to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Swear
הִשָּֽׁבְעָה֙hi.sha.ve.'Ah
H7650
to seven oneself · verb, niphal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular + paragogic he
sware
וַיִּשָּׁבַ֖עvai.yi.sha.Va'
H7650
to seven oneself · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a man's name
bowed
וַיִּשְׁתַּ֥חוּvai.yish.Ta.chu
H7812
to depress · conjunction + verb, sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
bed’s
הַמִּטָּֽהha.mi.Tah
H4296
a bed (as extended) forsleeping or eating · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
head
רֹ֥אשׁrosh
H7218
the head (as most easily shaken) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Kings 1:47 And moreover the king’s servants came to bless our lord king David, saying, God make the name of Solomon better than thy name, and make his…
Genesis 24:3 And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daug…
Hebrews 11:21 By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.
Genesis 24:26 And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the LORD.
Genesis 47:29 And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I…
Genesis 48:1-2 And it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ep…
Genesis 21:23 Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son: but according to th…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Genesis 47:27–end
Observe, 1. The comfort Jacob lived in (Gen 47:27, Gen 47:28); while the Egyptians were impoverished in their own land, Jacob was replenished in a strange land. He lived seventeen years after he came into Egypt, far beyond his own expectation. Seventeen years he had nourished Joseph (for so old he was when he was sold from him, Gen 37:2), and now, by way of requital, seventeen years Joseph nourished him. Observe how kindly Providence ordered Jacob's affairs, that when he was old, and least able to bear care or fatigue, he had least occasion for it, being well provided for by his son without his own forecast. Thus God considers the frame of his people. 2. The care Jacob died in. At last the t…
Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head--Oriental beds are mere mats, having no head, and the translation should be "the top of his staff," as the apostle renders it (Heb 11:21).
Next: Genesis Chapter 48
Adam Clarke on Genesis 47:31
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 Gen 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 שחה shachah, signifies not only to bow but to worship, because acts of religious worship were performed by bowing or prostration, and because מטה mittah,…
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 Genesis 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…
The Church Fathers
(Chapter 47, Verse 31) And he said to him, swear to me. And he swore to him: and Israel worshipped against the top of his staff. And in this place, some falsely simulate that Jacob worshipped the top of Joseph's scepter, because he honored his son and worshipped his power, when in Hebrew it is read very differently: And Israel worshipped, he said, at the head of the bed: which means, after his son had sworn to him confidently about the request he had made, he worshipped God against the head of his bed. Indeed, as a holy and devoted man dedicated to God, oppressed by old age, he had his bed positioned in such a way that he himself, in the posture of one lying down, was ready for prayer without any difficulty.
ON THE ADORATION OF JACOB. — The Latin copies bear: "And he bowed on the top of the rod of him (ejus); But several more chastened examples say: he bowed on the top of his rod (suae), or at the upper of his rod; at the end, or at the close. These translators are misled by the Greek word that is written with the same letters, either to translate eius (of it) or suae (su). But, on the other hand, the accents are different. And therefore, those who know these things do not despise them in the codices. Well, they serve to make a great distinction. Although it could have even a letter of more, if it were his or his own, so that in Greek was not αυτου, but εαυτου. It is therefore not without reason that one asks what is the meaning of this passage. It would easily be understood that an old man, carrying a rod in the same manner as a stick at that age, when he bowed to worship God, made it on the end of his rod, since he wore it so that by bowing his head on, he could worship God. What does it mean then: "He bowed to the end of the rod of his," that is to say, of his son Joseph? Would it be by chance that Jacob had received his son's scepter while he was swearing, and that after Joseph's oath, still holding the scepter in his hands, he worshiped God immediately? He had no reason to be ashamed of bearing for a moment the insignia of his son's power, the figure of a great event to come. But the Hebrew text gives a very easy means of solving the question; he said, "And Israel worshiped and toward the bedside," of that evidently upon which the old man was placed so as to pray without difficulty, whenever he wished. However, it should not be imagined that the interpretation of the Septuagint is meaningless or of little significance. [
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Bed — (Heb. mittah), for rest at night (Ex. 8:3; 1 Sam. 19:13, 15, 16, etc.); during sickness (Gen. 47:31; 48:2; 49:33, etc.); as a sofa for rest (1 Sam. 28:23; Amos 3:12). Another Hebrew word (er’es) so…
Joseph — Remover or increaser. (1.) The elder of the two sons of Jacob by Rachel (Gen. 30:23, 24), who, on the occasion of his birth, said, “God hath taken away [Heb. ‘asaph] my reproach.” “The Lord shall add…
Beds · Antiquity of — Antiquity of
Burial · The Jews anxious to be interred in their family places of — The Jews anxious to be interred in their family places of
Hands, The · Placed under the thigh of a person to whom an oath was made — Placed under the thigh of a person to whom an oath was made
Oath · Requires Joseph to swear that he would bury him with his forefathers — Requires Joseph to swear that he would bury him with his forefathers
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
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 (1 Kings 1:47) when, having obtained his last wish, he celebrates the grace of God. The Greeks have translat…
Jacob lived in Egypt for 17 years. He then sent for Joseph, as he felt that his death was approaching; and having requested him, as a mark of love and faithfulness, not to bury him in Egypt, but near his fathers in Canaan, he made him assure him on oath (by putting his hand under his hip, vid., p. 164) that his wishes should be fulfilled. When Joseph had taken this oath, "Israel bowed (in worship) upon the bed's head." He had talked with Joseph while sitting upon the bed; and when Joseph had promised to fulfil his wish, he turned towards the head of the bed, so as to lie with his face upon the bed, and thus worshipped God, thanking Him for granting his wish, which sprang from living faith in…
When the oath was taken, Jacob bowed humbly in worship and thanked the Lord for ensuring that he would be buried with his ancestors in the land of promise (cp. 1 Kgs 1:47).
Rashi on Genesis 47:31
וישתחו ישראל AND ISRAEL PROSTRATED HIMSELF — The proverb says: Though the lion is king “when the fox has his time, bow to him” (Megillah 16b).
על ראש המטה UPON THE BED’S HEAD — He turned towards the Divine Presence (the Shechinah) (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayechi 3). They (the Rabbis) inferred from this that the Shechinah is above the pillow of a sick person (Shabbat 12b). Another interpretation of על ראש המטה He bowed himself in thanks FOR HIM WHO WAS THE CHIEF (ראש) OF HIS CHILDREN — in thanks because his children were heart-whole with God, and none of them was wicked, for even Joseph who was a king and moreover had been a captive amongst heathen peoples yet maintained his righteousness (Sifré…
