Genesis
Chapter 46
Jacob Travels to Egypt
Israel left with all he owned and reached Beer-sheba, where he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
God spoke to Israel in visions that he had during the night: “Jacob! Jacob!” “Here I am,” he answered.
“I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation.
I will go with you to Egypt, and I will bring you back again, and Joseph’s hand will close your eyes.”
Jacob left Beer-sheba, and the sons of Israel brought Jacob, their father, along with their little children and wives in the wagons that Joseph had sent to bring him back.
They also took their flocks and everything they had acquired in Canaan. Thus, Jacob arrived in Egypt with all his family:
his sons and grandsons, daughters and granddaughters; in short, all his children went with him to Egypt.
(cf 29:31–30:24)8Here are the names of the descendants of Israel who came to Egypt: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn,
and the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
the sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, whose mother was a Canaanite.
The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
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.
The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron.
The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel
(these are the sons of Leah, Jacob’s wife, who were born in Paddan-aram, together with his daughter Dinah; altogether his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three).
The sons of Gad: Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arod, and Areli.
The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, with Serah their sister. And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel.
These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and Jacob was their father, sixteen persons.
The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife: Joseph and Benjamin.
And to Joseph in Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whose mother was Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of Heliopolis.
And the sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ahiram, Shupham, Hupham, and Ard
(these are the sons of Rachel—fourteen).
The children of Dan: Hushim.
The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem
(these are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and Jacob was their father—seven persons in all).
The total number of all the persons who came to Egypt with Jacob, all of his own blood, excluding the wives of his sons, was sixty-six.
With the two sons born to Joseph in Egypt, the total number of Jacob’s household that came to Egypt was seventy.
Jacob sent Judah ahead to inform Joseph that he was coming and would soon arrive in the land of Goshen.
Joseph got his chariot ready to meet his father, Israel, in Goshen. He presented himself, threw his arms around his father, and wept on his shoulder for a long time.
Israel said to Joseph: “Now I can die, for I have seen your face and know you are alive.”
After that, Joseph said to his brothers and all his father’s family: “I will go and give the news to Pharaoh and tell him that my brothers and my father’s family who were in the land of Canaan have come to me.
I will also tell him that you are shepherds, tending livestock, bringing your flocks, cattle, and all your belongings.
So when Pharaoh summons you and says: ‘What is your occupation?’
You will say: ‘Your servants keep flocks and herds; it has been so since our youth and for our fathers before us.’ Then you will settle in the land of Goshen, for the Egyptians detest all shepherds.”
Commentaries
Jacob Travels to Egypt.
The most direct way to express that Jacob’s journey to Egypt is divinely initiated and that he will accompany the pilgrims is in verses 2-4, where the Lord also renews to Jacob the promises made to Abraham and Isaac (cf. 12:2.7). Jacob departs for Egypt with complete certainty that the God of his fathers will go down with him and bring him up again. Between the departure and the return of his descendants, several centuries must pass; thus, the writer mentions the promise of the multiplication of his descendants (3). However, that long sojourn in Egypt was not always marked by prosperity and fortune; in the Lord’s words to Jacob, there may be a foreshadowing of the long slavery that the Israelite descendants will endure in a foreign land, while also hiding the promise of their return.
The account is interrupted by the attempt to provide a list of all Jacob’s relatives, including his sons and grandsons, who traveled with him. This extensive list (8-27) should not be taken literally but rather understood as a means of illustrating the large number of Israelites who traveled to Egypt for seemingly attractive reasons, such as reuniting with a son and perhaps gaining the favor of Pharaoh. However, it fundamentally reflects the significant displacements to that country, which was gradually absorbing many peoples and groups plagued by hunger and indebtedness to the powerful Pharaonic empire (cf. 47:3f.).
The narrative returns to the story of the meeting between the father and son (28) and Joseph’s instructions to his people to formalize their stay in Goshen, an Egyptian region that appears to be an “authorized” place for the exercise of pastoral activities (34).