The Death and Burial of Jacob
Genesis 49:29-50:14
Gen.49.29 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויצו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אותם: PRON,3,m,pl,obj
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אלהם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- אני: PRON,1,sg
- נאסף: VERB,niphal,perf,1,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- עמי: NOUN,m,sg,abs+1s
- קברו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3m
- אתי: PRON,1,sg
- אל: NEG
- אבתי: NOUN,m,sg,construct
- אל: NEG
- המערה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- בשדה: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עפרון: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- החתי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Genesis 23:19-20 (structural): Same burial site and purchaser: the cave/field of Machpelah in the field of Ephron the Hittite is owned and used as a family burial place (background for Jacob’s burial request).
- Genesis 25:8 (verbal): Uses the same formula 'was gathered unto his people' of dying and being gathered to one's ancestors — a stock phrase applied to patriarchal death (here for Abraham).
- Genesis 35:29 (verbal): Isaac 'was gathered unto his people' and was buried by his sons — a parallel wording and motif of patriarchal death and family burial arrangements preceding Jacob’s instruction.
- Genesis 50:12-13 (structural): Narrative fulfillment: Joseph and the family carry Jacob’s body into Canaan and bury him in the cave of Machpelah — the very burial place Jacob named in Gen 49:29.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then he charged them and said to them, I am being gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite.
- And he charged them and said to them, I am being gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite.
Gen.49.30 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- במערה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- אשר: PRON,rel
- בשדה: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- המכפלה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- על: PREP
- פני: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- ממרא: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בארץ: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,def
- כנען: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אשר: PRON,rel
- קנה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אברהם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- את: PRT,acc
- השדה: NOUN,m,sg,def
- מאת: PREP
- עפרן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- החתי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לאחזת: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,construct
- קבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Genesis 23:19 (verbal): Direct account of Abraham's purchase of the cave/field of Machpelah from Ephron the Hittite — the same legal purchase cited in Gen 49:30.
- Genesis 50:13 (quotation): Narrative report that Jacob was buried in the cave of Machpelah, explicitly repeating that it was the field Abraham bought from Ephron (verbal echo and fulfillment of Jacob’s instruction).
- Genesis 25:9 (thematic): Record that Abraham himself was buried in the cave of Machpelah, highlighting the cave’s role as the ancestral burial site mentioned in Gen 49:30.
- Genesis 35:27 (allusion): Links the place-name Mamre with Hebron (city of Arba), clarifying the geographic reference “before Mamre” found in Gen 49:30.
Alternative generated candidates
- in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan—the field which Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a possession for a burial place.
- In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought—the field—from Ephron the Hittite as a burial holding.
Gen.49.31 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- שמה: ADV
- קברו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3m
- את: PRT,acc
- אברהם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ואת: CONJ
- שרה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- אשתו: NOUN,f,sg,cs+3,m,sg
- שמה: ADV
- קברו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3m
- את: PRT,acc
- יצחק: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ואת: CONJ
- רבקה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- אשתו: NOUN,f,sg,cs+3,m,sg
- ושמה: CONJ+ADV,loc
- קברתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,?,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- לאה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Genesis 23:19–20 (verbal): Describes Abraham’s purchase of the cave of Machpelah and the burial of Sarah — the same burial site Jacob cites here.
- Genesis 25:9–10 (verbal): Records the burial of Abraham in the cave of Machpelah by his sons, paralleling Jacob’s reference to the patriarchal tombs.
- Genesis 50:12–13 (structural): Narrates the later fulfillment when Joseph and his brothers carry Jacob’s body to Canaan and bury him in the cave of Machpelah, as Jacob requested.
- Joshua 24:32 (thematic): Notes the burial of Joseph’s bones in the land of Canaan; thematically parallels the repeated concern in the patriarchal narratives to secure burial in the ancestral land.
Alternative generated candidates
- There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.
- There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.
Gen.49.32 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- מקנה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- השדה: NOUN,m,sg,def
- והמערה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- בו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- מאת: PREP
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- חת: NOUN,m,sg,const
Parallels
- Genesis 23:17-20 (verbal): Describes Abraham’s purchase of the field and the cave of Machpelah from Ephron the Hittite (sons of Heth), the exact locus Jacob here names for burial.
