Vayechi: The Missing Parsha Break

There is a missing parsha break between the end of Vayigash and Vayechi. There are many comments which base themselves on this and related facts.

But one interesting thing which results from this is the juxtaposition of two pesukim, the last pasuk of Vayigash and the first of Vayechi. Bereishit 47:

כז וַיֵּשֶׁב יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם, בְּאֶרֶץ גֹּשֶׁן; וַיֵּאָחֲזוּ בָהּ, וַיִּפְרוּ וַיִּרְבּוּ מְאֹד.	27 And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they got them possessions therein, and were fruitful, and multiplied exceedingly.
כח וַיְחִי יַעֲקֹב בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם, שְׁבַע עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה; וַיְהִי יְמֵי-יַעֲקֹב, שְׁנֵי חַיָּיו--שֶׁבַע שָׁנִים, וְאַרְבָּעִים וּמְאַת שָׁנָה.	28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; so the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were a hundred forty and seven years.

Note how both pesukim begin. And there is an interchange throughout all this, weaving Yaakov with Yisrael. But here, Yisrael dwelt in the land of Egypt. And Yaakov lived in the land of Egypt. Of course, reading to the end of pasuk 27, we discover that Yisrael meant here is presumably the Nation of Israel, rather than the person. But this juxtaposition and parallelism is empowered by the missing petucha or setuma.

Besides this, there may well be a conceptual link such that pasuk 27 is really within the same topic as pasuk 28, such that we want to avoid severing the link. But exploring that would be, perhaps, for another post.