Genesis46
New American Standard
1So Israel set out with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
2And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.”
3Then He said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.
4I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also assuredly bring you up again; and Joseph will close your eyes.”
5Then Jacob left Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob and their little ones and their wives in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
6They also took their livestock and their possessions, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and came to Egypt, Jacob and all his descendants with him:
7his sons and his grandsons with him, his daughters and his granddaughters, and all his descendants he brought with him to Egypt.
8Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.
9And the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
10And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman.
11And the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
12And the sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). And the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
13And the sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvvah, Iob, and Shimron.
14And the sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.
15These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, with his daughter Dinah; all his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three.
16And the sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.
17And the sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel.
18These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah; and she bore to Jacob these sixteen persons.
19The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
20Now to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him.
21And the sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.
22These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob; there were fourteen persons in all.
23And the sons of Dan: Hushim.
24And the sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.
25These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel, and she bore these to Jacob; there were seven persons in all.
26All the people belonging to Jacob, who came to Egypt, his direct descendants, not including the wives of Jacob’s sons, were sixty-six persons in all,
27and the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two; all the people of the house of Jacob, who came to Egypt, were seventy.
28Now Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph, to guide him to Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.
29And Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; as soon as he appeared to him, Joseph threw himself on his neck and wept on his neck a long time.
30Then Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.”
31But Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me;
32and the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock; and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’
33When Pharaoh calls for you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’
34you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock since our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ so that you may live in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Genesis 46.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: God's promises to Jacob. (1–4). Jacob and his family go to Egypt. (5–27). Joseph meets his father and his brethren. (28–34).
vv1-4
Even as to those events and undertakings which appear most joyful, we should seek counsel, assistance, and a blessing from the Lord. Attending on his ordinances, and receiving the pledges of his covenant love, we expect his presence, and that peace which it confers. In all removals we should be reminded of our removal out of this world. Nothing can encourage us to fear no evil when passing through the valley of the shadow of death, but the presence of Christ.
vv5-27
We have here a particular account of Jacob's family. Though the fulfilling of promises is always sure, yet it is often slow. It was now 215 years since God had promised Abraham to make of him a great nation, ch. 12:2; yet that branch of his seed, to which the promise was made sure, had only increased to seventy, of whom this particular account is kept, to show the power of God in making these seventy become a vast multitude.
vv28-34
It was justice to Pharaoh to let him know that such a family was come to settle in his dominions. If others put confidence in us, we must not be so base as to abuse it by imposing upon them. But how shall Joseph dispose of his brethren? Time was, when they were contriving to be rid of him; now he is contriving to settle them to their advantage; this is rendering good for evil. He would have them live by themselves, in the land of Goshen, which lay nearest to Canaan. Shepherds were an abomination to the Egyptians. Yet Joseph would have them not ashamed to own this as their occupation before Pharaoh. He might have procured places for them at court or in the army. But such preferments would have exposed them to the envy of the Egyptians, and might have tempted them to forget Canaan and the promise made unto their fathers. An honest calling is no disgrace, nor ought we to account it so, but rather reckon it a shame to be idle, or to have nothing to do. It is generally best for people to abide in the callings they have been bred to and used to. Whatever employment and condition God in his providence has allotted for us, let us suit ourselves to it, satisfy ourselves with it, and not mind high things. It is better to be the credit of a mean post, than the shame of a high one. If we wish to destroy our souls, or the souls of our children, then let us seek for ourselves, and for them, great things; but if not, it becomes us, having food and raiment, therewith to be content.
Key Words
יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity
נָסַע: properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, i.e. start on ajourney
כֹּל: properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense)
אֲשֶׁר: who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.
בּוֹא: to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)
בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע: Beer-Sheba, a place in Palestine
זָבַח: to slaughter an animal (usually in sacrifice)
זֶבַח: properly, a slaughter, i.e. the flesh of an animal; by implication, a sacrifice (the victim or the act)
אֱלֹהִים: gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative
אָב: father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote application
Cross References
Genesis 46Explains Jacob's fear; God previously foretold Abraham that his seed would suffer bondage in Egypt.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Stephen's account of seventy-five souls, which includes Joseph's family born in Egypt to reconcile the totals.
Supported by JFB
Jacob feared going to Egypt because God had previously forbidden his father Isaac from going there.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Confirms the seventy souls of Jacob's descendants who originally came into Egypt.
Supported by JFB
Moses recalls the seventy souls entering Egypt, demonstrating God's faithfulness in vastly multiplying them.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Beer-sheba was a deeply consecrated place of covenant worship for Abraham and Isaac.
Supported by JFB
Echoes God's earlier covenant promise to be with Jacob and bring him back to Canaan.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Matches the emotional physical greeting (falling on the neck and weeping) seen in the Prodigal Son's return.
Supported by JFB
Identical emotional embrace and weeping of Joseph upon his brother Benjamin.
Supported by JFB
Establishes that eating with Hebrews was an abomination to Egyptians, parallel to their view of shepherds.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Moses notes sacrificing animals sacred to Egyptians would be an abomination to them.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The distinct double-call ('Jacob, Jacob') mirrors God's urgent, personal call to Abraham at Moriah.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Records the literal fulfillment of God's promise to multiply the seventy souls into a great nation.
Supported by JFB
Directly highlights the contrast between the seventy who descended and the massive multitude that returned.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Fulfills the specific promise that Joseph would personally close Jacob's eyes at death.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Theological parallel of descendants being 'in the loins' of their father before birth.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Simeon's peaceful readiness to die after seeing God's salvation, echoing Jacob's words to Joseph.
Supported by JFB
Fulfillment of Joseph's instructions when Pharaoh asks his brothers about their occupation.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The brothers tell Pharaoh they are shepherds to secure permission to dwell in Goshen.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Joseph's dying words echo the promise that God would surely bring Israel up out of Egypt.
Supported by JFB
A parallel genealogical account tracing the tribal heads as they settled in Egypt.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Provides the essential background for why Er and Onan died in Canaan.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Details the birth and naming of Joseph's two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, in Egypt.
Supported by John Calvin
The parallel census of the sons and families of Benjamin in the wilderness.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Lists the sons of Bilhah, Bilhah being Rachel's handmaid who bore children to Jacob.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Joseph's initial promise that his father and family would dwell near him in Goshen.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The original Abrahamic promise of becoming a great nation, now transferred to Jacob in Egypt.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Stephen's speech referencing the immigration count, highlighting five additional descendants.
Supported by JFB
Jacob's immediate joy upon learning that Joseph is alive, setting up their reunion.
Supported by JFB