Exodus 13:19 - Exposition

Moses took the bones of Joseph — i.e; his body, which had been embalmed, and deposited in a mummy case ( Genesis 50:26 ), most probably at Tanis, which was the capital of the Shepherd kings, no less than of Menephthah. He had straitly sworn the children of Israel . See Genesis 50:25 . Joseph, firmly believing in the promise of God to give Canaan to the descendants of Abraham had made them swear to take his body with them when they left Egypt. The desire to be laid in their native earth was common to most of the nations of antiquity, and, in the case of the Israelites, was intensified by Canaan being the "laud of promise." Jacob had had the same feeling as Joseph, and had been buried by Joseph in the cave of Machpelah ( Genesis 50:13 ).