Genesis 49:29-50:13

     Then he charged them,¹ saying to them, "I am about to be gathered to my people². Bury me with my ancestors--in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave in the field at Machpelah, near Mamre, in the land of Canaan, in the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site. There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried; there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried; and there I buried Leah--the field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites."³
     When Jacob ended his charge to his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed, breathed his last,⁴ and was gathered to his people. Then Joseph threw himself on his father's face and wept over him and kissed him.⁵ Joseph commanded the physicians in his service to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel; they spent forty days in doing this, for that is the time required for embalming.⁶ And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days.⁷
     When the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph addressed the household of Pharaoh, "If now I have found favor with you, please speak to Pharaoh as follows: My father made me swear an oath; he said, 'I am about to die. In the tomb that I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.' Now therefore let me go up, so that I may bury my father; then I will return."
     Pharaoh answered, "Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear to do."
     So Joseph went up to bury his father. With him went up all the servants of Pharaoh,⁸ the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's household. Only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen. Both chariots and charioteers went up with him. It was a very great company.⁹ When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they held there a very great and sorrowful lamentation; and he observed a time of mourning for his father seven days.
     When the Canaanite inhabitants of the land saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, "This is a grievous mourning on the part of the Egyptians."¹⁰ Therefore the place was named Abel-mizraim; it is beyond the Jordan.
     Thus his sons did for him as he had instructed them. They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field at Machpelah, the field near Mamre, which Abraham bought as a burial site from Ephron the Hittite. After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

^[1] The start of this passage repeats the instructions given at the start of 47:49. My Study Bible states that this is the Priestly account, while the previous instructions were the Yahwist account.
^[2] "gathered to my people" - What a beautiful turn of phrase. I wonder exactly what this means - it seems to be more than "buried among them", because its second use comes well before the burial.
^[3] A reminder of the desires of his grandfather Abraham, who wished to have a place where the family could be buried.
^[4] In those days, people were more in touch with their bodies and their approaching death.
^[5] Emotion shines through again.
^[6] The mix of Hebrew and Egyptian custom here is fascinating.
^[7] Again, highlighting the deep role that Joseph has come into among the Egyptian people.
^[8] Again, a great even is made of Joseph's father's burial, due to the great prominence of Joseph.
^[9] Emphasizes the importance of Joseph to Egypt again.
^[10]Emphasized yet again.


Take-home: The author of Genesis ties together the deep history of the family of the patriarchs with the deep impact that Joseph has had on the nation of Egypt.