- Genesis 25:9-10 (thematic): Isaac and Ishmael bury Abraham in the cave of Machpelah — showing the cave/field as the ancestral burial place referenced in Gen 49:32.
- Genesis 35:27-29 (thematic): Records the death and burial of Isaac and notes he was buried in the field of Machpelah, continuing the theme of family burials in that purchased cave.
- Genesis 50:13 (thematic): States that Joseph’s bones were carried to and buried in the cave of Machpelah, linking later patriarchal burials to the same field and cave named in Gen 49:32.
- Acts 7:16 (allusion): Stephen’s speech refers to the patriarchs’ acquisition of burial sites from the native inhabitants (a purchased tomb), alluding to the tradition of ancestral tomb purchases like Machpelah.
Alternative generated candidates
- The field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the sons of Heth.
- The field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the sons of Heth.
Gen.49.33 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויכל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יעקב: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- לצות: VERB,qal,infc
- את: PRT,acc
- בניו: NOUN,m,pl,cs
- ויאסף: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- רגליו: NOUN,m,pl,abs,suff:3,m
- אל: NEG
- המטה: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ויגוע: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ויאסף: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- עמיו: NOUN,m,sg,cstr+pr,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Gen.25:8 (verbal): Abraham's death uses the same death-formula — 'breathed his last... and was gathered to his people' — the same idiom applied to Jacob here.
- Gen.35:29 (verbal): Isaac's death narrative repeats the language and pattern ('gave up the ghost... and was gathered unto his people'), paralleling Jacob's end-of-life formula.
- Deut.32:50 (allusion): God tells Moses he will 'be gathered unto his people' (predictive use of the same phrase), an explicit theological precedent for the expression used of patriarchal death.
- Deut.34:5-6 (structural): Moses' death-account closes the Pentateuch with a brief death-and-burial notice, a structural parallel to the brief, formulaic conclusion of Jacob's life in Gen 49:33.
- 1 Kings 2:10 (thematic): David's death formula ('slept with his fathers' / buried and succeeded) reflects the broader biblical trope of a patriarchal/royal closing formula comparable to Jacob's 'was gathered to his people.'
Alternative generated candidates
- And Jacob finished commanding his sons; he drew his feet up into the bed, and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.
- And when Jacob finished commanding his sons, he gathered his feet up into the bed, breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.
Gen.50.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויפל: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- יוסף: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- על: PREP
- פני: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- אביו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3,m,sg
- ויבך: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- עליו: PREP,3,m,sg
- וישק: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Gen.46.29 (verbal): Joseph meets his father on coming into Egypt and 'fell on his neck, and wept upon his neck a good while' — nearly identical action and language to Gen 50:1.
- Gen.45.14-15 (verbal): When Joseph first reveals himself he 'fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept'; he also 'kissed all his brethren' — same verbs (fall, weep, kiss) used in a familial reunion context.
- Gen.33.4 (verbal): On Jacob's reunion with Esau both men 'fell on his neck, and embraced him, and kissed him; and they wept' — a parallel scene of falling, kissing and weeping at a family reunion.
- Gen.37.34-35 (thematic): Jacob's earlier mourning for Joseph (renting garments, refusing comfort) provides a thematic contrast and bookend: deep parental grief over a child, linking the family's cycle of loss and lament.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then Joseph fell on his father’s face, and wept over him, and kissed him.
- And Joseph fell upon his father’s face and wept over him and kissed him.
Gen.50.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויצו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יוסף: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- את: PRT,acc
- עבדיו: NOUN,m,pl,abs+3ms
- את: PRT,acc
- הרפאים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- לחנט: VERB,qal,inf,0,0,0
- את: PRT,acc
- אביו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3,m,sg
- ויחנטו: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,pl
- הרפאים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- את: PRT,acc
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Gen.50.26 (verbal): Uses the same verb and practice (חנט/‘to embalm’): when Joseph himself dies he is embalmed, echoing the procedure performed on his father.
