Commentari biblici

29–31 (J). Jacob makes Joseph swear to bury him in Canaan

29. And the time drew near] The description of Jacob’s dying moments may be compared with those of Moses (Deuteronomy 31-34) and of David (1 Kings 2:1).

I have found grace] Cf. Genesis 6:9, Genesis 18:3, Genesis 32:5, Genesis 33:8; Genesis 33:15 (J).

put … thy hand … thigh] See note on Genesis 24:2 (J).

30. when I sleep with my fathers] See note on Genesis 25:8. When his spirit is in Sheôl, his body is to rest at Machpelah.

bury me in their buryingplace] This charge of Jacob that he should be carried out of Egypt and buried in the burying-place of his fathers, viz. in the cave of Machpelah, is repeated in Genesis 49:29-30 (P). See for its execution Genesis 50:13 (P). For the burial of Isaac, see Genesis 35:29 (P); and of Abraham, Genesis 25:9 (P).

In Genesis 50:5 Jacob speaks of the grave he had digged for himself: see note.

31. Israel bowed himself] Cf. 1 Kings 1:47, “and the king (David) bowed himself upon the bed.” Here Jacob “bows himself” upon the bed’s head, presumably in silent thanksgiving to God for the promise made to him by Joseph. So the Lat. adoravit Israel Deum conversus ad lectuli caput. Joseph’s promise was no slight undertaking (see chap. 50). Jacob is full of gratitude.

the bed’s head] The LXX following a different vocalization of the same Hebrew consonants, and reading hammatteh instead of hammittah, gives the rendering followed in Hebrews 11:21, “and worshipped leaning upon the top of his staff,” ἐπὶ τὸ ἄκρον τῆς ῥάβδου αὐτοῦ. The staff would be his own staff, not as some have suggested, Joseph’s staff of office. This reading is found also in the Vetus Itala and in Syr. Pesh. But the reading of the Hebrew text, “upon the bed’s head,” is probably the original one. The obscurity of the words led to the reading of the LXX. How should we explain “upon the bed’s head”? The simplest explanation seems the most probable. The words should be connected closely with the verb “bowed himself.” Ordinarily, the phrase “to bow oneself” was followed by some such expression as “to the ground,” cf. Genesis 18:2, Genesis 24:52, Genesis 33:3, Genesis 42:6, Genesis 43:26. The prostration was then made by those who were standing. Here, Jacob is recumbent. He bows himself in worship; and it was natural to express the inclination of his obeisance by some such word, as in David’s case, “upon the bed” (1 Kings 1:47); or, more picturesquely, as here, “upon the bed’s head.” He was too weak to move much.

The suggestion that a figure of the household god, or Teraphim (cf. Genesis 31:19), was at the bed’s head, and that Jacob in worship turned towards it, has been ingeniously supported from the narrative of 1 Samuel 19:13. But, except as an example of conjectural ingenuity, it can hardly be considered worthy of more than a passing mention.

Ch. 48 (E (J, P).) Jacob’s Blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh

This narrative is chiefly taken from E; but Genesis 48:3-7 are from P.

1. after these things] A vague description of time, as in Genesis 15:1, Genesis 22:1, Genesis 39:7, Genesis 40:1.

Manasseh and Ephraim] Observe the order of the names. Manasseh is put first as the elder.

3. God Almighty] Heb. El Shaddai: see note on Genesis 17:1. This title for the Deity and the phrases “make fruitful and multiply” (cf. Genesis 1:28), “a company of peoples” (cf. Genesis 28:3, Genesis 35:11), “an everlasting possession” (cf. Genesis 17:8), are characteristic of the style of P. “Appeared”: the appearance referred to is that of Genesis 35:9-13.

Luz] See Genesis 28:19, Genesis 35:6; Genesis 35:9.

5. are mine] Joseph’s sons are adopted into the family of Jacob (cf. Joshua 14:4); and the account records their acknowledgment to be full tribes in the parent stock of Israel.

Ephraim and Manasseh] Observe the change in order. The writer of P here, as E in Genesis 48:20, gives the precedent to the recipient of the greater blessing. But, while this order is found in Numbers 1:10, Joshua 17:17, the other is the more usual; cf. Joshua 14:4; Joshua 16:4.

6. begettest] Better, as R.V. marg., hast begotten.

they shall be called] The meaning is that any other children of Joseph, and their descendants, shall be attached to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, and shall be called Ephraimites or Manassites.