The First Book of Moses, called Genesis
Genesis 46
Chapter XLVI · Vol. I, pp. 289–290
1 Jacob is comforted by God at Beer-sheba: 5 He goeth thence with his family into Egypt. 8 The number of those that went with him. 28 Joseph meeteth Jacob. 31 He instructeth his brethren how to answer Pharaoh.
1 And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to aBeer-sheba, and offered sacrifices unto the bGod of his father Isaac.2
a ch. 21.14,31; 26.33.
b ch. 31.42,53; 26.24,25; 28.13.
2 God is here called the God of Isaac, not of Abraham; as Isaac, not Abraham, had taught Jacob the knowledge of God.
2 And cGod spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob! And he said, Here am I.
c ch. 15.1,13; 22.11. 1 Sa. 3.10.
3 And he said, I am God, dthe God of thy father: efear not to go down into Egypt;3 for I will fthere make of thee a great nation.
d ch. 28.13.
A.M. 2299. B.C. 1705.
e ch. 15.1. Is. 41.10; 43.1,2.
3 Jacob, recollecting how his father Isaac was expressly prohibited, ch. 26. 2, from going down into Egypt, might naturally hesitate to comply with Joseph's invitation, and therefore God appears to direct his going, and to renew his gracious promises.—C.
f ch. 15.13; 28.14; 35.11; 22.17; 13.16. Ex. 1.7,12. ch. 47.27.
4 I will ggo down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring4 thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.5
5 And Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba: and the sons of Israel hcarried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, iin the waggons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
h ch. 31.17,18. Ex. 10.24,26.
i ch. 45.19,27.
6 And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came kinto 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 lthese are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: mReuben, Jacob's first-born.
9 And the sons of Reuben; Hanoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.
10 And nthe sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman.
n ch. 29.33; 49.5-7. Ex. 6.15. 1 Ch. 2.1; 4.24-43. Nu. 26.12,13; 1.6,22,23.
11 And the sons of oLevi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
o ch. 29.34; 49.5-7. 1 Ch. 2.1,11,16. Ex. 6.16. De. 33.8-11. Nu. iii. iv. viii. 1 Ch. vi. xxii.-xxvi.
12 And the sons of pJudah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharez, and Zarah: but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Pharez were Hezron and Hamul.
p 1 Ch. 2.1,3; 4.21. ch. 29.35; 38.1-30; 49.8-12. De. 33.7. Nu. 26 19-21; 1.7,27,28. 1 Ch. ii.-iv.
13 Andq the sons of Issachar; Tola, and Phuvah, and Job,6 and Shimron.
q ch. 30.14-18; 35.23; 49.14,15. De. 33.18,19. 1 Ch. 2.1; 7.1-5. Nu. 26.23,24; 1.8,28,29.
6 Or, Puah and Jashub.
14 And the rsons of Zebulun; Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.
r ch. 30.19,20. Nu. 26.26,27; 1.9,31. ch. 49.13. De 33.18,19. 1 Ch. 2.1.
15 These be the ssons 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 tthe sons of Gad; Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon,7 Eri, and Arodi, and Areli.
t ch. 30.11; 35.26; 49.19. De. 33.20. Nu. 26.15-17; 1.14,24,25. 1 Ch. 2.2; 5.11-26.
7 Or, Ozni.
17 Andu the sons of Ashur; Jimnah, and Ishuah, and Isui, and Beriah, and Serah their sister. And the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel.
u ch. 30.13; 35.26; 49.20. De. 33.24. Nu. 26.44-47; 1.13,40,41. 1 Ch. 2.2; 7.30-40.
18 Thesex are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bare unto Jacob, even sixteen souls.
x Ge. 30.9-13; 35.26. Ex. 1.4. 1 Ch. 2.2.
20 And zunto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Asenath, the daughter of Poti-pherah priest8 of On, bare unto him.
z ch. 41.50-52; 48.5-20; 49.22-26. De. 33.13-17. Nu. 1.10,32-35; 10.22,23; 26.28-37. 1 Ch. 5.23-26; 7.14-29.
