1 And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beer-sheba; and he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
2 And God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night and said, Jacob, Jacob! And he said, Here am I.
3 And he said, I am ùGod, the God of thy father: fear not to go down to Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation.
4 I will go down with thee to Egypt, and I will also certainly bring thee up; and Joseph shall put his hand on thine eyes.
5 And Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba; and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, on the waggons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
6 And they took their cattle, and their goods which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and came to Egypt, Jacob and all his seed with him;
7 his sons and his sons' sons with him, his daughters and his sons' daughters and all his seed he brought with him to Egypt.
8 And these are the names of the sons of Israel who came into Egypt: Jacob and his sons. Jacob's firstborn, Reuben.
9 And the sons of Reuben: Enoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.
10 -- And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Saul the son of a Canaanitish woman.
11 -- And the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
12 -- And the sons of Judah: Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pherez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Pherez 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 -- These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Padan-Aram; and his daughter, Dinah. All the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty-three.
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 Jishvah, and Jishvi, and Beriah; and Serah their sister; and the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel.
18 -- These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and she bore these to Jacob: sixteen souls.
19 The sons of Rachel Jacob's wife: Joseph and Benjamin.
20 And to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asnath bore to him, the daughter of Potipherah the priest in On.
21 -- And the sons of Benjamin: Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera and Naaman, Ehi and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard.
22 -- These are the sons of Rachel who were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.
23 And the sons of Dan: Hushim.
24 -- And the sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.
25 -- These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter; and she bore these to Jacob: all the souls were seven.
26 All the souls that came with Jacob to Egypt, that had come out of his loins, besides Jacob's sons' wives: all the souls were sixty-six.
27 And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt, were two souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob that came to Egypt were seventy.
28 And he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to give notice before he came to Goshen. And they came into the land of Goshen.
29 Then Joseph yoked his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and he presented himself to him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.
30 And Israel said to Joseph, Now let me die, after I have seen thy face, since thou still livest.
31 And Joseph said to his brethren and to his father's house, I will go up, and tell Pharaoh, and say to him, My brethren and my father's house, who were in the land of Canaan, are come to me;
32 and the men are shepherds, for they have been occupied with cattle; and they have brought their sheep, and their cattle, and all that they have.
33 And it shall come to pass that when Pharaoh shall call you and say, What is your occupation?
34 then ye shall say, Thy servants are men that have been occupied with cattle from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers; in order that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to 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.