of Christians who have formed this hypothesis into a system to prove what? Why, that the patriarchs lived and died in the dark! That either the soul has no immortality, or that God has not thought proper to reveal it. Away with such an opinion! It cannot be said to merit serious refutation.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Gen 48:21. I die, but God shall be with…
Gen 48:21. I die, but God shall be with you, and bring you again — This assurance was given them, and carefully preserved among them, that they might neither love Egypt too much when it favoured them, nor fear it too much when it frowned upon them. These words of Jacob furnish us with comfort in reference to the death of our friends: but God shall be with us, and his gracious presence is sufficient to make up the loss. They leave us, but he will never fail us. He will bring us to the land of our fathers, the heavenly Canaan, whither our godly fathers are gone before us. If God be with us while we stay behind in this world, and will receive us shortly to be with them that are gone before to a better world, we ought not to “sorrow as those that have no hope.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die--The patriarch could…
Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die--The patriarch could speak of death with composure, but he wished to prepare Joseph and the rest of the family for the shock.
but God shall be with you--Jacob, in all probability, was not authorized to speak of their bondage--he dwelt only on the certainty of their restoration to Canaan.
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 21. Behold, I die; but God shall be with…
21. Behold, I die; but God shall be with you — “Sublime and inspiring faith! Your father dies, but his God, and his father’s God, remains.” — Newhall.
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 21. bring you again] Jacob predicts the restoration of…
21. bring you again] Jacob predicts the restoration of his descendants to Canaan. This was the Divine promise. Cf. Gen_15:16, Gen_46:4, Gen_50:24.
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.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And Israel (Jacob) said unto Joseph, Behold, I die:…
And Israel (Jacob) said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God (Elohim) shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers. "For Joseph and his children a great promise and dispensation" (Lange).
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 Behold, I die
Gen_48:21-22
Behold, I die
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Jacob in the prospect of death
We have here a threefold picture.
I. OF STRENGTH IN WEAKNESS.
1. The strength of faith.
2. The strength of godliness.
3. The strength of peace.
II. OF SUCCESS IN FAILURE.
III. OF LIFE IN DEATH. (T. H. Leale.)
Closing days
I. A PERIOD OF UNRUFFLED PEACE AND PROSPERITY.
II. A SEASON OF GRATEFUL RETROSPECT.
III. A SUBLIME DEATH-SCENE. (T. S. Dickson, M. A.)
Death contemplated
I. AN ABSORBING CRISIS.
1. Its nature.
2. Its cause. Result of sin.
3. Its consequences. Everlasting.
II. AN AWAKENING CONSIDERATION. Behold. That word suggests to us suitable preparation. In prospect, then, of that amazing hour we ought--
1. To review our past lives.
2. To realise our dying hour.
3. To think of our future prospects. (C. Clayton, M. A.)
The dying believer
I. LET US CONSIDER THE SPIRIT OF THE WORDS OF THE DYING PATRIARCH IN REFERENCE TO HIMSELF. I die, as if he had said, I die in peace; I die without reluctance; I have lived long enough; I am satisfied with life; I am willing to depart. What may have been the considerations which induced this state of feeling?
1. He was satisfied with the amount of enjoyment which the God of his life had granted him.
2. The patriarch was satisfied with that duration of life which had been allotted him.
3. The dying patriarch was satisfied with the prospect of a better life which was opening before him. Having thus considered the words of the text, in reference to the views entertained by the patriarch as to himself, let us regard them.
II. As SUGGESTIVE OF THE REASONS OF HIS REPOSE IN REFERENCE TO HIS SURVIVING RELATIVES.
1. The manifestations of the Divine mercy to himself, encouraged his hopes as to his surviving relatives.
2. He was persuaded that the paternal benediction he was authorized to pronounce, had an aspect peculiarly favourable to his descendants.
3. The patriarch felt assured that the covenant made with Abraham, and Isaac, and himself, secured the presence and blessing of God to his survivors, even to the remotest age. (H. F. Burder, M. A.)
