1 And Israel went on his journey with all he had, and came to Beer-sheba, where he made offerings to the God of his father Isaac.
2 And God said to Israel in a night-vision, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.
3 And he said, I am God, the God of your father: go down to Egypt without fear, for I will make a great nation of you there:
4 I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will see that you come back again, and at your death Joseph will put his hands on your eyes.
5 Then Jacob went on from Beer-sheba; and the sons of Jacob took their father and their little ones and their wives in the carts which Pharaoh had sent for them.
6 And they took their cattle and all the goods which they had got in the land of Canaan, and came to Egypt, even Jacob and all his seed:
7 His sons and his sons' sons, his daughters and his daughters' sons and all his family he took with him into Egypt.
8 And these are the names of the children of Israel who came into Egypt, even Jacob and all his sons: Reuben, Jacob's oldest son;
9 And the sons of Reuben: Hanoch and Pallu and Hezron and Carmi;
10 And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel and Jamin and Ohad and Jachin and Zohar and Shaul, the son of a woman of Canaan;
11 And the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari;
12 And the sons of Judah: Er and Onan and Shelah and Perez and Zerah: but Er and Onan had come to their death in the land of Canaan; and the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
13 And the sons of Issachar: Tola and Puah and Job and Shimron;
14 And the sons of Zebulun: Sered and Elon and Jahleel;
15 All these, together with his daughter Dinah, were the children of Leah, whom Jacob had by her in Paddan-aram; they were thirty-three in number.
16 And the sons of Gad: Ziphion and Haggi, Shuni and Ezbon, Eri and Arodi and Areli;
17 And the sons of Asher: Jimnah and Ishvah and Ishvi and Beriah, and Sarah, their sister; and the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel.
18 These are the children of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah, and Jacob had these sixteen children by her.
19 The sons of Jacob's wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
20 And Joseph had Manasseh and Ephraim in the land of Egypt, by Asenath, the daughter of Poti-phera, priest of On.
21 And the sons of Benjamin were Belah and Becher and Ashbel, Gera and Naaman, Ehi and Rosh, Muppim and Huppim and Ard.
22 All these were the children of Rachel whom Jacob had by her, fourteen persons.
23 And the son of Dan was Hushim.
24 And the sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel and Guni and Jezer and Shillem.
25 These were the children of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel, seven persons.
26 All the persons who came with Jacob into Egypt, the offspring of his body, were sixty-six, without taking into account the wives of Jacob's sons.
27 And the sons of Joseph whom he had in Egypt were two. Seventy persons of the family of Jacob came into Egypt.
28 Now he had sent Judah before him to Goshen, to get word from Joseph; and so they came to the land of Goshen.
29 And Joseph got his carriage ready and went to Goshen for the meeting with his father; and when he came before him, he put his arms round his neck, weeping.
30 And Israel said to Joseph, Now that I have seen you living again, I am ready for death.
31 And Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's people, I will go and give the news to Pharaoh, and say to him, My brothers and my father's people, from the land of Canaan, have come to me;
32 And these men are keepers of sheep and owners of cattle, and have with them their flocks and their herds and all they have.
33 Now when Pharaoh sends for you and says, What is your business?
34 You are to say, Your servants have been keepers of cattle from our early days up to now, like our fathers; in this way you will be able to have the land of Goshen for yourselves; because keepers of sheep are unclean in the eyes of the Egyptians.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Genesis 46
Commentary on Genesis 46 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 46
Ge 46:1-4. Sacrifice at Beer-sheba.
1. Israel took his journey with all that he had—that is, his household; for in compliance with Pharaoh's recommendation, he left his heavy furniture behind. In contemplating a step so important as that of leaving Canaan, which at his time of life he might never revisit, so pious a patriarch would ask the guidance and counsel of God. With all his anxiety to see Joseph, he would rather have died in Canaan without that highest of earthly gratifications than leave it without the consciousness of carrying the divine blessing along with him.
came to Beer-sheba—That place, which was in his direct route to Egypt, had been a favorite encampment of Abraham (Ge 21:33) and Isaac (Ge 26:25), and was memorable for their experience of the divine goodness; and Jacob seems to have deferred his public devotions till he had reached a spot so consecrated by covenant to his own God and the God of his fathers.
