The Death of Jacob

The event

Jacob lives out his final seventeen years in Goshen, long enough to see his family established and thriving in Egypt. Before he dies at 147, he calls Joseph to swear an oath: bury me not in Egypt, but with my fathers, in the cave at Machpelah. He also formally adopts Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, as his own — effectively giving Joseph a double portion among the tribes, since Joseph's line will now count as two.

Jacob's final blessing over his twelve sons in Genesis 49 is really a series of prophecies, some warm and some sharply corrective — Reuben loses preeminence for a past sin, Simeon and Levi are rebuked for violence, but Judah is given the blessing that matters most for the rest of the Bible: "the scepter shall not depart from Judah... until tribute comes to him, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples" — a promise later generations will read as pointing straight to the coming Messiah.

When Jacob dies, Joseph has him embalmed in the Egyptian manner and leads a massive funeral procession — including Pharaoh's own officials — all the way back to Canaan to bury him at Machpelah beside Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, and Leah. It's a striking image: the family's fortunes are entirely bound up with Egypt now, yet even Pharaoh's court recognizes that Jacob's true home, and his family's ultimate destination, is the land God promised generations earlier.

Dating

Based on Jacob's stated lifespan of 147 years (Genesis 47:28), against a birth year of c. 2006 BC.

Scripture references

• Genesis 47:28-31
• Genesis 48:1-49:33
• Genesis 50:1-14