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Genesis 46

1

And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beer–sheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.

2

And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.

3

And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:

4

I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon 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, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.

6

And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into 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 brought he with him into Egypt.

8

And these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.

9

And the sons of Reuben; Hanoch, and Phallu, 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 Canaanitish woman.

11

And the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

12

And the sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharez, and Zerah: but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Pharez were Hezron and Hamul.

13

And the sons of Issachar; Tola, and Phuvah, and Job, and Shimron.

14

And the sons of Zebulun; Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.

15

These be the sons of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob in Padan–aram, with his daughter Dinah: all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty and 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 Ishuah, and Isui, and Beriah, and Serah their sister: and the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel.

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These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bare unto Jacob, even sixteen souls.

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The sons of Rachel Jacob’s wife; Joseph, and Benjamin.

20

And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Asenath the daughter of Poti–pherah priest of On bare unto him.

21

And the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard.

22

These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.

23

And the sons of Dan; Hushim.

1
24

And the sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.

25

These are the sons of Bilhah, which Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter, and she bare these unto Jacob: all the souls were seven.

26

All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were threescore and six;

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And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten.

28

And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.

29

And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.

30

And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.

31

And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his father’s house, I will go up, and shew Pharaoh, and say unto him, My brethren, and my father’s house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me;

32

And the men are shepherds, for their trade hath been to feed cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.

33

And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation?

34

That ye shall say, Thy servants’ trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

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Genesis 46

Genesis 46 records Jacob's journey to Egypt with his entire household — seventy persons in all. Before he crosses out of the promised land, God speaks to him at Beersheba in a vision at night: do not be afraid to go to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there, and I will bring you up again. The promise is not diminished by the geography; God's purposes travel with His people. The chapter then provides a careful genealogical list of every person who went down to Egypt — sons, daughters, grandchildren — a census of the family through whom God's covenant promises will unfold. The detail matters: these are not abstractions but named individuals, and their multiplication in Egypt will become the context for the Exodus. When Joseph meets Jacob after years of separation, he falls on his father's neck and weeps for a long time, and Jacob says: now let me die, since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive. The scene is tender and complete. Exodus 1:5 picks up this same number — seventy — as the seed from which a nation will grow.

Genesis 46:23

The son of Dan: Hushim. The single son of Dan — Hushim — is the smallest contribution to the census. The application: even the tribe with only one named son at the time of the Egypt descent is fully counted. One is enough to be named.

Genesis 46:24

The sons of Naphtali: Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. The four sons of Naphtali through Bilhah complete the servant-wives' contribution to the census. The application: the census that counts every son of every son is the census of a community that knows it will become a nation.

Genesis 46:25

These were the sons born to Jacob by Bilhah, whom Laban had given to his daughter Rachel — seven in all. The seven of Bilhah's line completes the servant-wife's contribution. The application: the servant's children are counted and named with the same care as the primary wives' children.

Genesis 46:1

So Israel set out with all that was had, and when he came to Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. The first act of the journey south toward Egypt is worship at Beersheba — the site of the covenant between Abraham and Abimelech, the place where Isaac received the covenant confirmation in Genesis 26:23-25. The application: the covenant journey that passes through a covenant place begins at that place with worship. Jacob offers at Beersheba before proceeding to Egypt.

Genesis 46:2

And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said: Jacob! Jacob! He answered: here I am. The double naming — Jacob! Jacob! — and the hineni answer are the pattern of the most significant divine summons in the biblical narrative (Abraham in Genesis 22:11, Moses in Exodus 3:4, Samuel in 1 Samuel 3:10). The application: the posture of full availability — here I am — is the posture that is consistent from the wrestling at Peniel to the vision at Beersheba. Jacob's spiritual character at the end of his life is the same as it was at the moments of greatest testing.

Genesis 46:3

I am God, the God of your father, he said. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. The identification — I am God, the God of your father — grounds the vision in the covenant history. The address of the specific fear — do not be afraid to go down to Egypt — shows that God sees the hesitation that the journey into Egypt represents. The application: the covenant God speaks specifically to the fears that the covenant person faces in obedience. The fear of Egypt is named and addressed before the command to go is given.

