The Blessings of the Tribes and the Death of Jacob

Jacob lived seventeen years in Egypt—as many as Joseph had lived with him in Canaan. Sensing the end, he makes Joseph swear not to bury him in Egypt but to carry him to the cave of Machpelah. He then blesses his two grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh, crossing his hands to put the younger first; ever since, Jewish parents bless their sons with their names. Finally he gathers all his sons: "Assemble, and I will tell you what will befall you at the end of days." The Talmud says prophecy left him at that moment and he feared one of his sons was unworthy, until they answered together, "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One," and he whispered, "Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom forever." The blessings are exact and unsparing: Reuben loses the birthright, Simeon and Levi hear of their anger, Judah is promised the sceptre. Having blessed his twelve sons, Jacob dies at a hundred and forty-seven, and Egypt mourns him seventy days, and a vast procession carries him to Hebron. Of Jacob the Torah does not say "and he died"—from which the Talmud concludes: "Our father Jacob did not die."