Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 47:31

And he said, Swear unto me. And he swore unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head.

31. Israel bowed himself ] Cf. 1Ki 1:47, “and the king (David) bowed himself upon the bed.” Here Jacob “bows himself” upon the bed’s head, presumably in silent thanksgiving to God for the promise made to him by Joseph. So the Lat. adoravit Israel Deum conversus ad lectuli caput. Joseph’s promise was no slight undertaking (see chap. 50). Jacob is full of gratitude.

the bed’s head ] The LXX following a different vocalization of the same Hebrew consonants, and reading hammatteh instead of hammittah, gives the rendering followed in Heb 11:21, “and worshipped leaning upon the top of his staff,” . The staff would be his own staff, not as some have suggested, Joseph’s staff of office. This reading is found also in the Vetus Itala and in Syr. Pesh. But the reading of the Hebrew text, “upon the bed’s head,” is probably the original one. The obscurity of the words led to the reading of the LXX. How should we explain “upon the bed’s head”? The simplest explanation seems the most probable. The words should be connected closely with the verb “bowed himself.” Ordinarily, the phrase “to bow oneself” was followed by some such expression as “to the ground,” cf. Gen 18:2, Gen 24:52, Gen 33:3, Gen 42:6, Gen 43:26. The prostration was then made by those who were standing. Here, Jacob is recumbent. He bows himself in worship; and it was natural to express the inclination of his obeisance by some such word, as in David’s case, “upon the bed” (1Ki 1:47); or, more picturesquely, as here, “upon the bed’s head.” He was too weak to move much.

The suggestion that a figure of the household god, or Teraphim (cf. Gen 31:19), was at the bed’s head, and that Jacob in worship turned towards it, has been ingeniously supported from the narrative of 1Sa 19:13. But, except as an example of conjectural ingenuity, it can hardly be considered worthy of more than a passing mention.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Verse 31. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head.] Jacob was now both old and feeble, and we may suppose him reclined on his couch when Joseph came; that he afterwards sat up erect (see Ge 48:2) while conversing with his son, and receiving his oath and promise; and that when this was finished he bowed himself upon the bed’s head – exhausted with the conversation, he again reclined himself on his bed as before. This seems to be the simple meaning, which the text unconnected with any religious system or prejudice, naturally proposes. But because shachah, signifies not only to bow but to worship, because acts of religious worship were performed by bowing or prostration, and because mittah, a bed, by the change of the points, only becomes matteh, a staff, in which sense the Septuagint took it, translating the original words thus: , and Israel worshipped upon the top of his staff, which the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, Heb 11:21, quotes literatim; therefore some have supposed that Jacob certainly had a carved image on the head or top of his staff, to which he paid a species of adoration; or that he bowed himself to the staff or sceptre of Joseph, thus fulfilling the prophetic import of his son’s dreams! The sense of the Hebrew text is given above. If the reader prefers the sense of the Septuagint and the Epistle to the Hebrews, the meaning is, that Jacob, through feebleness, supported himself with a staff, and that, when he got the requisite assurance from Joseph that his dead body should be carried to Canaan, leaning on his staff be bowed his head in adoration to God, who had supported him all his life long, and hitherto fulfilled all his promises.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Israel bowed himself, not to Joseph, who being now not upon his throne, nor amongst the Egyptians, but in his fathers house, was doubtless more ready to pay that reverence (as he did Gen 48:12) than to receive veneration from him, which he owed to his father; but to God, who is here to be understood, as he is in the same phrase, 1Ki 1:47, whom with this gesture he worshipped and praised, as for the promise of Canaan, and the assurance which he had now received from Joseph of his being buried there, so for all his favours to him and to Joseph, and by him to all his family.