- Exod.13.19 (thematic): Reports that Moses took Joseph's bones up out of Egypt—presupposes Joseph's body had been preserved/embalmed so his remains could be transported, linking to the embalming of Jacob as preparation for future removal.
- Josh.24.32 (thematic): Describes the eventual burial of Joseph's bones in Shechem after being carried out of Egypt, illustrating the long-term purpose of Egyptian embalming and connecting Jacob’s embalming to ancestral burial practices.
- Gen.49.29-33 (thematic): Jacob’s explicit instructions to be buried in the cave of Machpelah in Canaan explain why his body would be embalmed in Egypt—to preserve it for conveyance to the ancestral burial site.
Alternative generated candidates
- And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father; and the physicians embalmed Israel.
- And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father, and the physicians embalmed Israel.
Gen.50.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וימלאו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- ארבעים: NUM,m,pl
- יום: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כי: CONJ
- כן: ADV
- ימלאו: VERB,qal,imperf,3,m,pl
- ימי: NOUN,m,pl,cs
- החנטים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- ויבכו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- אתו: PRON,3,m,sg,acc
- מצרים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- שבעים: NUM,card,m,pl
- יום: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Gen.50.2 (verbal): Immediate context: Joseph orders the physicians to embalm Jacob and prepare him for burial—directly connected verbal and narrative continuation to v.3's statement about embalming for forty days.
- Gen.50.26 (allusion): Joseph himself is later said to have been embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt; parallels the practice of Egyptian embalming and the treatment of prominent dead in the Joseph story.
- Gen.23:4-20 (thematic): Abraham’s securing of a burial place for Sarah (negotiated burial and mourning customs) — a thematic parallel in patriarchal narratives concerning death, burial practices, and social rites.
- Deut.34:6 (thematic): Moses’ burial by God in an undisclosed tomb contrasts Israelite/nomadic burial customs with Egyptian embalming practices mentioned in Gen 50:3, highlighting different treatments of the dead.
- 1 Sam.31:11-13 (thematic): The national/public mourning and rites for Saul and Jonathan (washing, lamentation, mourning period) provide a parallel in how communities observe extended mourning for prominent figures, comparable to the Egyptians’ seventy days of lament for Jacob.
Alternative generated candidates
- Forty days were fulfilled for him—for thus are fulfilled the days of embalming—and the Egyptians wept for him seventy days.
- And forty days were fulfilled for him, for thus are fulfilled the days of embalming; and the Egyptians wept for him seventy days.
Gen.50.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויעברו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- ימי: NOUN,m,pl,cs
- בכיתו: PREP+NOUN,m,s,abs+SUF,3,m,sg
- וידבר: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- יוסף: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- בית: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- פרעה: NOUN,m,sg,def
- לאמר: INF,qal,infc
- אם: CONJ
- נא: PART
- מצאתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,sg
- חן: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- בעיניכם: PREP+NOUN,pl,f,cons+PRON,2,pl
- דברו: INF,qal,inf+3ms
- נא: PART
- באזני: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,cstr
- פרעה: NOUN,m,sg,def
- לאמר: INF,qal,infc
Parallels
- Gen.45:9-13 (structural): Joseph directs Pharaoh’s household/officers to convey a message on his behalf—here about bringing Jacob to Egypt—parallel to his asking them to speak to Pharaoh for permission after Jacob’s death.
- Gen.41:39-41 (thematic): Scene of Joseph’s high status and favor with Pharaoh, which provides the background for his ability to request that Pharaoh be spoken to on his behalf.
- Gen.39:4 (verbal): Uses the same language of Joseph having “found favor” (חֵן) in an authority’s sight (Potiphar), echoing the verbal formula in 50:4.
- Exod.33:13 (verbal): Moses’ petition to God begins with the formula “If I have found favor in your sight,” a similar petitionary phrase and rhetorical tactic of invoking found favor to request action.
