Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all of Jacob’s sons lived in Canaan, the land that the Lord promised to give to Abraham’s descendants (Genesis 12:1-9; 15:1-21), and several of the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) and their wives were buried in the family burial cave that Abraham purchased in Hebron (Genesis 23:19; 25:9; 50:1-14). Abraham built altars at Shechem, Bethel, and Hebron (Genesis 12:6-8; 13:18), and Isaac built an altar at Beersheba (Genesis 26:23-25). Jacob built another altar at Shechem (Genesis 33:18-20) and also at Bethel (Genesis 35:6-7). After Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers at Dothan and taken to Egypt, he rose to become second in command to Pharaoh himself (Genesis 37-41). Before he died, however, Joseph instructed his brothers to bury his bones back in Canaan (Genesis 50:25). This request was later fulfilled by the Israelites when they left Egypt during the Exodus and placed his bones in a tomb at Shechem (Joshua 24:32).
