Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Genesis 49:31 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 31. 31There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Jacob names Sarah, Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah, and Leah as buried in Machpelah. Rachel is not named because Genesis 35 reports her burial near Ephrath, not because this verse devalues or rejects her.
Read It With
- Genesis 49:29–50:14
Read verse 31 with Genesis 23:19; 25:9; 35:19, 29; and 50:13. The family burial record spans generations while preserving Rachel's different grave.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The family burial list explains why this cave, rather than an unnamed Canaanite location, matters to Jacob.
Read Genesis 49:29–32 together
Why these verses belong together: The command, exact cave, family burial list, and purchase history form one final instruction.
Verse 29. 29 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,
Verse 30. 30 In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace.
Verse 31. 31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.
Verse 32. 32 The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth.
Follow the Context
- Jacob commands burial with Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, and Leah in the purchased cave of Machpelah (49:29–32).
- Jacob completes his command, gathers his feet into the bed, dies, and is gathered to his people (49:33).
- Joseph weeps and kisses his father; physicians embalm Israel for forty days, and Egypt mourns seventy days (50:1–3).
- Joseph asks Pharaoh's household to secure permission, cites his oath and Canaanite tomb, and promises to return; Pharaoh authorizes the burial journey (50:4–6).
- Joseph, his family, and a very large Egyptian company travel while young children and livestock remain in Goshen (50:7–9).
- At the threshing floor of Atad, Joseph makes seven days of intense mourning, and local Canaanites name the place Abel-mizraim because they observe Egyptian mourning (50:10–11).
- Jacob's sons carry out his command, bury him in Machpelah, and the entire company returns to Egypt (50:12–14).
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“there they buried”
In plain language: The verse lists family members associated with the ancestral cave.
The repeated burial memory makes Jacob's requested destination specific.
Why it matters: A factual list should not be turned into a ranking of relationships.
How certain? very strong“and there I buried Leah”
In plain language: Jacob explicitly includes Leah in the family tomb.
Her grave is part of the command's remembered history.
Why it matters: The statement honors her burial without creating a comparison of the wives' worth.
How certain? very strongWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
Rachel's absence from the list does not mean Jacob rejected her, loved Leah more, or considered Rachel less worthy.
The list does not prove that the traditional modern site has been archaeologically verified in every detail.
Burial in one family tomb does not determine salvation, resurrection, or a person's value.
The verse does not authorize control over another person's burial wishes.
What Remains True
Family memory should tell the truth about different burial histories without ranking the worth or love of the people remembered.
How It Can Shape Life
- When documenting family graves, record each person's actual location and story rather than treating difference as rejection or erasing someone to simplify the account.
Teach It Back
Explain Genesis 49:31's contribution to Genesis 49:29–50:14. Include why the nearby verses are required, what the verse clearly says, and one conclusion it does not justify.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Genesis 49:29–50:14 — Jacob Dies and Is Buried in CanaanSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
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 ↗