seeing that now the death of Joseph hath destroyed the covenant.
All the works of God were made to correspond to the
number of the tribes--twelve are the signs of the zodiac,
twelve the months, twelve hours hath the day, twelve the
night, and twelve stones are set in Aaron's breastplate--and now
that Joseph hath departed, the covenant of the
tribes is set at naught."

He could not replace the lost son by entering into a new
marriage, for he had made the promise to his father-in-law
to take none beside his daughters to wife, and this promise,
as he interpreted it, held good after the death of Laban's
daughters as well as while they were alive.[70]

Beside grief over his loss and regret at the breaking of
the covenant of the tribes, Jacob had still another reason for
mourning the death of Joseph. God had said to Jacob, "If
none of thy sons dies during thy lifetime, thou mayest look
upon it as a token that thou wilt not be put in Gehenna after
thy death." Thinking Joseph to be dead, Jacob had his own
fate to bewail, too, for he now believed that he was doomed
to Gehenna.[71] His mourning lasted all of twenty-two years,
corresponding to the number of the years he had dwelt
apart from his parents, and had not fulfilled the duty of a
son toward them.[72]

In his mourning Jacob put sackcloth upon his loins, and
therein be became a model for the kings and princes in
Israel, for David, Ahab, Joram, and Mordecai did likewise
when a great misfortune befell the nation.[73]