When Did Israel's Subjugation Begin?

And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years …                                     Genesis 47:28 Why is this portion completely closed (setuma, minimally separated from the previous Parasha, as opposed to starting on a new line within the Torah scroll)? Because when Jacob died the eyes and hearts of Israel were “closed” from the subjugation which the Egyptians began to impose upon them.                                      Rashi

Some commentaries question Rashi’s comment, noting that Joseph remained viceroy of Egypt after his father’s death, and as well, our Sages’ tradition is that the Egyptian bondage actually began only following the death of Levi, the last of Jacob’s sons to die.

My father explained that the actual subjugation in Egypt indeed began only with the death of Levi, however, the transition from the Israelites’ position as the family of the viceroy to their enslavement was a gradual one, which began with the death of Jacob. Rashi’s point is that the beginning of subjugation was in Jacob’s children’s failure to see the approaching difficulties. As long as Jacob lived, he reminded his descendants that they were in exile in Egypt, and their true homeland is the Land of Israel. However, with the death of the patriarch, the children of Israel lost sight of their own homeland, and began to think of themselves as belonging in Egypt. It was this faulty perception which led to the Israelite’s subjugation.

Perhaps it was the Children of Israel’s failure to appreciate the need for redemption which prevented Jacob from revealing the end to them.