Alternative generated candidates
- When the days of his weeping had passed, Joseph spoke to the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found favor in your eyes, speak, please, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,
- And when the days of weeping for him had passed, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found favor in your eyes, speak, please, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,
Gen.50.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אבי: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- השביעני: VERB,hiph,perf,3,m,sg
- לאמר: INF,qal,infc
- הנה: PART
- אנכי: PRON,1,sg
- מת: ADJ,m,sg
- בקברי: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אשר: PRON,rel
- כריתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,sg
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- בארץ: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,def
- כנען: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- שמה: ADV
- תקברני: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- ועתה: CONJ
- אעלה: VERB,qal,impf,1,_,sg
- נא: PART
- ואקברה: VERB,qal,impf,1,-,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- אבי: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- ואשובה: VERB,qal,imperfect,1,sg
Parallels
- Gen.47:29-31 (verbal): The same charge from Jacob to Joseph appears here: Jacob makes Joseph swear to bury him in the land of Canaan; Gen 50:5 repeats Joseph’s report of that oath.
- Gen.49:29-33 (thematic): Jacob’s detailed burial instructions (bringing him to the cave of Machpelah in Canaan) are part of the same burial motif and explain the specific burial place Joseph later seeks.
- Gen.23:1-20 (thematic): Abraham’s purchase of the cave of Machpelah and Sarah’s burial there establishes the precedent and familial claim to burial sites in the land of Canaan.
- Josh.24:32 (structural): A later settlement account reporting that the bones of Joseph were carried from Egypt and buried in Shechem — a narrative fulfillment of patriarchal burial concerns and promises to remove remains to Canaan.
- Deut.34:5-6 (thematic): Moses’ death and burial in Moab (not in Canaan) provides a contrast within Israel’s tradition about leaders’ deathplaces and underscores the special significance attached to being buried in the promised land.
Alternative generated candidates
- My father made me swear, saying, Behold, I am dying; in the grave that I dug for myself in the land of Canaan—there you shall bury me. Now let me go up, please, and bury my father; then I will return.
- My father made me swear, saying, Behold, I am dying; in my grave that I dug for myself in the land of Canaan—there you shall bury me. And now let me go up, please, and bury my father; then I will return.
Gen.50.6 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- פרעה: NOUN,m,sg,def
- עלה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- וקבר: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- אביך: NOUN,m,sg,suff+2ms
- כאשר: CONJ
- השביעך: VERB,hiphil,perf,3,m,sg+pronominal_2ms
Parallels
- Gen.50.5 (quotation): Immediate context—Joseph tells Pharaoh that his father made him swear to be buried in Canaan; Pharaoh’s command in 50:6 echoes and authorizes that oath.
- Gen.47.29-31 (verbal): Jacob’s original injunction and the oath he exacts from Joseph to bury him in the ancestral burial place; the language and promise that Pharaoh recalls.
- Gen.49.29-32 (thematic): Jacob’s instruction to be buried in the cave of Machpelah with the patriarchs—same theme of burial in the ancestral land and family tomb.
- Gen.23:4-20 (thematic): Abraham’s purchase of the cave of Machpelah and securing a family burial site—parallels the concern for burial in the ancestral land and the formal arrangements to ensure it.
Alternative generated candidates
- And Pharaoh said, Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.
- And Pharaoh said, Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.
Gen.50.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויעל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יוסף: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לקבר: PREP+VERB,qal,inf
- את: PRT,acc
- אביו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3,m,sg
- ויעלו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- אתו: PRON,3,m,sg,acc
- כל: DET
- עבדי: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- פרעה: NOUN,m,sg,def
- זקני: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- ביתו: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וכל: CONJ+PRON,indef
- זקני: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- ארץ: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- מצרים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
Parallels
- Gen.47:29-31 (thematic): Joseph's promise to his father that he will be buried in the land of his fathers supplies the motive for Joseph 'going up' to bury Jacob.
- Gen.49:29-33 (thematic): Jacob's explicit burial instructions (to be brought to the cave of Machpelah) provide the destination and ritual context for the funeral procession.
- Gen.50:9 (verbal): Immediate parallel within the same episode: repeats the presence of Pharaoh's household and 'elders of the land' accompanying the burial and expands on the Egyptian mourning.
- Gen.50:13 (structural): Reports the fulfillment of the journey: the burial in the cave of Machpelah in Canaan, closing the narrative arc begun when Joseph 'went up to bury his father.'