Premonitions of death
The first symptom of approaching death with some, is the strong presentiment that they are about to die. Oganan, the mathematician, while in apparent health, rejected pupils from the feeling that he was on the eve of resting from his labours; and he expired soon after, of an apoplectic stroke. Fletcher, the divine, had a dream which shadowed out his impending dissolution, and believing it to be the merciful warning of Heaven, he sent for a sculptor and ordered his tomb. Begin your work forthwith, he said at parting; there is no time to lose. And unless the artist had obeyed the admonition, death would have proved the quicker workman of the two. Mozart wrote his Requiem under the conviction that the monument he was raising to his genius, would, by the power of association, prove a universal monument to his remains. When life was fleeting very fast, he called for the score, and musing over it, said, Did I not tell you truly that it was for myself that I composed this death chant. Another great artist in a different department, convinced that his hand was about to lose its cunning, chose a subject emblematical of the coming event. His friends inquired the nature of his next design; and Hogarth replied, The end of all things. In that case, rejoined one, there will be an end of the painter. What was uttered in jest was answered in earnest, with a solemn look and heavy sigh: There will, he said; and the sooner my work is done the better. He commenced next day, laboured upon it with unremitting diligence, and when he had given it the last touch, seized his pallet, broke it in pieces and said: I have finished. The print was published in March under the title of Finis; and in October, the curious eyes which saw the manners in the face were closed in the dust. Our ancestors, who, prone to look in the air for causes which were to be found upon the earth, attributed these intimations to various supernatural agencies. John Hunter solved the mystery, if so it can be called, in a single sentence. We sometimes, he says, feel within ourselves that we shall not live; for the living powers become weak, and the nerves communicate the intelligence to the brain. His own case has often been quoted among the marvels of which he offered this rational explanation. He intimated, on leaving home, that if a discussion which awaited him at the hospital took an angry turn, it would prove his death. A colleague gave him the lie; the coarse word verified the prophecy, and he expired almost immediately, in an adjoining room. There was everything to lament in the circumstance, but nothing at which to wonder, except that any person could show such disrespect to the great genius, a single year of whose existence was worth the united lives of his opponents. Hunter, in uttering the prediction, had only to take counsel in his own experience, without the intervention of invisible spirits. He had long laboured under a disease of the heart, and he felt the disorder had reached the point at which any sharp agitation would bring on the crisis. Circumstances, which at another time would excite no attention, are accepted as an omen when health is failing. The order for the Requiem with Mozart, the dream with Fletcher, turned the current of their thoughts to the grave. Foote, prior to his departure for the continent, stood contemplating the picture of a brother author, and exclaimed, his eyes full of tears, Poor Weston! In the same dejected tone he added, after a pause, soon others shall say, Poor Foote! And to the surprise of his friends, a few days proved the justice of his prognostication. The expectation of the event had a share in producing it, for a slight shock completes the destruction of prostrate energies. The case of Wolsey was singular. The morning before he died, he asked Cavendish the hour, and was answered past eight. Eight of the clock! replied Wolsey, that cannot be; eight of the clock, nay, nay, it cannot be eight of the clock, for by eight of the clock shall you lose your master.
The day he miscalculated, the hour came true; on the following morning, as the clock struck eight, his troubled spirit passed from life. Cavendish and the bystanders, thought he must have had a revelation of the time of his death; and from the way in which the fact had taken possession of his mind, we suspect that he relied on astrological prediction, which had the credit of a revelation in his own esteem. Persons in health have died from the expectation of dying. It was common for those who perished by violence to summon their destroyers to appear, within a stated time, before the tribunal of their God; and we have many perfectly attested instances in which, through fear and remorse, the perpetrators withered under the curse, and died. Pestilence does not kill with the rapidity of terror. The profligate abbess of a convent, the Princess Gonzaga of Cleves, and Guise, the profligate Archbishop of Rheims, took it into their heads, for a jest, to visit one of the nuns by night, and exhort her as a person who was visibly dying. While in the performance of this heartless scheme, they whispered to each other, She is departing. She departed in earnest. Her vigour, instead of detecting the trick, sank beneath the alarm; and the profane pair discovered, in the midst of their sport, that they were making merry with a corpse. (T. Walker.)
