Then Jacob instructed them, “Soon I will die and join my ancestors. Bury me with my father and grandfather in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite.
Parallel translations
- WEB He instructed them, and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
- KJV And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
- BSB Then Jacob instructed them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite.
- NKJV Then he charged them and said to them: “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
- NASB Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am about to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jacob charges his sons to bury him with his fathers in the cave Abraham purchased.
Overview
Knowing he is about to die, Jacob directs that he be buried in the family tomb in Canaan, not in Egypt. His insistence reflects faith in God's promise of the land, refusing to be permanently rooted in exile. Like the patriarchs before him, Jacob dies looking toward the promised inheritance (Hebrews 11:13).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Gen 47:30but when I sleep with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place.” He said, “I will do as you have said.”
- Gen 50:13for his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field, for a possession of a burial site, from Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.
- Gen 15:15but you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried at a good old age.
- 2 Sam 19:37Please let your servant turn back again, that I may die in my own city, by the grave of my father and my mother. But behold, your servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good to you.”
- Gen 25:8–17Abraham gave up his spirit, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years, and was gathered to his people.
- Rom 12:6–21Having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us, if prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of our faith;
- Gen 35:29Isaac gave up the spirit, and died, and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. Esau and Jacob, his sons, buried him.
- Heb 12:23to the festal gathering and assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 49:29 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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