Bible Strands
Genesis 49:29
Then Jacob instructed them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jacob addresses his twelve sons at the conclusion of his final blessings, announcing his imminent death. He issues a direct command regarding his burial arrangements before the narrative shifts to his passing.
The words — The verb נֶאֱסָף (ne'eseḵaf) literally means “I am about to be gathered,” a Hebrew idiom for death. It follows יְצַו (yetsav), “he commanded,” framing the instruction as a final, authoritative directive.
The thread — The phrase “gathered to my people” parallels Genesis 15:15, where God promises Abram a peaceful death. Jacob’s earlier request to Joseph in Genesis 47:30 establishes the burial directive, and Genesis 50:13 records the narrative execution of that order at Machpelah.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to note Jacob’s deliberate choice to secure his interment in the ancestral land rather than in Egypt. It presents burial as a matter of covenant continuity, not personal preference.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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,
Cross-references
- Genesis 47:30 but when I lie down with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me with them.” Joseph answered, “I will do as you have requested.”
- Genesis 50:13 They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave at Machpelah in the field near Mamre, which Abraham had purchased from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site.
- Genesis 15:15 You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.
- Genesis 25:8 And at a ripe old age he breathed his last and died, old and contented, and was gathered to his people.
- 2 Samuel 19:37 Please let your servant return, that I may die in my own city near the tomb of my father and mother. But here is your servant Chimham. Let him cross over with my lord the king, and do for him what is good in your sight.”
- Genesis 35:29 Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
- Romans 12:6 We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If one’s gift is prophecy, let him use it in proportion to his faith;
- Hebrews 12:23 in joyful assembly, to the congregation of the firstborn, enrolled in heaven. You have come to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,