Jacobs death bed
This is the nearest approach in the Bible to that which is commonly termed a death-bed scene. There is no sadder phrase than that--a death bed scene; for a man, when he comes to die, has something different to do than mere acting; it is not then his business to show other people how a Christian can die, but prepare himself to meet his God. It is sad also because the dying hour is often unsatisfactory, often far from triumph; in the Book of Ecclesiastes we read, How dieth the wise man, as the fool. For there is stupor, sadness, powerlessness; and spiritual darkness also frequently clouds the last moments of the pious man. This dying hour must however have made an impression on these young men. In death itself there is nothing naturally instructive; but in this death there was simplicity, they saw the sight of an old man gathered ripe unto his fathers, and they would remember in their gaiety and strength what all life at last must come to. Consider too the effect that must have been produced on Joseph. There had been nothing, that we are aware of, with which he had to reproach himself in his conduct to his father; there was therefore no remorse mixed with his sorrow, he was spared the sharpest pang of all. How different must the feeling of the other brethren have been; they would remember that there lay one dying whom they had wronged, one whom they had deceived. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
The last days of Jacob
The history is a simple one, yet with wondrous perspective. Seventeen years did Israel dwell in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen, and when he was a hundred and forty and seven years old, the time drew nigh that Israel must die. Who can fight the army of the Years? Those silent soldiers never lose a war. They fire no base cannon, they use no vulgar steel, they strike with invisible but irresistible hands. Noisy force loses something by its very noise. The silent years bury the tumultuous throng. We have all to be taken down. The strongest tower amongst us, heaven-reaching in its altitude, must be taken down--a stone at a time, or shaken with one rude shock to the level ground: man must die. Israel had then but one favour to ask. So it comes to us all. We who have spent a life-time in petitioning for assistance have at the last but one request to make. Take me, said one of Englands brightest wits in his dying moments, to the window that I may feel the morning air. Light, more light, said another man greater still, expressing some wondrous necessity best left as a mystery. Bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt, said dying Jacob to his son Joseph, but bury me in the buryingplace of my fathers. What other heaven had the Old Testament man? The graveyard was a kind of comfort to him. He must be buried in a given place marked off and sacredly guarded. He had not lived up into that universal humanity which says--All places are consecrated, and every point is equally near heaven with every other point, if so be God dig the grave and watch it. By-and-by we shall hear another speech in the tone of Divine revelation; by-and-by we shall get rid of these localities, and limitations, and prisons, for the Lion of the tribe of Judah will open up some wider space of thought, and contemplation, and service. With Josephs oath dying Jacob was satisfied. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Jacobs end
The close of Jacobs career stands in most pleasing contrast with all the previous scenes of his eventful history. It reminds one of a serene evening, after a tempestuous day: the sun, which during the day had been hidden from view by clouds, mists, and fogs, sets in majesty and brightness, gilding with his beams the western sky and holding out the cheering prospect of a bright to-morrow. Thus is it with our aged patriarch. The supplanting, the bargain-making, the cunning, the management, the shifting, the shuffling, the unbelieving selfish fears--all those dark clouds of nature and of earth seem to have passed away, and he comes forth, in all the calm elevation of faith, to bestow blessings, and impart dignities, in that holy skilfulness, which communion with God can alone impart. Though natures eyes are dim, faiths vision is sharp. He is not to be deceived as to the relative positions assigned to Ephraim and Manasseh, in the counsels of God. He has not, like his father Isaac, in chapter 27., to tremble very exceedingly, in view of an almost fatal mistake. Quite the reverse. His intelligent reply to his less instructed son is, I know it, my son, I know it. The power of sense has not, as in Isaacs case, dimmed his spiritual vision. He has been taught, in the school of experience, the importance of keeping close to the Divine purpose, and natures influence cannot move him from thence. In Gen_48:11, we have a very beautiful example of the mode in which our God ever rises above all our thoughts, and proves Himself better than all our fears. And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face; and, lo, God hath showed me also thy seed. To natures view, Joseph was dead; whereas in Gods view he was alive, and seated in the highest place of authority, next the throne. Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love 1Co_2:9). Would that our souls could rise higher in their apprehension of God and His ways. (C. H. M.)