- Gen.23:8-10 (verbal): In the purchase/burial of Sarah the phrase 'elders of the land' and the involvement of local notables in burial arrangements echo the presence of 'elders of the land of Egypt' in Joseph's procession.
Alternative generated candidates
- So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all Pharaoh’s servants, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,
- And Joseph went up to bury his father, and with him went up all of Pharaoh’s servants, the elders of his household and all the elders of the land of Egypt,
Gen.50.8 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וכל: CONJ+PRON,indef
- בית: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יוסף: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ואחיו: CONJ+NOUN,m,pl,abs,poss:3,m,sg
- ובית: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,cs
- אביו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3,m,sg
- רק: PRT
- טפם: NOUN,m,pl,abs,prsfx=3mp
- וצאנם: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs+3,pl
- ובקרם: CONJ+NOUN,m,pl,abs+3,pl
- עזבו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- בארץ: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,def
- גשן: NOUN,prop,m,sg
Parallels
- Gen.45:10 (verbal): Pharaoh (through Joseph) invites Jacob's family to live in Goshen, using nearly identical language — “you, your little ones, and your flocks and your herds” — paralleling the wording about who remained in Goshen.
- Gen.46:6-7 (verbal): When Jacob’s household goes down to Egypt the list repeats: ‘all his father’s household... their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds,’ the same catalogue of people and animals found in 50:8.
- Gen.46:34 (thematic): Explains the reason for keeping the flocks in Goshen: ‘every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians,’ linking the settlement of families and livestock in Goshen to Egyptian attitudes toward shepherding.
- Gen.47:1-6 (structural): Narratively connected setting: Joseph brings Jacob before Pharaoh and arranges for the family to dwell in Goshen. This passage provides the broader context for why Joseph’s household and flocks are located in Goshen when he goes to bury his father.
Alternative generated candidates
- and all the house of Joseph, and his brothers, and his father’s house; only their little ones and their flocks and their herds they left in the land of Goshen.
- and all the household of Joseph, and his brothers, and his father’s household went; only their little ones and their flocks and their herds they left in the land of Goshen.
Gen.50.9 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויעל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- עמו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- גם: ADV
- רכב: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- גם: ADV
- פרשים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ויהי: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- המחנה: NOUN,m,sg,def
- כבד: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- מאד: ADV
Parallels
- Genesis 50:7 (verbal): Immediate parallel within the same narrative—repeats the exact motif: 'chariots and horsemen' and the phrase 'a very great company' describing the funeral procession.
- Exodus 14:7 (verbal): Uses the same vocabulary of 'chariots' (and their commanders) to describe a large, organized host—verbal parallel in imagery of chariots/horsemen.
- 1 Samuel 13:5 (verbal): Pairs 'chariots' and 'horsemen' with great numbers ('people like the sand'), paralleling Genesis 50:9's coupling of mounted forces with a very large company.
- 1 Kings 10:26 (thematic): Describes Solomon's many chariots and horsemen as signs of royal power and a large retinue—thematic parallel to the grand, prestigious procession in Genesis 50:9.
Alternative generated candidates
- And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen; and the camp was very imposing.
- And both chariots and horsemen went up with him, and the company was exceedingly great.
Gen.50.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויבאו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- עד: PREP
- גרן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- האטד: NOUN,m,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- בעבר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הירדן: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ויספדו: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,pl
- שם: ADV
- מספד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- גדול: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- וכבד: CONJ+ADJ,m,sg,abs
- מאד: ADV
- ויעש: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- לאביו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs,3,m,sg
- אבל: CONJ
- שבעת: NUM,card,construct
- ימים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
Parallels
- Genesis 50:2-3 (structural): Immediate context: the Egyptians embalmed Jacob and 'mourned for him seventy days' (contrast with the seven days of mourning Joseph institutes at Atad); links the funeral ritual and public mourning surrounding Jacob's death.
- Genesis 37:34-35 (thematic): Earlier scene of lamentation: Jacob 'refused to be comforted' and mourned many days for Joseph—this creates a narrative reversal where Joseph now grieves publicly for Jacob.
