Genesis 47:29-31

"And the time drew near that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found favor in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me: bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt; but when I sleep with my fathers, thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their dwelling place. And he said, I will do as thou hast said. And he said, Swear unto me: and he swore unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head."

In his death, Jacob would bear witness to his faith in God by requesting burial with Abraham and Isaac in the cave of Machpelah. He had the utmost confidence in the Word of God which had assured him that his posterity would not remain in Egypt. Joseph honored this promise when his father actually died.

We note in passing that the Septuagint (LXX) version of the last phrase here is, "Leaning upon the top of his staff" and is thus quoted in Hebrews 11:21. Scholars point out that there is only the slightest difference between the Hebrew words for "staff" and "bed," indicating perhaps some possible damage to the text in transmission. What is meant is merely that Jacob prayed (or worshipped) leaning either upon the bedstead, or as supported by his staff.

Before leaving this chapter, it should be noted that some scholars believe Joseph restored the lands to the people at the time of imposing the 20 percent levy. Leupold wrote: "Apparently Joseph restored the cattle and livestock, merely charging what was not an exorbitant tax for a fertile land."[15] Josephus supports such a view:

"When the misery (famine) ceased, Joseph came to every city, and gathered together the people belonging thereunto, and gave them back entirely their lands, exhorting them to fall to their husbandry with cheerfulness, and to pay back to the king a fifth part. The men rejoiced at thus becoming unexpectedly the possessors of their lands and cheerfully did what was enjoined them."[16]

We shall close this chapter with the discerning words of Keil:

"The relationship into which the Egyptians were brought to their visible king bore a typical resemblance to the relation in which the Israelites were placed by the Mosaic constitution to Jehovah, their God-King, since they also had to give a double tenth, a fifth of the produce of their lands, and in reality were only farmers of the soil of Canaan ... and they could not sell it."[17]