2. God spake unto Israel—Here is a virtual renewal of the covenant and an assurance of its blessings. Moreover, here is an answer on the chief subject of Jacob's prayer and a removal of any doubt as to the course he was meditating. At first the prospect of paying a personal visit to Joseph had been viewed with unmingled joy. But, on calmer consideration, many difficulties appeared to lie in the way. He may have remembered the prophecy to Abraham that his posterity was to be afflicted in Egypt and also that his father had been expressly told not to go [Ge 15:13; 26:2]; he may have feared the contamination of idolatry to his family and their forgetfulness of the land of promise. These doubts were removed by the answer of the oracle, and an assurance given him of great and increasing prosperity.
3. I will there make of thee a great nation—How truly this promise was fulfilled, appears in the fact that the seventy souls who went down into Egypt increased [Ex 1:5-7], in the space of two hundred fifteen years, to one hundred eighty thousand.
4. I will also surely bring thee up again—As Jacob could not expect to live till the former promise was realized, he must have seen that the latter was to be accomplished only to his posterity. To himself it was literally verified in the removal of his remains to Canaan; but, in the large and liberal sense of the words, it was made good only on the establishment of Israel in the land of promise.
Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes—shall perform the last office of filial piety; and this implied that he should henceforth enjoy, without interruption, the society of that favorite son.
Ge 46:5-27. Immigration to Egypt.
5. And Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba—to cross the border and settle in Egypt. However refreshed and invigorated in spirit by the religious services at Beer-sheba, he was now borne down by the infirmities of advanced age; and, therefore, his sons undertook all the trouble and toil of the arrangements, while the enfeebled old patriarch, with the wives and children, was conveyed by slow and leisurely stages in the Egyptian vehicles sent for their accommodation.
6. goods, which they had gotten in the land—not furniture, but substance—precious things.
7. daughters—As Dinah was his only daughter, this must mean daughters-in-law.
all his seed brought he with him—Though disabled by age from active superintendence, yet, as the venerable sheik of the tribe, he was looked upon as their common head and consulted in every step.
8-27. all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten—Strictly speaking, there were only sixty-six went to Egypt; but to these add Joseph and his two sons, and Jacob the head of the clan, and the whole number amounts to seventy. In the speech of Stephen (Ac 7:14) the number is stated to be seventy-five; but as that estimate includes five sons of Ephraim and Manasseh (1Ch 7:14-20), born in Egypt, the two accounts coincide.
Ge 46:28-34. Arrival in Egypt.
28. he sent Judah before him unto Joseph—This precautionary measure was obviously proper for apprising the king of the entrance of so large a company within his territories; moreover, it was necessary in order to receive instruction from Joseph as to the locale of their future settlement.
29, 30. Joseph made ready his chariot—The difference between chariot and wagon was not only in the lighter and more elegant construction of the former, but in the one being drawn by horses and the other by oxen. Being a public man in Egypt, Joseph was required to appear everywhere in an equipage suitable to his dignity; and, therefore, it was not owing either to pride or ostentatious parade that he drove his carriage, while his father's family were accommodated only in rude and humble wagons.
presented himself unto him—in an attitude of filial reverence (compare Ex 22:17). The interview was a most affecting one—the happiness of the delighted father was now at its height; and life having no higher charms, he could, in the very spirit of the aged Simeon, have departed in peace [Lu 2:25, 29].
31-34. Joseph said, … I will go up, and show Pharaoh—It was a tribute of respect due to the king to inform him of their arrival. And the instructions which he gave them were worthy of his character alike as an affectionate brother and a religious man.