Genesis 46:4

I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph's own hand will close your eyes. The promise of presence — I will go down with you — is the promise that has accompanied Jacob from Bethel: I will be with you wherever you go. And the promise of return — I will bring you back — will be kept in Joseph's bones carried back to Canaan in Genesis 50:25. The application: the covenant presence goes to Egypt with Jacob; the covenant promise of return will be kept, if not in Jacob's lifetime then through his descendants.

Genesis 46:5

Then Jacob left Beersheba, and Israel's sons took their father Jacob and their children and their wives in the carts that Pharaoh had sent to transport him. The departure from Beersheba with the Egyptian carts is the covenant family's movement into the new chapter of the covenant story — the descent into Egypt that will eventually require the Exodus. The application: the covenant family's movement into Egypt is the beginning of the formation period that will produce Israel as a nation. What begins as family settlement will become national identity.

Genesis 46:6

They also took with them their livestock and the possessions they had accumulated in Canaan, and Jacob and all his offspring went to Egypt. The full inventory of what goes to Egypt — livestock, possessions accumulated in Canaan — is the covenant family's entire inheritance being relocated. The application: the move to Egypt is complete — everything and everyone. The covenant family that has been in Canaan since Abraham's arrival is now in Egypt.

Genesis 46:7

He took with him to Egypt his sons and grandsons and his daughters and granddaughters — all his offspring. The expansion of the family across three generations — sons, grandsons, daughters, granddaughters — is the covenant fruitfulness made visible. The application: the promise of fruitfulness given to Abraham and renewed to each patriarch is now visible in the three generations Jacob takes to Egypt.

Genesis 46:8

These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt: Jacob and his sons: Reuben the firstborn of Jacob. The list of seventy names that follows is the covenant family's complete census at the moment of entry into Egypt. The application: the names matter. The seventy who go down to Egypt are the seventy from whom the nation will emerge. Numbers always matter in the biblical narrative.

Genesis 46:9

The sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Karmi. The sons of Reuben's sons are the covenant family's next generation. The application: the genealogy that traces sons of sons is the genealogy of covenant continuity — the promise passes through every generation named here.

Genesis 46:10

The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. The sons of Simeon include one son of a Canaanite woman — the same complication that characterized Esau's line. The application: the covenant family is not ethnically pure, and the biblical genealogy does not hide this. Shaul's Canaanite mother is noted without condemnation.

Genesis 46:11

The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. The sons of Levi who go to Egypt are the ancestors of the Levitical and priestly clans. Kohath is the ancestor of Moses (Exodus 6:18-20). The application: the genealogy records the ancestors of the priestly and prophetic leaders of Israel before they exist — the covenant family carries its future in its names.

Genesis 46:12

The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah — but Er and Onan had died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Judah include the two who died and the three who live, including Perez through whom the messianic line runs. The application: the genealogy is honest about the dead as well as the living. Er and Onan are counted and named even though they did not make the journey.

Genesis 46:13

The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron. The sons of Issachar add four more names to the growing census. The application: each tribe begins as a small family unit, and the genealogy traces every one of them into Egypt.

Genesis 46:14

The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. The three sons of Zebulun complete Leah's line's contribution to the census. The application: the completeness of the enumeration — even three-son tribes are fully named — is the covenant community's insistence that no one is too small to be counted.

Genesis 46:15

These were the sons Leah bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram, besides his daughter Dinah. These sons and daughters of his were thirty-three in all. Leah's thirty-three include her sons and their children and Dinah. The application: the matriarch who was not loved is the mother of the largest contingent going to Egypt. The unloved Leah has the largest family.

Genesis 46:16

The sons of Gad: Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. The seven sons of Gad through Zilpah begin the account of the servant-wives' lines. The application: every branch of the covenant family is fully enumerated — the sons of Zilpah and Bilhah receive the same census treatment as the sons of the primary wives.

Genesis 46:17

The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi and Beriah, and their sister Serah. The children of Asher include a named daughter — Serah — one of the few women named in the census. The application: named daughters in genealogies are the text's way of honoring the women who were sufficiently significant to be remembered by name.

Genesis 46:18

These were the children born to Jacob by Zilpah, whom Laban had given to his daughter Leah — sixteen in all. The sixteen of Zilpah's line completes the servant-wife's contribution. The application: the servant's children are fully counted in the covenant family's census.

Genesis 46:19

The sons of Jacob's wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. Rachel's two sons are the beloved wife's contribution to the covenant family — two sons who will carry the most significant stories of the Joseph narrative and the Davidic dynasty. The application: Rachel's two sons, though smallest in number, carry the largest weight in the subsequent narrative.

