Genesis 49:29–50:14, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Genesis 49:29–50:14
Jacob Dies and Is Buried in Canaan
A Canaan burial, then back to Egypt
Jacob commands burial with Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, and Leah in the purchased cave. He dies and is gathered to his people. Joseph weeps; physicians embalm; Egypt mourns seventy days. Pharaoh authorizes the journey.
A great company goes; children and livestock remain in Goshen. Intense mourning at Atad is noticed by Canaanites. The body reaches Machpelah, and the living return to Egypt. One landward duty is kept. The larger exodus hope remains open.
How this should shape us
Let grief and accountable action stand together. Honor lawful final wishes without making one burial custom compulsory, and do not turn ancestral place into a title over living people.
Teach it back
Explain how Genesis 49:29–50:14 carries Jacob's burial request from command to completion. Include Machpelah and its purchase, Jacob's death, Joseph's grief, embalming and mourning, Pharaoh's permission, the large procession, Atad and Abel-mizraim, the burial, the return to Egypt, and the passage's major uncertainties and boundaries.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
What does being gathered to his people mean?
Why it fits:
Difficulty: The formula does not explain the condition or location of the dead.
Why it fits:
Difficulty: Its distinction from burial suggests more than a synonym for interment.
Best judgment:
How certain? probableWhere was the threshing floor of Atad?
Why it fits:
Difficulty: The narrative does not state that viewpoint or explain the detour.
Why it fits:
Difficulty: The exact location remains unidentified.
Best judgment:
How certain? uncertainResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Displayed wording, burial property, Rachel's separate grave, oath fulfillment, grief, embalming, procession, burial, return, and later bones horizon.
Genesis 49:29–50:14 with Genesis 23; 35:16–20, 27–29; 47:27–31; 50:15–26; Exodus 13:19; and Joshua 24:32 in the pinned standardized 1769 KJV
Supports: Death and gathering formulas, embalming, tomb wording, geography, name wordplay, and narrative sequence.
WLC Genesis 49:29–50:14, especially ne'esaf el-ammav, vayigva, vayyahantu, kariti, be'ever hayyarden, and avel mitsrayim
Supports: KJV idiom, embalming, tomb verb, Jordan viewpoint, Atad, and Abel-mizraim alternatives.
NET Genesis 49:29–50:14 translator notes, especially 49:33 and 50:2–5, 10–11
Supports: Final-form literary, promise, family, and land synthesis.
Genesis commentary, Genesis 49:29–50:14 and the book's movement from Jacob's death toward Joseph and Exodus
Supports: Modern literary-critical counterpoint for the funeral's place in the Joseph story.
Genesis 37–50 Joseph study guide, Jacob's death and burial and the ending's transition toward Exodus
Supports: Death-bed closure, executor, burial command, death formula, and narrative completion.
The Death of Jacob, Genesis 49:29–50:14 within the extended Genesis 47:28–50:26 death-bed sequence
Supports: Posthumous return, belonging, ancestral burial, Egyptian procession, prompt burial, and distinction from Joseph's later bones request.
Religions 16.9 article 1109, sections on Genesis 49:29–50:14 and conclusion
Supports: Egyptian embalming and mourning context and the narrative emphasis on Jacob's burial in the land.
ZAW 118.2, pages 209–217; publisher abstract and bibliographic record
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Displayed wording, burial property, Rachel's separate grave, oath fulfillment, grief, embalming, procession, burial, return, and later bones horizon.
Exact location: Genesis 49:29–50:14 with Genesis 23; 35:16–20, 27–29; 47:27–31; 50:15–26; Exodus 13:19; and Joshua 24:32 in the pinned standardized 1769 KJV
Open source ↗hebrew text morphology and lemma data
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project
Open Scriptures, Version 2.2 released 2021; repository inspected 2026
Supports: Death and gathering formulas, embalming, tomb wording, geography, name wordplay, and narrative sequence.
Exact location: WLC Genesis 49:29–50:14, especially ne'esaf el-ammav, vayigva, vayyahantu, kariti, be'ever hayyarden, and avel mitsrayim
Open source ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, Digital edition accessed 2026
Supports: KJV idiom, embalming, tomb verb, Jordan viewpoint, Atad, and Abel-mizraim alternatives.
Exact location: NET Genesis 49:29–50:14 translator notes, especially 49:33 and 50:2–5, 10–11
Open NET Genesis 49 ↗modern open whole book commentary
Genesis
T. Desmond Alexander
The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary, 2023
Supports: Final-form literary, promise, family, and land synthesis.
Exact location: Genesis commentary, Genesis 49:29–50:14 and the book's movement from Jacob's death toward Joseph and Exodus
Open source ↗modern critical open study guide
Genesis 37–50: Joseph — Study Guide
Joel S. Baden and Yale Bible Study
Yale Divinity School, 2021 course; page inspected 2026
Supports: Modern literary-critical counterpoint for the funeral's place in the Joseph story.
Exact location: Genesis 37–50 Joseph study guide, Jacob's death and burial and the ending's transition toward Exodus
Open source ↗open doctoral narrative and deathbed study
The Death of Jacob: Narrative Conventions in Genesis 47.28–50.26
Kerry D. Lee
University of Edinburgh PhD thesis, 2014
Supports: Death-bed closure, executor, burial command, death formula, and narrative completion.
Exact location: The Death of Jacob, Genesis 49:29–50:14 within the extended Genesis 47:28–50:26 death-bed sequence
Open source ↗open peer reviewed migration and burial study
‘Bury Me with My Ancestors:’ Posthumous Repatriation in the Biblical Story of Jacob
Frederik Poulsen
Religions 16.9, article 1109, 2025
Supports: Posthumous return, belonging, ancestral burial, Egyptian procession, prompt burial, and distinction from Joseph's later bones request.
Exact location: Religions 16.9 article 1109, sections on Genesis 49:29–50:14 and conclusion
Open source ↗peer reviewed historical and theological study
And the Physicians Embalmed Him (Gen 50,2)
Pnina Galpaz-Feller
Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 118.2, pages 209–217, 2006
Supports: Egyptian embalming and mourning context and the narrative emphasis on Jacob's burial in the land.
Exact location: ZAW 118.2, pages 209–217; publisher abstract and bibliographic record
Open source ↗