Jacob and Israel
It is interesting to notice the way in which the titles Jacob and Israel are introduced in the close of the Book of Genesis; as, for example, One told Jacob, and said, Behold thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed. Then, it is immediately added, And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz. Now, we know, there is nothing in Scripture without its specific meaning, and hence this interchange of names contains some instruction. In general, it may be remarked, that Jacob sets forth the depth to which God has descended; Israel, the height to which Jacob was raised. (C. H. M.)
Men die but God remains
When John Owen was dying, he said, I am leaving the ship of the Church in a storm; but whilst the Great Pilot is in it, the loss of a poor under-rower will be inconsiderable. And when a young man whose heart was in the foreign mission work, had to die, he said, God can evangelize the world without me. So when we may lose earthly friends, comforters, guides, and helpers, we may and ought ever to fall back on our all-sufficient and ever-present God and Heavenly Father. All the lamps in a house or in a town may be extinguished when the sun rises; all the pumps may also be demolished or taken away, whilst there is a reservoir ever full, from which every one may have an abundant supply of the best water. So we need not be dismayed when we lose any or all earthly friends and advantages, so long as we have God left. They who have God for their Father, and Friend, and Portion, have all things in Him. He is the best Teacher, Guide, Protector, and Provider. But sometimes God has to deprive us of our earthly friends and possessions in order to lead us to trust Him as we ought.
The folly of anxiety about death
What if the leaves were to fall a-weeping, and say, It will be so painful for us to be pulled from our stalks when autumn comes? Foolish fear! summer goes, and autumn succeeds. The glory of death is upon the leaves; and the gentle breeze that blows takes them softly and silently from the bough, and they float slowly down like fiery sparks upon the moss. It is hard to die when the time is not ripe. When it is, it will be easy, we need not die while we are living. (H. W.Beecher.)
Death, a ferry-boat
Death to Gods people is but a ferry-boat. Every day and every hour the boat pushes off with some of the saints, and returns for more.
Waiting for death
The Christian, at his death, should not be like the child, who is forced by the rod to quit his play, but like one who is wearied of it and willing to go to bed. Neither ought he to be like the mariner, whose vessel is drifted by the violence of the tempest from the shore, tossed to and fro upon the ocean, and at last suffers wreck and destruction; but like one who is ready for the voyage, and, the moment the wind is favourable, cheerfully weighs anchor, and, full of hope and joy, launches forth into the deep. (Gotthold.)
Peace in death
The ship has set sail, and kept on her course many days and nights, with no other incidents than those that are common to all. Suddenly land appears; but what the character the coast may be, the voyagers cannot discern through the tumult. The first effect of a near approach to land is a very great commotion in the waters. It is one of the coral islands of the South Pacific, encircled by a ring of fearful breakers at some little distance from the shore. Forward the ship must go; the waves are higher and angrier than any they have seen in the open sea. Presently through them, partly over them, they are borne at a bound; strained, giddy, and almost senseless, they find themselves within that sentinel ridge of crested waves that guard the shore; and the portion of sea that still lies before them is calm and clear like glass. It seems a lake of paradise, and not an earthly thing at all. It is inexpressibly sweet to lie on its bosom after the long voyage and the barren ridge. All the heavens are mirrored in the waters; and along its edge lies a flowery land. Across the belt of sea the ship glides gently, and gently touches soon that lovely shore. So many a Christian has been thrown into a great tumult when the shore of eternity suddenly appeared before him. A great fear tossed and sickened him for some days; but, when that barrier was passed, he experienced a peace deeper, stiller, sweeter, than any he ever knew before. A little space of lifes voyage remained after the fear of death had sunk into a calm, and before the immortal felt the solace of eternal rest. (W. Arnot.)
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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 Gen_48:22. One portion above thy brethren.] He was to…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Gen_48:22. One portion above thy brethren.] He was to have two lots in the land of promise. Which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow. “The designation of the land as taken out of the hand of the Amorite by Jacob’s sword and bow is spoken of in the anticipatory spirit of a prophet, assuming as done that which his descendants should do. See the expression repeated in form of expression almost verbatim (Jos_24:12).” (Alford.) The Amorite was a poetical name for the Canaanites generally.
