Charles Ellicott Commentary Genesis 47:29

"And the time drew near that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found favor in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me: bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt;" — Genesis 47:29 (ASV)

ISRAEL IN EGYPT.

The time drew near that Israel must die: For seventeen years, Jacob lived in Egypt and saw the growing prosperity of his people under the supportive hand of Joseph. Positioned at the entrance of Egypt, on the side of Arabia and Palestine, the clans of his sons would daily increase in number through the addition of Semitic immigrants. With their help, they would transform the vast and fertile region assigned to them, which had previously been sparsely populated, into a well-cultivated and thriving land.

But at last, Jacob felt his end approaching, though apparently he was not yet in immediate danger of death. However, there was a wish over which he had long pondered. Desiring to have his mind set at rest, he sent for Joseph and made him promise that he would bury him in the cave at Machpelah.

We find him again charging all his sons to grant him this request (Genesis 49:29–32); nor do we need to seek any remote reason for it. Jacob’s whole nature was a loving one, and strongly influenced by home and domestic feelings; and at Machpelah his nearest relatives were buried. In the next chapter, he dwells upon Rachel’s death and his burial of her apart from the rest at Ephrath; this seems to have increased his grief at her loss. At Machpelah, Abraham, whom he had known as a boy, his beloved father and mother, and Leah, who had evidently at last won his affections, all lay; and there, naturally, he too wished to lie among his own.

Put ... your hand under my thigh. See Note on Genesis 24:2.