- Job 2:11-13 (structural): Friends sit with Job seven days and seven nights in silent mourning—parallels the seven-day mourning period and the cultural practice of an extended, communal lament.
- 2 Samuel 1:17-27 (thematic): David's public lament for Saul and Jonathan (a formal, poetic mourning) echoes the motif of a 'great and grievous' public lamentation and the commissioning/ordering of lament over prominent figures.
Alternative generated candidates
- They came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan; and there they lamented with a great and very imposing lamentation, and he made for his father mourning seven days.
- And they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and there they lamented with a very great and heavy lamentation; and he observed mourning for his father seven days.
Gen.50.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וירא: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יושב: VERB,qal,ptcp,1,m,sg
- הארץ: NOUN,f,sg,def
- הכנעני: NOUN,m,sg,abs,def
- את: PRT,acc
- האבל: NOUN,m,sg,def
- בגרן: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- האטד: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ויאמרו: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,pl
- אבל: CONJ
- כבד: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- זה: PRON,dem,m,sg
- למצרים: PREP+NOUN,prop,m,pl
- על: PREP
- כן: ADV
- קרא: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- שמה: ADV
- אבל: CONJ
- מצרים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- אשר: PRON,rel
- בעבר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הירדן: NOUN,m,sg,def
Parallels
- Genesis 50:9-10 (structural): Immediate context: describes the Egyptians' great mourning at the threshing-floor of Atad that the Canaanites observed, which directly explains the naming 'Abel‑Mizraim.'
- Genesis 37:34-35 (thematic): Jacob's prolonged and public mourning for (the presumed dead) Joseph—tearing clothes and extreme grief—parallels the intense rites of mourning and familial sorrow pictured in Gen 50:11.
- Genesis 35:19-20 (thematic): Rachel's death and the naming/association of the burial place (Rachel's tomb/Bethlehem) shows the biblical motif of place‑naming tied to episodes of mourning, as with Abel‑Mizraim.
- Jeremiah 31:15 (allusion): The image of Rachel weeping for her children articulates a communal/maternal mourning motif later applied to national grief—Resonates thematically with places and memories named for sorrow in Genesis 50:11.
- Matthew 2:18 (quotation): Matthew quotes Jeremiah 31:15 about Rachel's weeping (applied to the massacre of infants), illustrating how New Testament authors invoke Old Testament mourning imagery and place‑associated lament traditions similar to the naming in Gen 50:11.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanite, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, and they said, This is a heavy mourning for Egypt; therefore its name was called Abel-mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.
- And the Canaanite inhabitants of the land saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, and they said, This is a heavy mourning for Egypt. Therefore its name was called Abel-mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.
Gen.50.12 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויעשו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- בניו: NOUN,m,pl,cs
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- כן: ADV
- כאשר: CONJ
- צום: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Gen.49:29-33 (structural): Jacob's explicit charge to be buried with his ancestors is the command that Joseph and his brothers here obey — this verse completes the fulfillment of that instruction.
- Gen.50:5 (structural): Earlier in the same chapter Joseph petitions Pharaoh to let him bury his father in Canaan, showing the initiative that leads to the sons' compliance described in 50:12.
- Gen.25:9 (thematic): Abraham's burial at the hands of his sons (Isaac and Ishmael) provides a thematic parallel of children fulfilling burial duties for a parent.
- Exod.13:19 (thematic): Moses carrying Joseph's bones out of Egypt recalls the family obligation regarding Joseph's burial wishes and shows longer-term fulfillment of burial instructions.
- Josh.24:32 (structural): The eventual burial of Joseph's bones at Shechem records the final fulfillment of the family's actions and promises concerning Joseph and his father's burial.
Alternative generated candidates
- And his sons did for him just as he had commanded them.
- And his sons did for him thus, as he had commanded them.
