Jacob’s Burial

And there they wailed with a very great and sore wailing (Genesis 50:10). [It is] taught: Even horses and even donkeys [participated in the mourning].

Once they reached the cave of Machpelah, Esau came and was preventing them [from burying Jacob there]. He said to them, “[It says: And Jacob came unto Isaac his father to] Mamre, to Kiryat Arba, the same is Hebron, [where Abraham and Isaac sojourned] (Genesis 35:27).” And R. Isaac says: [It is called] Kiryat Arba [because there] were four couples [buried there]: Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah. [Esau said, “Jacob] buried Leah in his [spot], and the [spot] that is remaining is mine.”

[The children of Jacob] said to [Esau], “You sold [your rights] to [Jacob.” Esau] said to them, “Though I sold the birthright, did I [also] sell [my rights to the burial site as] an ordinary [brother?” The brothers] said to him, “Yes, [you also sold to Jacob those rights,] as it is written [that Joseph stated, “My father made me swear, saying: Behold, I die;] in my grave that I have dug [kariti] for me [in the land of Canaan, there shall you bury me”] (Genesis 50:5). And R. Yoḥanan says in the name of R. Simeon ben Yehotsadak: [The word] kirah in the verse is nothing other [than] a term of a sale [mekhirah], because in the cities overseas they call a sale kirah.

[Esau] said to them, “Bring the bill [of sale] to me.” They said to him, “The bill [of sale] is in the land of Egypt.” [They said,] “And who will go [to bring it]?” “Naphtali will go, for he is as fast as a doe, as it is written: Naphtali is a doe let loose, he gives goodly words” (Genesis 49:21). R. Abbahu says: Do not read [it as] goodly words [imrei shafer]; rather, [read it as] imrei sefer, i.e., the words of the book, as he returned to Egypt to retrieve the bill of sale.

Ḥushim, the son of Dan, was there, and his ears were heavy.¹ He said to them, “What [is] this [that is delaying the burial]?” And they said to him, “This one [Esau] is preventing [us from burying Jacob] until Naphtali comes [back] from the land of Egypt.” He said to them, “And until Naphtali comes [back] from the land of Egypt will [our] father’s father lie in degradation?” He took a club and hit [Esau] on the head, [and Esau’s] eyes fell out, and they fell on the legs of Jacob. Jacob opened his eyes and smiled. And this is that which is written: The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked (Psalm 58:11).

At that moment, the prophecy of Rebekah was fulfilled, as it is written: Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day? (Genesis 27:45). And although their deaths were not on the same day, in any event their burials were on the same day.