Joshua 24 · a question people ask
Why was Joseph buried at Shechem and not with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?
The text doesn't give a reason. Jacob had asked for one place: "Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite" (Genesis 49:29), and his sons buried him "in the cave of the field of Machpelah" (Genesis 50:13). Joseph asked only that his bones be carried up: "God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here" (Genesis 50:25). He named no place. "Moses took the bones of Joseph with him" (Exodus 13:19), and here they are buried "in Shechem, in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought" (24:32), the ground Jacob bought "at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father" (Genesis 33:19). The verse adds, "They became the inheritance of the children of Joseph" (24:32), and Shechem is "in the hill country of Ephraim" (20:7).
The verses
“He instructed them, and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place. There they buried Abraham and Sarah, his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah, his wife, and there I buried Leah:”
“for his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field, as a possession for a burial site, from Ephron the Hittite, near Mamre.”
“Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.””
“Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the children of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones away from here with you.””