And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
And he charged them ... - most probably on some other occasion. Indeed, the charge had already been given to Joseph, and solemnly undertaken (Genesis 47:31). But in mentioning his wishes now, and rehearsing all the circumstances connected with the purchase of Machpelah, he wished to declare, with his latest breath, before all his family, that he died in the same faith as Abraham. (See the note at Genesis 23:1-20).
I am to be gathered unto my people. This phrase was employed by the speaker, and understood by those he addressed, in a sense totally different from that of being deposited in a tomb (see the note at Genesis 25:8). It is used in distinction from 'being buried.'