Genesis 46:20

In Egypt, Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. The sons of Joseph — born in Egypt, to an Egyptian mother — are the covenant family's first members born entirely outside the promised land. The application: the covenant family extends into Egypt in the second generation of Joseph's sojourn — the family is already taking root before Jacob arrives.

Genesis 46:21

The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. Benjamin's ten sons — though he is the youngest, the last born — produce the most names in any single son's line. The application: the youngest son of the beloved wife has the most numerous family. The reversal of expected order — Rachel's youngest with the largest family — is the covenant's characteristic pattern.

Genesis 46:22

These were the sons of Rachel who were born to Jacob — fourteen in all. The fourteen of Rachel's line — including the grandsons — is the full count of the beloved wife's covenant contribution. The application: the covenant family counts every member of every line with equal care.

Genesis 46:26

All those who went to Egypt with Jacob — those who were his direct descendants, not counting his sons' wives — numbered sixty-six persons. The sixty-six direct descendants — not counting daughters-in-law — is the narrowest count of the covenant family entering Egypt. The application: the specific number is significant: this is the covenant family at the point of entry into the formation period that will produce the nation.

Genesis 46:27

With the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob's family, which went to Egypt, were seventy in all. The seventy — the full covenant family including Joseph's Egyptian-born sons — is the number associated in ancient Near Eastern thought with completeness. Seventy nations in the table of nations in Genesis 10; seventy elders of Israel in Exodus 24:1. The application: the seventy who go down to Egypt are the covenant community in its complete form at this stage — complete enough to become a nation.

Genesis 46:28

Now Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to get directions to Goshen. When they arrived in the region of Goshen, Joseph had his chariot made ready and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel. The sending of Judah ahead — the covenant son who offered himself as surety, who transformed in the Joseph narrative — is the choosing of the right person for the right mission. The application: Judah, who is being shaped throughout the narrative for covenant leadership, is the one sent ahead to prepare the way. His transformation is complete enough to be trusted with the mission.

Genesis 46:29

As soon as Joseph appeared before him, he threw his arms around his father and wept for a long time. The reunion of Joseph and Jacob — the son mourned as dead and the father who mourned him — is the reunion the whole narrative has been building toward. The long weeping is the weeping of twenty-two years of separation resolved in a single embrace. The application: the weeping for a long time is not a brief emotional moment but the full release of the grief that has been held through all the years of separation.

Genesis 46:30

Israel said to Joseph: now I am ready to die, since I have seen for myself that you are still alive. The declaration — now I am ready to die — is the declaration of Simeon in Luke 2:29: now, Lord, you may dismiss your servant in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation. Jacob has seen what he most needed to see; the rest of his life can be given in peace. The application: the experience of seeing the living person you mourned as dead is the experience that resolves the deepest grief.

Genesis 46:31

Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's household: I will go up and speak to Pharaoh and will say to him, my brothers and my father's household, who were living in the land of Canaan, have come to me. Joseph's plan for presenting the family to Pharaoh is the practical wisdom of the governor managing his family's integration into Egypt. The application: the covenant person in a position of authority uses that authority to facilitate the reception of their family by the wider community.

Genesis 46:32

The men are shepherds; they tend livestock, and they have brought along their flocks and herds and everything they own. The advance communication to Pharaoh about the family's profession — shepherds — is Joseph's preparation for the potential cultural friction of verses 34. The application: the honest advance communication about the identity and practice of those you are bringing into a community is the preparation that facilitates reception.

Genesis 46:33

When Pharaoh calls you in and asks, what is your occupation? The anticipation of Pharaoh's question — what is your occupation — is Joseph's coaching for the brothers' presentation. The application: the person who knows the context prepares those entering it for the questions they will face.

Genesis 46:34

You should answer, your servants have tended livestock from our boyhood on, just as our fathers did. Then you will be allowed to settle in the region of Goshen, for all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians. The instruction to answer honestly — we are shepherds, as our fathers were — is the instruction that will produce the separation that allows the covenant family to settle in Goshen. The Egyptians' disdain for shepherds is the social mechanism that separates the covenant family from assimilation. The application: the cultural separation that protects the covenant community's distinctiveness sometimes comes from the host culture's prejudice rather than from the covenant community's preference.