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MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Gen_48:21-22
JACOB IN THE PROSPECT OF DEATH
The good patriarch had suffered many sore calamities, had been tossed with many a tempest on the waves of this troublesome world. Now the peaceful haven is in sight and he is glad to be at rest. He speaks most simply and calmly of his death. “And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold I die.” We have here a threefold picture:—
I. Of strength in weakness. His bodily powers were failing, his eyes were dim; but yet he showed—
1. The strength of faith. He believed that God would be with his descendants, and bring them up from Egypt; that the Lord would perform that word unto him upon which he had caused him to hope. He describes the portion which he gave to Joseph as that “which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.” As to their form, these words refer to the past; but the terms are prophetical, and speak of future conquest. The land would be wrested by him from the Amorites in the person of his posterity (Gen_15:13-16). With prophetic boldness he uses the past for the future. Here was faith in the word of God which came to him.
2. The strength of Godliness. He wishes to wean his posterity from Egypt. He desires to make all his descendants the servants of that God whom he had served all his life long.
3. The strength of peace. He is calm and peaceful, and to be calm in the prospect of death is to be conscious of the upholding of an infinite strength. All through life, and supremely so in death, the peace of God is the strength of His people (Psa_29:11). And when all fails on earth, they only enter into a deeper and a perpetual peace (Psa_73:26).
II. Of success in failure. He was failing on earth, and the time would soon come when he could be no longer with them. “I die,” he says, “but God shall be with you.” God still lives on; and this was the confidence and stay of his soul. All was failing him now but his God. Helpless on earth, he falls into the “everlasting arms.” (Deu_33:27.) He still has Omnipotent support, and that was true success.
III. Of life in death. He was dying, but the light of immortality shines through the decays of his mortal frame. His faith and love, strong even to the end, surely lasted beyond death. The soul which has once looked up into the face of God cannot die. The spiritual man shows himself amidst the ruins of death. It is remarkable that Jacob says nothing about the long intervening years of bondage which his children would have to endure. He only speaks concerning the end and grand result of all. He sees nothing now but the true life, real blessedness for himself and for them. The light of God’s favour, shining beyond and overwhelming all earthly sorrows, entirely filled his soul.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Gen_48:21-22. As it was no more betwixt God and Moses, but “Go up and die;” so betwixt God and Jacob, but “Behold I die.” Death, he knew, to him should be neither total, but of the body only; nor perpetual of the body, but for a season only. See both these set forth by the Apostle, Rom_8:10-11.—(Trapp.)
The consolation given to survivors. Jacob says, “Behold I die, but God shall be with you,” etc. Thus our Redeemer said to His disciples, “It is expedient for you that I go away,” etc. This then explains to us the principle of bereavement; slowly and by degrees all drops off from us—first our parents, then our companions, till at last we find ourselves alone, with no arm of flesh to support us; and then comes the sense of dependence on the arm Divine: therefore it is emphatically written that He is the God of the fatherless and the widow.—(Robertson.)
As to the manner of their deliverance, neither Jacob nor his sons knew any more on this head than Abraham was enabled to inform them, viz., that God would judge the land where they were oppressed, and would bring them out with great substance. Their business was to believe and embrace the promise, and to leave the manner of its accomplishment to God.—(Bush.)
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.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 will be with you ... bring you back ...…
will be with you ... bring you back ... your fathers
Here "you" and "your" are plural and refer to all the people of Israel. (See: Forms of You)
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will be with you
This is an idiom that means God will help and bless the people of Israel. AT: "God will help you" or "God will bless you" (See: Idiom)
will bring you back
Here "bring" can be translated as "take." (See: Go and Come)
land of your fathers
"land of your ancestors"
To you, as one who is above your brothers, I give to you the mountain slope
Possible meanings are 1) Joseph having more honor and authority than his brothers is spoken of as if he were physically above them. AT: "To you, who is greater than your brothers, I give the mountain slope" or 2) Jacob means he is giving more land to Joseph than he is giving to Joseph's brothers. AT: "To you, I give one more ridge than I give your brothers. I give to you the mountain slope" (See: Metaphor)
To you
Here "you" is singular and refers to Joseph. (See: Forms of You)
the mountain slope that I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow
Here "sword" and "bow" stands for fighting in battle. AT: "the portion of land I fought for and took from the Amorites" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
ancestor
Amorite
sword
bow and arrow
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.