Genesis 46

And Israel set out with all that he had and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

46:1 Beersheba is in the southern part of Canaan. His father Isaac had also offered sacrifices there (Gen 26:23-25).⚜

2 And God spoke to Israel in visions by night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob”.

And he said, “Here I am”.

3 And he said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will there make of you a great nation. 4 I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again. And Joseph will put his hand on yours eyes”.

5 And Jacob arose from Beersheba, 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.

46:5 Notice the mixture of Jacob’s two names. This is seen also in v 8; Gen 47:28-29; 48:2; 49:33; and 50:2.⚜

6 And they took their livestock, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his offspring with him. 7 He brought with him to Egypt his sons, and his grandsons, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters, and all his descendants.

8 And these are the names of the children of Israel, who came to Egypt, Jacob and his sons. Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn; 9 and the sons of Reuben were Hanoch, Phallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 10 And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. 11 And the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12 And 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. 13 And the sons of Issachar: Tola, Phuvah, Job, and Shimron. 14 And the sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.

15 These were the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Padan-Aram, besides his daughter Dinah. All these sons and daughters of his numbered thirty-three.

16 And these were the sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.

17 And the sons of Asher were Imnah, Ishuah, Isui, Beriah, and Serah their sister; and the sons of Beriah were Heber, and Malchiel.

18 These were the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, whom she bore to Jacob. The total was sixteen persons.

19 The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin. 20 And Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt. Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah priest of On, bore them to him.

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

22 These were the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob. The total of these persons was fourteen.

23 And the son of Dan was Hushim.

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

25 These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel, and she bore them to Jacob. The total of these persons was seven.

26 All the people who came with Jacob to Egypt, who came from his body, besides the wives of Jacob’s sons, the total number of persons was sixty-six. 27 And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two persons. So all the people of the household of Jacob, who came to Egypt, were seventy.

46:26-27 Sixty-six persons came with Jacob; Joseph and his two sons were already in Egypt. This total comes to 69. Counting Jacob the total is 70.⚜

28 And he sent Judah before him to Joseph, so he could appear before him in Goshen. And they went on to the land of Goshen. 29 And Joseph prepared his chariot, and went out to Goshen to meet his father Israel, and presented himself to him. And he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a long time.

30 And Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, because you are still alive”.

31 And Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh and say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. 32 And 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.’ 33 And it will come about that Pharaoh will call you and will say, ‘What is your occupation?’ 34 Then you must say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth up to now, both we and our fathers.’ Do this so that you can live in the land of Goshen, because every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians”.

46:31-34 It would seem from this that Joseph wanted all the people of Israel to be kept separate in the region of Goshen. Possibly he did not want them to be put in a city or to mingle too closely with the Egyptians and learn their ways. So he advised his brothers to speak out frankly and tell Pharaoh that they were shepherds, “an abomination to the Egyptians”.⚜