Verse

Genesis 49:33

ESV When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.
NIV When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.
NASB When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.
CSB When Jacob had finished giving charges to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, took his last breath, and was gathered to his people.
NLT When Jacob had finished this charge to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and joined his ancestors in death.
KJV And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.

What does Genesis 49:33 mean?

With his twelve 12 sons gathered around him, Jacob has concluded two important pieces of business while on his deathbed. First, he pronounced a prophetic oracle and blessing suitable to each of his sons and the tribes of people who would descend from them (Genesis 49:1–2). Next, he commanded them to bury his body in the family burial tomb in Canaan (Genesis 49:28–32).

At 147 years of age, Jacob dies. The three phrases used here have both literal and figurative aspects. Jacob anticipates death, experiences it, and transitions into the afterlife. Though his life was often marked by sorrow and fear (Genesis 47:9), Jacob's deathbed prophecies included assurance that his blessings were mighty "up to the bounties of the everlasting hills" (Genesis 49:26). He understood his life to have been powerfully and uniquely blessed by the very God of heaven.

The following chapter will detail how Joseph and his brothers mourn for Jacob. The centuries following his death will be increasingly difficult for Jacob's family, even as they blossom under God's blessing into a large nation of people (Exodus 1:7–14).
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