Jerome : (Chapter 47, Verse 31) And he said to him, swear to me. And he swore to him: and Israel worshipped against the top of his staff. And in this place, some falsely simulate that Jacob worshipped the top of Joseph's scepter, because he honored his son and worshipped his power, when in Hebrew it is read very differently: And Israel worshipped, he said, at the head of the bed: which means, after his son had sworn to him confidently about the request he had made, he worshipped God against the head of his bed. Indeed, as a holy and devoted man dedicated to God, oppressed by old age, he had his bed positioned in such a way that he himself, in the posture of one lying down, was ready for prayer without any difficulty. — Hebrew Questions on Genesis Augustine of Hippo : ON THE ADORATION OF JACOB. — The Latin copies bear: "And he bowed on the top of the rod of him (ejus); But several more chastened examples say: he bowed on the top of his rod (suae), or at the upper of his rod; at the end, or at the close. These translators are misled by the Greek word that is written with the same letters, either to translate eius (of it) or suae (su). But, on the other hand, the accents are different. And therefore, those who know these things do not despise them in the codices. Well, they serve to make a great distinction. Although it could have even a letter of more, if it were his or his own, so that in Greek was not αυτου, but εαυτου. It is therefore not without reason that one asks what is the meaning of this passage. It would easily be understood that an old man, carrying a rod in the same manner as a stick at that age, when he bowed to worship God, made it on the end of his rod, since he wore it so that by bowing his head on, he could worship God. What does it mean then: "He bowed to the end of the rod of his," that is to say, of his son Joseph? Would it be by chance that Jacob had received his son's scepter while he was swearing, and that after Joseph's oath, still holding the scepter in his hands, he worshiped God immediately? He had no reason to be ashamed of bearing for a moment the insignia of his son's power, the figure of a great event to come. But the Hebrew text gives a very easy means of solving the question; he said, "And Israel worshiped and toward the bedside," of that evidently upon which the old man was placed so as to pray without difficulty, whenever he wished. However, it should not be imagined that the interpretation of the Septuagint is meaningless or of little significance. [ — QUESTIONS ON GENESIS, Q. 161 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)