Gen.50.13 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וישאו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- אתו: PRON,3,m,sg,acc
- בניו: NOUN,m,pl,cs
- ארצה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- כנען: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויקברו: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,pl
- אתו: PRON,3,m,sg,acc
- במערת: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,cs
- שדה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- המכפלה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- קנה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אברהם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- את: PRT,acc
- השדה: NOUN,m,sg,def
- לאחזת: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,construct
- קבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מאת: PREP
- עפרן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- החתי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- על: PREP
- פני: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- ממרא: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Gen.23:16-20 (verbal): Same transaction: Abraham's purchase of the cave of Machpelah from Ephron the Hittite is narrated with nearly identical details (purchase, cave, Ephron, before Mamre).
- Gen.25:9-10 (verbal): Records the burial of Abraham in the cave of Machpelah 'before Mamre' by his sons—repeats the location and burial motif found in Gen 50:13.
- Gen.49:29-33 (thematic): Jacob's prior instructions to be buried with his ancestors in the cave of Machpelah; Gen 50:13 fulfills these burial wishes and the family continuity theme.
- Exod.13:19 (allusion): Moses takes Joseph's bones out of Egypt to be carried to Canaan (fulfilling Joseph's request). Parallels the motif of transporting a patriarch's remains to the ancestral land for burial.
Alternative generated candidates
- His sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought—with the field—as a possession for a burial place from Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.
- And his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which field Abraham bought as a burial holding from Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.
Gen.50.14 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וישב: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יוסף: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מצרימה: NOUN,prop,pl,m,abs
- הוא: PRON,3,m,sg
- ואחיו: CONJ+NOUN,m,pl,abs,poss:3,m,sg
- וכל: CONJ+PRON,indef
- העלים: VERB,qal,ptc,3,m,pl
- אתו: PRON,3,m,sg,acc
- לקבר: PREP+VERB,qal,inf
- את: PRT,acc
- אביו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3,m,sg
- אחרי: PREP
- קברו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3m
- את: PRT,acc
- אביו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3,m,sg
Parallels
- Genesis 50:7-11 (verbal): Immediate narrative context describing Joseph's going up to bury Jacob and listing those who accompanied him—parallels the return to Egypt after the burial.
- Genesis 49:29-33 (thematic): Jacob's instructions to be buried with his ancestors in the cave of Machpelah provide the reason for Joseph's journey to Canaan and the burial events in ch. 50.
- Exodus 13:19 (allusion): Moses later takes Joseph's bones up out of Egypt when the Israelites depart, alluding back to Joseph's burial wishes and the fact his remains were brought from Egypt.
- Joshua 24:32 (thematic): Reports the eventual resting place of Joseph's bones at Shechem—connects to the burial actions begun in Genesis 50 and their long-term significance for Israel.
- Hebrews 11:22 (allusion): New Testament reference to Joseph's dying charge concerning the exodus and his bones, linking his burial request and faith to later theological interpretation.
Alternative generated candidates
- And Joseph returned to Egypt—he and his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father—after he had buried his father.
- And Joseph returned to Egypt—he and his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father—after he had buried his father.
And he charged them and said to them, I am being gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite.
In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought—the field—from Ephron the Hittite as a possession for a burial place.
There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.
The field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the sons of Heth. And Jacob finished commanding his sons; and he gathered his feet up onto the bed, and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people. And Joseph fell on his father’s face and wept over him and kissed him. And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father, and the physicians embalmed Israel. And forty days were fulfilled for him, for thus are fulfilled the days of the embalmers; and Egypt wept for him seventy days. And when the days of his weeping had passed, Joseph spoke to the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found favor in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying:
My father made me swear, saying, Behold, I am about to die. In the grave that I hewed for myself in the land of Canaan—there you shall bury me. Now let me go up, I pray, and bury my father, then I will return. And Pharaoh said, Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear. And Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all Pharaoh’s servants, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,
and all the house of Joseph, and his brothers, and his father’s house; only their little ones and their flocks and their herds they left in the land of Goshen. And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen, and the company was very great. And they came to the threshing-floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and there they lamented with a great and very grievous lamentation; and he observed mourning for his father seven days. And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing-floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning for Egypt. Therefore its name was called Abel-mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan. And his sons did to him so, as he had commanded them. And his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought—with the field—as a possession for a burial place, from Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre. And Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers, and all who had gone up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.