פירוש על בראשית 49:31

THERE THEY BURIED ISAAC AND REBEKAH. The reason for saying this rather than saying, “I buried,” was that Esau was with him at the burial of their father,²⁴²Above, 35:29. and he did not wish to mention him now. Furthermore, [he did not mention Esau’s name] as he would have been forced to extend the account, saying, “there we buried Isaac, and there they buried his wife Rebekah,” since Jacob was not present at the burial of his mother.
Now in his testament, Jacob mentioned the cave and those who were buried in it to his children on account of the eminence of the place so that they make a zealous effort to bury him there.
Which Abraham bought with the field… for a possession of a burying-place.²⁴³Verse 30 here. To emphasize his thought on the eminence of the place, Ramban reverts to explain the preceding verse in the same light. He said this in order to let it be known that Abraham commanded that that place be their burial ground as an everlasting possession. However, further on, when it says, And they buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a burying-place,²⁴⁴Further, 50:13. the intent of the verse is to allude that the intention of the righteous one [Abraham] was completed with Jacob’s being buried there as he had bought it for the three of them, and no other person was to be buried there. It is for this reason that Joseph did not command that they bury him in the cave with his fathers.
Now I have seen in the Mechilta of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai²⁴⁵Beshalach 19. See also Midrash Hagadol, ed. Shechter, end of Vayechi 25, and Notes. — The Mechilta is a Midrash on the Book of Exodus, the standard Mechilta is that of Rabbi Yishmael. Ramban here refers to another Mechilta, namely, that of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai. That is why he specifies it by name. that Joseph said to them: “And when you bring me up to the land of Canaan bury me anywhere you wish. I have received a tradition that I will not be buried with my fathers for no one is permitted there for burial except the three patriarchs and the three matriarchs, as it is said, There they buried Abraham, etc., and it further says, In my burying-place which I digged for me,²⁴⁶Further 50:5. as he [Jacob] terminates [the group of people who are to be buried there].
It is possible that by saying, And there I buried Leah, Jacob hinted to them that he had already taken possession of the cave. This he said with respect to Esau, lest he and his children protest his [Jacob’s] being buried there by claiming that the cave is his as he was the firstborn and he is deserving of being buried with his ancestors. Now even though Esau had already left for another country,²⁴⁷Above, 36:6. his sons might transport him from there, just as Jacob’s sons carried him. Jacob longed to be buried with his sacred ancestors and to be united with them in burial, and if Esau were to be buried there, Jacob could not be buried there for one burial-place does not serve two families. This is also the purport of his words, In my burying-place which I digged for me,²⁴⁶Further 50:5. meaning that he had already dug the grave in order to take possession of it. This is also the reason that it says, And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen,²⁴⁸Further, 50:9. as Joseph knew the presumptuousness of Esau and his sons.
This is actually what occurred. We find in the Book of Chronicles of Joseph ben Gorion²⁴⁹The book is known as Josippon. This was an anonymous popular Hebrew medieval work containing the ancient history of the Jews. It was based in part upon the work of the historian Josephus. The story related here is told at length in Chapter 2. and in other books of ancient history that Zepho the son of Eliphaz the son of Esau²⁵⁰Above, 36:11. came and quarrelled with the children of Jacob concerning this burial, with the result that they waged war. But the power of Joseph prevailed, and they captured him together with his choice army, and they brought them to Egypt. There, Zepho remained in prison all the days of Joseph, but upon his death he escaped from there and went to the land of Compagna [in Italy] and there he ruled over the Caetheans in Rome, and ultimately was crowned [ruler] over the land of Italy. It was he who first reigned over Rome, and it was he who built the first and largest palace ever built in Rome.
Our Rabbis also mentioned this matter of the quarrel²⁵¹Sotah 13a. with Esau at the cave. The verse which states here, And Joseph returned into Egypt, he and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father,²⁵²Further, 50:14. It would appear that Ramban wishes to finish his commentary on the entire book of Genesis with the death of Jacob (for reasons made clear further). Hence Ramban explains first the oath of Joseph, although it is not mentioned in Scripture till further on (at the end of Chapter 50), and then he reverts to Verse 33, (of the present Chapter 49), in order to explain the nature of the demise of the patriarch which mirrors as well the life of the hereafter, thus confirming the statement of the Sages: “Jacob our father did not die.” The Commentary thus ends on the high note of the deathlessness of the righteous. alludes to the fact that not one of them died in the war or on the way, as the merit of the prophet Jacob and the merit of Joseph stood by those who went up with him.
Joseph did not command that he be carried and buried now in the Land as his father had commanded, for the house of Pharaoh would not permit it since he was a source of honor to them. Furthermore, if his brothers and his father’s house were to accompany him, the people of the Land would rob and steal whatever they had, and it would not be respectful behavior for others to transport him there.