Jacob at this time was bedrid, through age and infirmity; but being now to give God solemn thanks, though the words and manner of it be not here expressed, he raised himself and sat upon the head or uppermost part of his bed, as he did also Gen 48:2, that he might express his reverence to God as much as he could by bowing, when he could not do it as much as he would, being unable to do it kneeling. Others for bed read staff the discussion whereof I refer unto its proper place, Heb 11:21.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

31. Israel bowed himself upon thebed’s headOriental beds are mere mats, having no head, and thetranslation should be “the top of his staff,” as theapostle renders it (Heb 11:21).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And he said, swear unto me,…. This he required, not from any distrust of Joseph, but to show his own eagerness, and the intenseness of his mind about this thing, how much he was set upon it, and what an important thing it was with him; as also, that if he should have any objections made to it, or arguments used with him to divert him from it, by Pharaoh or his court, he would be able to say his father had bound him by an oath to do it, which would at once stop their mouths, and be judged a sufficient reason for what he did, see

Ge 50:5:

and he sware unto him; not only gave his promise, but confirmed it with an oath:

and Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head: not in a way of civil respect to Joseph, giving him thanks for the assurance he had given him, that he would bury him, not in Egypt, but in Canaan; but in a religious way to God, giving thanks to him that he had lived to see his son Joseph, who, according to the promise, would close his eyes, and that he had inclined his heart to fulfil his request; though some think that no more is meant, than that after Jacob had spent himself in discoursing with Joseph, he sunk down and reclined on his pillow at his bed’s head, to take some rest; for as for what the apostle says in

Heb 11:21; that refers to another thing at another time;

[See comments on Heb 11:21].

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

31. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head. By this expression, Moses again affirms that Jacob esteemed it a singular kindness, that his son should have promised to do what he had required respecting his burial. For he exerts his weak body as much as he is able, in order to give thanks unto God, as if he had obtained something most desirable. He is said to have worshipped towards the head of his bed: because, seeing he was quite unable to rise from the bed on which he lay, he yet composed himself with a solemn air in the attitude of one who was praying. The same is recorded of David (1Kg 1:47) when, having obtained his last wish, he celebrates the grace of God. The Greeks have translated it, at the top of his staff: which the Apostle has followed in the Epistle to the Hebrews, (Heb 11:21.) And though the interpreters seem to have been deceived by the similitude of words; because, with the Hebrews, מוטה ( mitah) signifies “bed,” מוטה ( motah,) “a staff;” yet the Apostle allows himself to cite the passage as it was then commonly used, lest he might offend unskillful readers, without necessity. (190) Moreover, they who expound the words to mean that Jacob worshipped the scepter of his son, absurdly trifle. The exposition of others, that he bowed his head, leaning on the top of his staff, is, to say the least, tolerable. But since there is no ambiguity in the words of Moses, let it suffice to keep in memory what I have said, that, by this ceremony, he openly manifested the greatness of his joy.

(190) The reasoning of Calvin, besides being in every respect unsatisfactory, is founded on a misquotation of the original. He appears to have put down the words from memory, or else his transcriber has made the mistake for him. The only difference between the words rendered “a bed” and a “staff” lies in the Masoretic punctuation; of which, it is well known, the authority is disputed. Perhaps one of the strongest arguments on the side of those opposed to the points, is derived from this passage and the Apostle’s interpretation of it. If the word is not pointed, then it may mean either a bed or a staff; if, on the other hand, the present points are of equal authority with the text, the Apostle has quoted it wrong. The latter supposition is not to be endured. It seems to follow, then, that the original was either not pointed, or the copy used by St. Paul was pointed differently from the present text, or he knew that the points were not to be relied upon, for giving the precise meaning of the Holy Spirit in the word. — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(31) Israel bowed himself upon the beds head.The LXX., followed by the Epistle to the Hebrews (Gen. 11:21) and the Syriac, read, on the top of his staff. The word in the Hebrew, without vowels, may mean either bed or staff, and as we have mentioned above (Gen. 22:14), the points indicating the vowels were added in later times, and while valuable as representing a very ancient tradition, are nevertheless not of final authority. The rendering, however, of the Authorised Version is the most satisfactory. It was scarcely worth mentioning that Jacob bowed before Joseph, leaning on his staff; but the picture of the aged patriarch leaning back upon his bed, content and happy in his sons promise, and giving thanks to God for the peace of his approaching end, is one full of pathos and dignity.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

