Gen 46:1-27 The following year, Jacob sets out from Hebron with seventy members of his family and reaches Beersheba (‘Well of the Vow’ - see Genesis 21:31 & 26:23) where God appears to him (see 8 on Map 42).
Gen 46:28-29 Joseph meets his father Jacob in the region of Goshen (Pa-Gessem – modern day Faqus) in the Nile Delta in c.1660BC (see 9 on Map 42).
Gen 46:30-47:12 The Pharaoh gives Jacob and his family fertile pastureland and property near Joseph’s residence at Avaris in the north eastern Nile Delta.
Fertile land in the Nile valley
Gen 47:13-31 As the famine continues, Joseph buys all the livestock and land in Egypt in exchange for grain. He ensures the Pharaoh’s future prosperity by introducing a payment in kind for any new seeds he supplies.
Gen 48:1-22 Jacob falls ill in c.1642BC. Knowing he will soon die, he tells Joseph of his dream at Luz (Bethel) (see Genesis 28:13) and how God had made a covenant with him, promising to bless his descendants – the children of Israel.
Gen 49:1-33 Jacob blesses his twelve sons and - before he dies - asks to be buried at the family tomb back in Canaan.
Gen 50:1-11 Jacob’s body is embalmed in the manner of Egyptian royalty. Joseph is given permission to bury his father in Canaan and he mourns his father at the threshing-floor of Atad near the River Jordan. The place is called Abel Mizraim (‘Mourning of the Egyptians’).
Gen 50:12-14 Jacob is buried in the Cave of Machpelah at Mamre (Hebron) beside the mortal remains of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob’s first wife Leah. Jacob’s family returns to Egypt with Joseph. The tomb of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob can still be visited in Hebron (see 1 on Map 42 and the feature on Hebron in the previous section).
Tomb of the Patriarchs at Hebron ( Antoine Taveneaux )
Gen 50:15-21 Now that their father is dead, the brothers fear that Joseph may take revenge on them, but Joseph forgives them and explains that God intended all of this to happen in order to save their lives.
Gen 50:22-26 Joseph lives on to become an old man. He asks that, when the family eventually returns to Canaan, they take his remains back with them. Joseph dies in c.1617BC and his body is embalmed and placed in a sarcophagus in Egypt.