Genesis 50: Setting up the Sequel

In this closing chapter, Joseph and his people make the trip out of Egypt back to Canaan to inter Jacob (Israel) in the promised land, thus presaging the Exodus of Israel from Egypt. The key difference here are that this pre-exodus occurs with the blessings of Pharaoh and his people, indeed, the "elders of the land of Egypt" and the "chariots and horsemen" accompany the Hebrews back to Canaan. As to the body of Jacob, they "buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a buryingplace of Ephron the Hittite." Instead of staying in Canaan, though, Joseph and "all that went up with him to bury his father" journeyed back into Egypt, thus setting up the children of Israel for a far more dramatic Exodus.