My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die: in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again.
My father made me promise him, saying, 'Look, I am dying. You must bury me in the grave I have prepared for myself in the land of Canaan.' So now please let me go and bury my father, and I will return.
Joseph is asking Pharaoh for permission to travel to Canaan to fulfill his dying father's wish to be buried in the Promised Land.
📚 Historical Context
This occurs after Jacob (Israel) died in Egypt, where his family had lived for 17 years during a severe famine. Jacob had made Joseph swear to bury him not in Egypt, but back in Canaan in the family burial cave at Machpelah, where Abraham, Isaac, and their wives were buried. Joseph, as a high official in Egypt, needed Pharaoh's permission to leave the country for this burial journey.
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