This verse adds little to the last one, except an essential link in the series of generations. The verse as a whole refers to Genesis 48.15-16, but the quotation in the second half comes from the Greek translation of Genesis 47.31. This is different from the Hebrew, which has the word for bed instead of for walking stick. A walking stick is a stick or cane which a person may use as a support or help while walking.

In rendering He leaned on the top of his walking stick, it is important to avoid a statement which will seem ridiculous. One can, for example, “lean against a building” or “lean on a table,” but in some languages it would be impossible to say “lean on a walking stick.” It may, however, be possible to say “He steadied himself by means of his walking stick.”

God is implied. There is no basis for the suggestion that the walking stick in this verse had anything to do with “worship.” The sentence may be restructured: “He worshiped God as he leaned on his walking stick.”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .