Genesis 47:29
And when he saw that the day of his death drew nigh, he called his son Joseph, and said to him: If I have found favour in thy sight, put thy hand under my thigh; and thou shalt shew me this kindness and truth, not to bury me in Egypt:
Open Genesis 47:29 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Cumque appropinquare cerneret diem mortis suæ, vocavit filium suum Joseph, et dixit ad eum : Si inveni gratiam in conspectu tuo, pone manum tuam sub femore meo : et facies mihi misericordiam et veritatem, ut non sepelias me in Ægypto :
- Septuagint (Swete)
- ἤγγισαν δὲ αἱ ἡμέραι Ἰσραὴλ ἀποθανεῖν, καὶ ἐκάλεσεν τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ Ἰωσὴφ καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Εἰ εὕρηκα χάριν ἐναντίον σου, ὑπόθες τὴν χεῖρά σου ὑπὸ τὸν μηρόν μου, καὶ ποιήσεις ἐπ᾽ ἐμὲ ἐλεημοσύνην καὶ ἀλήθειαν τοῦ μή με θάψαι ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ·
- Hebrew (WLC)
- וַיִּקְרְב֣וּ יְמֵֽי יִשְׂרָאֵ֘ל לָמוּת֒ וַיִּקְרָ֣א לִבְנ֣וֹ לְיוֹסֵ֗ף וַיֹּ֤אמֶר לוֹ֙ אִם נָ֨א מָצָ֤אתִי חֵן֙ בְּעֵינֶ֔יךָ שִֽׂים נָ֥א יָדְךָ֖ תַּ֣חַת יְרֵכִ֑י וְעָשִׂ֤יתָ עִמָּדִי֙ חֶ֣סֶד וֶאֱמֶ֔ת אַל נָ֥א תִקְבְּרֵ֖נִי בְּמִצְרָֽיִם
Haydock's commentary
Thigh. To swear, as the steward of Abraham did, chap. xxiv. 2.
Kindness and truth. This act of real mercy; or, shew me mercy, by promising freely to comply with my request; and truth, by fulfilling this oath. (Menochius)
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
St Augustine City of God, Reasons for Burying the Bodies of the Saints
Nevertheless the bodies of the dead are not on this account to be despised and left unburied; least of all the bodies of the righteous and faithful, which have been used by the Holy Spirit as His organs and instruments for all good works. For if the dress of a father, or his ring, or anything he wore, be precious to his children, in proportion to the love they bore him, with how much more reason ought we to care for the bodies of those we love, which they wore far more closely and intimately than any clothing! For the body is not an extraneous ornament or aid, but a part of man’s very nature. …