31. Upon the bed’s head The Syriac and Sept . , (quoted in Heb 11:21,) read, on the head (or top) of his staff . Either meaning is possible, since the Hebrew means either bed or staff, according as it is punctuated and pronounced.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Gen 47:31. Bowed himself upon the bed’s head The Septuagint and Syriac versions render this, Israel worshipped upon the top of his staff; and I see no sort of reason why the Hebrew should not have been rendered exactly the same in our version of the Bible; for, literally, it is, and Israel bowed himself upon the head of his staff, al rosh hammittah; matteh, signifies, a rod, staff, or stick, or any thing upon which men are inclined, or lean; and in this view there is no contradiction between the passage, Heb 11:21 and the present: here it is only a mistake in our translation of the Bible, which has too exactly copied the Vulgate. The bowing himself was probably an act of religious worship; and Hallett remarks, that the leaning on his staff, is pertinently mentioned to intimate, that, feeble as he was, he would worship God in the best manner he was able. He thought it so great a privilege to be buried in the land of Canaan, that he bowed his head, in token of thankfulness for it. The bowing of David, mentioned 1Ki 1:47-48. was an act of religious worship. See Jdg 7:15. Exo 4:31; Exo 12:27.

REFLECTIONS.While others pined with want, Jacob and his family lived in plenty. His old age passed on as peaceful and serene, as his former days had been tempestuous. Note; It is a peculiar blessing to age, to have ease and rest, because it is most unfit for toil and labour. And now the time of Israel’s death approached: this is the certain end of the longest life: happy they who see the approaches of death, and prepare for it accordingly. One great concern now engaged the patriarch’s heart, and that was the disposal of his corpse. He desires to lie in the land of promise, as a confirmation to his posterity of their possession of it, and as a token of his own hope in that better rest which remained for the people of God. Joseph at his desire visits him, and swears to fulfil this his dying command; then Israel is satisfied, and bows in acknowledgment of the mercy. Note; When we can with confidence trust the Divine promise, and rest on the Divine oath, we shall with pleasure say, Now let thy servant depart in peace.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

May we not spiritualize this promise confirmed by an oath? Doth not JESUS in effect promise the same, to all his people. Joh 11:25-26 ; Hos 13:14 ; Heb 6:17-18 . Gen 47

REFLECTIONS

What sweet lessons do the lives of the Patriarchs Jacob and Joseph afford, of endearing ties of parental and filial affection? Would we learn the influence of grace refining nature’s feelings, let us read over those sacred records.

Reader! do not forget to spiritualize the Egyptian monarch’s question to the hoary Patriarch, and ask the same of your own heart. How old are you m grace? What years, what days can you number since you were new born? Few and evil no doubt are the best of our days in the best of our pilgrimage. But do not forget that the spiritual arithmetic is not counted by natural calculations’ for the child of grace shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner still remaining in an unconverted, unrenewed state, being an hundred gears old shall be accursed.

From the tender affection of Joseph to his dying father, in the promise he made him, let me turn my eyes and contemplate Joseph’s LORD and Saviour in the promise he troth left to all his people. He saith to all the true spiritual seed of Israel now, as to the Patriarch himself; Fear not to go down to the grave, I will be with thee. And this thought is a sweet thought: the covenant holds good in death as in life. The grave cannot dissolve it. When we live, we live unto the LORD: and when we die, we die unto the Lord: so that living or dying we are the LORD’S. O thou that hast the keys of hell and death; sweetest Saviour! be thou my GOD, my guide and my companion, both in life and in death: then to live will be CHRIST, and to die will be gain.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Gen 47:31 And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head.

Ver. 31. And Israel bowed himself. ] In way of thankfulness to God, framing himself to the lowliest gesture he was able; rearing himself up upon his pillow, “leaning” also “upon” his third leg, “his staff.” Heb 11:21 In effaeta senecta, fides non effaeta.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)