t12papocrypha
Testament of Reuben 7
Reuben dies having completed his charge to his sons, and his body is placed in a coffin to await transport out of Egypt — a deliberate echo of the patriarchal burial pattern that ties each of Jacob's sons to the promised land even in death. His interment at Hebron in the cave of Machpelah alongside the fathers anchors him in the covenant inheritance. The deferred burial — body held in Egypt, carried out at the appointed time — quietly types the broader pattern of the house of Israel held in a place of bondage until the day of gathering.
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And Reuben died after that he had given command to his sons; and they placed him in a coffin until they bore him up from Egypt, and buried him in Hebron in the double cave where his fathers were.
