The Meaning of Genesis 47:31 Explained

Genesis 47:31

KJV: And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head.

YLT: and he saith, 'Swear to me;' and he sweareth to him, and Israel boweth himself on the head of the bed.

Darby: And he said, Swear to me; and he swore to him. And Israel worshipped on the bed's head.

ASV: And he said, Swear unto me: and he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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

What does Genesis 47:31 Mean?

Context Summary

Genesis 47:27-31 - Joseph Visits His Dying Father
How inexorable is the must of death! For many years Jacob had exceeded the ordinary span of human life, and now, like the last apple on the tree, he must be gathered. For seventeen years he had been familiar with Egypt's splendid temples, obelisks and pyramids; he had been surrounded with all the comforts that filial love could devise; but nothing could make him forget that distant cave in the land of Canaan. In his judgment Egypt's most splendid pyramid was not to be compared with that humble sepulcher where the mortal remains of Abraham and Sarah, of Isaac and Rebekah, and of the faithful Leah awaited his. On Joseph's second visit he was weaker, and with an effort nerved himself for the interview. The angel-ladder and Rachel's death stood prominently out before the dying eyes. When he returned from this pathetic reverie he turned to the two boys who stood awestruck beside him and adopted them, for their beloved father's sake. [source]

Chapter Summary: Genesis 47

1  Joseph presents his father, and five of his brothers before Pharaoh
11  He gives them habitation and maintenance
13  He gets the Egyptian's money;
16  their cattle;
18  and their lands, except the priests', to Pharaoh
23  He restores the land for a fifth
28  Jacob's age
29  He swears Joseph to bury him with his fathers

What do the individual words in Genesis 47:31 mean?

And he said Swear to me And he swore to him so bowed himself Israel on the head of the bed -
וַיֹּ֗אמֶר הִשָּֽׁבְעָה֙ לִ֔י וַיִּשָּׁבַ֖ע ל֑וֹ וַיִּשְׁתַּ֥חוּ יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל עַל־ רֹ֥אשׁ הַמִּטָּֽה פ

וַיֹּ֗אמֶר  And  he  said 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
הִשָּֽׁבְעָה֙  Swear 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Imperative, masculine singular, third person feminine singular
Root: שָׁבַע  
Sense: to swear, adjure.
לִ֔י  to  me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
וַיִּשָּׁבַ֖ע  And  he  swore 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Nifal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׁבַע  
Sense: to swear, adjure.
ל֑וֹ  to  him 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
וַיִּשְׁתַּ֥חוּ  so  bowed  himself 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hitpael, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׁחָה  
Sense: to bow down.
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל  Israel 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יִשְׂרָאֵל  
Sense: the second name for Jacob given to him by God after his wrestling with the angel at Peniel.
רֹ֥אשׁ  the  head 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: רֹאשׁ 
Sense: head, top, summit, upper part, chief, total, sum, height, front, beginning.
הַמִּטָּֽה  of  the  bed 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: מִטָּה  
Sense: couch, bed, bier.
פ  - 
Parse: Punctuation