שמה קברו את יצחק, there they buried Isaac, etc. Inasmuch as the cave of Machpelah used to belong to Efron the Hittite before Abraham had bought it, the Torah says here: "there they buried Abraham and Sarah." This means that the original owners did no longer use that cave to bury their own dead but that it had become the burial ground for Abraham's heirs, Isaac and Ishmael. When the Torah continues that "there they buried Isaac and Rebeccah," this is a reminder that the cave had become the property of Isaac's heirs Jacob and Esau, excluding Ishmael and his family. When Jacob added that he had buried Leah there, he wanted to exclude Esau's right to be buried there. Sotah 13 quotes Genesis 50,5 which has Joseph telling Pharaoh that Jacob had spoken about the grave he had dug for himself in the land of Canaan as proof for denying Esau a share in that cave.

There they buried. The dead feel more at ease in the company of their forebears.

שמה קברו, Yitzchok and Ishmael.

שמה קברו את יצחק, “this was where they had buried Yitzchok.” The reason why Yaakov phrased it thus, instead of saying: “there I buried Yitzchok,” is that at the time he had to share that duty (honour) with his brother Esau. He had no wish to even mention Esau at this time. Furthermore, he wanted to avoid the fact that his mother Rivkah had also been buried there, but that he had not taken part in her burial at the time.

(31-32) Ganz genau wiederholt Jakob seinen Söhnen die Örtlichkeit und den Rechtstitel. Es waren ja seitdem bereits 200 Jahre verstrichen. Wir sehen, wie bereits in jener "altersgrauen" Zeit die Verhältnisse geordnet waren und ein ganz gesicherter Rechtszustand vorhanden war.

There I buried Leah. The dead are also more at ease in the company of those who were their helpmates in this world

קברו את יצחק, the reason why Yaakov did not say “we buried,” but “they buried,” although the Torah had testified that he and Esau had buried their father, was that he did not want to even be mentioned in the same breath as his brother who was a wicked person.

ושמה קברתי את לאה, ”and I also buried Leah there.” Although, no doubt, his sons knew this, he used mention of the fact to establish his right to be buried there as her husband, in the event that anyone would dispute this. There was the chance that Esau, being the firstborn, might claim the right to be buried there with father and grandfather. Seeing that he had not disputed Leah’s right to be buried there, he should not dispute Yaakov’s right either. The reason why he considered it necessary to add (compare 50,5) the words אשר כריתי לי, “which I dug out for myself,” was to reinforce his claim to be buried there. The reason that Joseph took a whole army with him in order to fulfill his oath and to bury his father in the location he had chosen, was precisely because he anticipated that the wicked Esau might use the occasion to dispute Yaakov’s right to burial there. According to our tradition, Esau and his clan did indeed try and prevent Yaakov being buried there. In fact, the Torah does allude to this obliquely when writing in 50,14 that Joseph and his brothers and all those who had participated in this burial returned to Egypt. This was recorded only in order to inform us that during the armed dispute which preceded Yaakov’s burial, his side did not suffer any casualties. Yaakov’s merit was great enough to protect all those participating in his burial.

AND JOSEPH SAID TO HIS BRETHREN, I DIE.²⁵³Further, 50:24. Ramban here attempts to remove this difficulty: Why did Joseph address himself first to his brothers, and then made the children of Israel swear to bring his remains to the land of his ancestors (as stated in the following verse.) All of his brothers were still alive for they all survived him, as you see in the case of Levi.²⁵⁴Seder Olam, Chapter 3: “None among the tribes lived less than Joseph, and none among them lived longer than Levi.” And Joseph made the children of Israel swear.²⁵⁵Further, 50:25. Upon seeing that his brothers were old, he made their children and all his father’s household swear that they too would command their children’s children [to take up his bones with them] at the moment of redemption, as they all knew of the impending exile.