Commentary - Genesis 50:12-14

Bird's-eye view

This short passage is the solemn conclusion to the life of Jacob and the culmination of a promise that stretches all the way back to Abraham. It is more than just a funeral notice; it is a profound statement of covenant faithfulness, both on the part of God and on the part of His people. Jacob's sons, despite their own checkered past, obey their father's dying command to the letter. This act of filial piety is also an act of faith. They are not just burying a man; they are planting a patriarch in the soil of the promise. The journey from Egypt to Canaan with their father's body is a sort of reverse exodus, a tangible declaration that their true home is not in the temporary comfort of Goshen but in the land sworn to their forefathers. This burial is a stake in the ground, a claim on the future, and a testimony to the watching world that the promises of God are more solid than the granite of a tomb.

Joseph's return to Egypt after the burial is just as significant. It demonstrates his submission to God's providential timing. Though his heart and his father's bones are in Canaan, his duty is still in Egypt, where he is preserving the nascent nation of Israel. This passage, therefore, sits at a crucial hinge point in Genesis. It looks back to the promises made to Abraham and Isaac, and it looks forward to the day when all of Jacob's children will make the same journey out of Egypt, not for a burial, but for an inheritance. It is a quiet moment of faithful obedience, but it is freighted with massive theological significance concerning land, promise, and the hope of resurrection.

Outline

Context In Genesis

Genesis 50 concludes the entire book, which began with the creation of the world and has progressively narrowed its focus to one covenant family. This passage immediately follows the elaborate mourning for Jacob in Egypt and the great funeral procession to the land of Canaan (Gen 50:1-11). It is the final act in the life of the third patriarch. Jacob's deathbed blessing of his sons in chapter 49 set the trajectory for the twelve tribes, and his final command was to be buried not in Egypt, but with his fathers in the promised land (Gen 49:29-32). This burial is the fulfillment of that command and the oath Joseph swore to him (Gen 47:29-31). The act serves as a bookend to Abraham's first act of faith in purchasing this very piece of land for Sarah's burial (Gen 23). The book of Genesis ends with the children of Israel secure in Egypt, but with their dead patriarchs, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Leah, and now Jacob, all resting in the land of promise, silent witnesses to a future fulfillment. Joseph's own death and command concerning his bones will follow shortly, reinforcing this central theme (Gen 50:24-25).

Key Issues

Planting a Patriarch

We moderns tend to think of burials as a final disposition, a sad necessity. But for the patriarchs, burial was a profound act of faith, a theological statement made with a shovel. When Jacob commanded his sons to carry him all the way back to Canaan, he was not being sentimental. He was being covenantal. He was reminding them, and us, that the promises of God are tied to a particular place. God did not promise Abraham a vague, ethereal, spiritual bliss; He promised him a specific plot of real estate. And the first piece of that real estate that Abraham ever owned was this tomb (Gen. 23:17-20).

By burying Jacob there, his sons were doing more than honoring their father. They were planting him like a seed in the soil of promise. This act was a tangible confession that they believed God's word. They were living in Egypt, the superpower of the day, surrounded by its wealth and security. But they buried their father in a cave in Canaan. This was their way of saying, "Egypt is not our home. This land is." Every time they thought of their father's grave, they would be reminded of their true identity and their ultimate destiny. The grave was not an end, but a down payment, a placeholder for the full inheritance to come. It was a rugged anchor of hope, holding them fast to the future God had sworn to give them.

Verse by Verse Commentary

12 Thus his sons did for him as he had commanded them.

The verse is simple, direct, and packed with meaning. Obedience to a father's dying command is a foundational element of piety. But here, it is more than just that. Jacob's sons, a group of men who had previously been characterized by strife, jealousy, and deceit, now act in unified obedience. Their shared grief and shared task bind them together. More importantly, their obedience is an act of corporate faith. They are obeying their earthly father, Jacob, but in doing so, they are aligning themselves with the commands and promises of their heavenly Father. Jacob had commanded them based on the covenant promise, and by fulfilling his command, they were functionally saying "Amen" to that promise. This simple act of doing "as he had commanded" was their pledge of allegiance, not to Pharaoh, but to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

13 Indeed, his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field for his possession as a burial site from Ephron the Hittite.

The text is meticulous in its detail, and for good reason. Every phrase is weighted with covenantal history. They carried him "to the land of Canaan," the geographical center of God's redemptive plan. They buried him "in the cave of the field of Machpelah," the very first piece of the promised land owned by God's people. The narrator reminds us of the original purchase: Abraham bought it. This was not a gift; it was a legal transaction. Abraham, by faith, paid good money for a grave, staking his claim on the future resurrection and the inheritance of the whole land. The deed to this tomb was the first deed to the promised land. By specifying that it was bought "for his possession as a burial site from Ephron the Hittite," the text emphasizes the legitimacy and permanence of their claim. This was not just a sentimental spot; it was their only sovereign territory in the world, and it was a graveyard. This is a profound picture of the "already and not yet." They possessed a tomb, but they awaited a kingdom.

14 After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers, and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

This verse is as important as the previous ones. The great funeral is over, the act of faith is complete, and now they all go back. Joseph, the second most powerful man in the world, does not stay in Canaan. He returns to his post in Egypt. This demonstrates a patient faith. He knows that the time for the fulfillment of the promise has not yet come. God had providentially placed him in Egypt to save his family, and his work there was not finished. This return to Egypt is an act of obedient sojourning. Like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob before them, they had to live as strangers and exiles, even while holding the promise of inheritance (Heb. 11:13). Their hearts were buried with Jacob in Canaan, but their feet had to walk the path of duty in Egypt. This tension between our present reality and our future hope is a fundamental aspect of the Christian life. We live in this world, but our citizenship, our true home, is in heaven, and we await the day when our King returns to make all things new.

Application

This passage is a powerful reminder that faith is not an abstract feeling but a concrete obedience. The sons of Jacob expressed their belief in God's promises through the sweat and toil of a long funeral procession and the simple act of placing a body in a cave. Our faith must likewise have hands and feet. We are called to obey God's commands in the here and now, even when the ultimate fulfillment of His promises seems a long way off. We are to do the next right thing, just as Joseph returned to his duties in Egypt.

Furthermore, this burial is a potent Old Testament pointer to the doctrine of the resurrection. Why did it matter so much where Jacob's physical body was laid to rest? Because God is not interested in saving disembodied souls. He is interested in redeeming the whole man, body and soul. He is interested in redeeming the whole creation, heaven and earth. The patriarchs were buried in the land because they expected to be raised in that land. Their hope was not just to "go to heaven when they die," but to be resurrected when their Redeemer stands upon the earth (Job 19:25). Our burials should reflect this same hope. We bury our dead "in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ." Like Jacob, we are planted as seeds, awaiting the great harvest at the end of the age. Our graves are not signs of defeat, but placeholders of faith, staking a claim on the new creation that Christ has promised to bring.