Kejadian 47:29-31

47:29 The time ¹  for Israel to die approached, so he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh ²  and show me kindness and faithfulness. ³  Do not bury me in Egypt, 47:30 but when I rest ⁴  with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.” Joseph ⁵  said, “I will do as you say.”

47:31 Jacob ⁶  said, “Swear to me that you will do so.” ⁷  So Joseph ⁸  gave him his word. ⁹  Then Israel bowed down ¹⁰  at the head of his bed. ¹¹ 

Kejadian 49:29-32

49:29 Then he instructed them, ¹²  “I am about to go ¹³  to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite. 49:30 It is the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought for a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite. 49:31 There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah; there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah; and there I buried Leah. 49:32 The field and the cave in it were acquired from the sons of Heth.” ¹⁴ 

[47:29]  ¹ tn Heb “days.”

[47:29]  ² sn On the expression put your hand under my thigh see Gen 24:2.

[47:29]  ³ tn Or “deal with me in faithful love.”

[47:30]  ⁴ tn Heb “lie down.” Here the expression “lie down” refers to death.

[47:30]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[47:31]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[47:31]  ⁷ tn Heb “swear on oath to me.” The words “that you will do so” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[47:31]  ⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[47:31]  ⁹ tn Heb “swore on oath to him.”

[47:31]  ¹⁰ sn The Hebrew verb normally means “bow down,” especially in worship or prayer. Here it might simply mean “bend low,” perhaps from weakness or approaching death. The narrative is ambiguous at this point and remains open to all these interpretations.

[47:31]  ¹¹ tc The MT reads מִטָּה (mittah, “bed, couch”). The LXX reads the word as מַטֶּה (matteh, “staff, rod”) and interprets this to mean that Jacob bowed down in worship while leaning on the top of his staff. The LXX reading was used in turn by the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews (Heb 11:21).

[49:29]  ¹² tn The Hebrew text adds “and he said to them,” which is not included in the translation because it is redundant in English.

[49:29]  ¹³ tn Heb “I am about to be gathered” The participle is used here to describe what is imminent.

[49:32]  ¹⁴ tn Some translate the Hebrew term “Heth” as “Hittites” here (see also Gen 23:3), but this gives the impression that these people were the classical Hittites of Anatolia. However, there is no known connection between these sons of Heth, apparently a Canaanite group (see Gen 10:15), and the Hittites of Asia Minor. See H. A. Hoffner, Jr., “Hittites,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 152-53.