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Genesis never describes Rebecca’s death and notes her burial only in passing as Jacob lists the dead in the cave at Machpelah. Jubilees fills that narrative gap with a full account of her last day and burial beside Sarah.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 49:31
Hebrew Bible
29 Then he instructed them, “I am about to go to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite. 30 It is the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought for a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite. 31 There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah; there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah; and there I buried Leah. 32 The field and the cave in it were acquired from the sons of Heth.”
Jubilees 35:27
Pseudepigrapha
25 She summoned Jacob in front of Esau and gave him orders in line with what she had discussed with Esau. 26 He said: ‘I will do what pleases you. Trust me that nothing bad against Esau will come from me or my sons. I will not be first except in love only.’ 27 She and her sons ate and drank that night. She died that night at the age of three jubilees, one week, and one year [= 155 years]. Her two sons Esau and Jacob buried her in the twofold cave near their father’s mother Sarah.
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Notes and References
... Having secured Esau’s promise to love Jacob, Rebecca then goes back to Jacob and obtains his pledge to act lovingly toward Esau, with Esau present: I will do what pleases you, Jacob says, adding graciously I will not be first except in love alone. With the internal relations of her family now arranged, Rebecca dies. (Her death and burial are not reported directly in the Genesis narrative, but they are referred to in Jacob’s words in Genesis 49:31.) ...
Kugel, James L.
A Walk Through Jubilees: Studies in the Book of Jubilees and the World of Its Creation
(p. 170) Brill, 2012
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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