8 Or, prince.
21 Anda the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi,9 and Rosh, Muppim,1 and Huppim, and Ard.
a 1 Ch. 7.6-12; viii. Nu. 26.38-40; 1.11,36,37, with ch. 49.27. De. 33.12.
9 Ahiram.
1 Shuphan, or Shuppim.
22 These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.
23 And bthe sons of Dan; Hushim.2
b ch. 30.6; 35.25; 49.16,17. De. 33.22. Nu. 26.42,43; 1.12,38,39; 10.25. 1 Ch. 2.2; 7.12; 12.35.
2 Shupham.
24 And the csons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.
c ch. 30.7,8; 35.25; 49.21. De. 33.23. Nu. 1.15,42,43; 26.48,49. 1 Ch. 2.2; 7.13; 12.34. 2 Ki. 15.29.
25 Thesed 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 eloins, besides Jacob's sons' wives, all the souls were threescore and six;
27 And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: fall the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten.3
28 And he sent gJudah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.
g ch. 43.8; 44.16-34.
29 And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him: and he hfell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.
30 And Israel said unto Joseph, Now ilet me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.
i ch. 45.28. Lu. 2.29.
31 And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his father's house, I will go up and show Pharaoh, and say unto him, kMy brethren, and my father's house,4 which were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me:
k ch. 47.1.
4 With this caution he took five of his brothers along with him; and having informed Pharaoh that his father and family were come so far as Goshen, he presented his brothers to the king, who, for his sake, received them very graciously; and when he asked them what profession they were of, they told him that they were shepherds, as their family for many generations had been; that want of pasture for their cattle, and of sustenance for themselves, had made them leave Canaan; but that since, as they understood, his majesty had been so hospitable as to give them reception in his dominions, they humbly prayed, that they might be allowed to settle in Goshen, as a country most convenient for their purpose: which he readily granted, and offered, moreover, to make any one of them whom Joseph should appoint, his royal shepherd.—Stackhouse.
32 And the men are shepherds, for ltheir trade hath been to feed cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.
l Heb. they are men of cattle, ch. 13.2; 30.43; 36.7.
33 Andm it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation?
m ch. 47.2,3.
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:5 for nevery shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.6
5 In Goshen they would be near Canaan, and would live much separated from the wicked Egyptians.
n ch. 43.32. Ex. 8.26.
6 As a fact this is shown by the monuments of Egypt. In the sculptures shepherds always appear 'dirty and unshaven;' and at Beni-Hassan and the tombs near the pyramids of Ghizeh, they are found caricatured as a deformed and unseemly race (Wilkinson). But the cause of it is not so clear. The most probable explanation is that a foreign race of shepherds had got possession of Egypt, and had for a long period tyrannized over the inhabitants. The Egyptians had thus been taught to hate all shepherds. Joined with this may have been the fact that Egypt was an agricultural and commercial country, highly civilized; and that the shepherd tribes were rude and barbarous nomads, and were therefore held in contempt.—P.
Notes
[Ver. 27. Were threescore and ten. The statement of Moses in this verse seems not to agree with that of Stephen, Ac. 7. 14. Moses makes the number that came into Egypt to be only threescore and ten, Stephen makes Joseph call his father and all his kindred threescore and fifteen souls. Now is there here either an error or a contradiction? Neither. Moses first rates the descendants of Jacob who accompanied him to Egypt at sixty and six, who are found thus:—Jacob's own children, eleven sons and one daughter, 12; Reuben's sons, 4; Simeon's sons, 6; Levi's sons, 3; Judah's three sons and two grandsons, 5; Issachar's sons, 4; Zebulon's sons, 3; Gad's sons, 7; Asher's four sons, one daughter, two grandsons, 7; Dan's son, 1; Naphtali's sons, 4; Benjamin's sons, 10; in all, sixty-six. To these add Jacob himself, Joseph and his two sons born in Egypt, and the result is seventy, the whole of Jacob's family that settled in Egypt, according to ver. 27. In this statement the wives of Jacob's twelve sons are omitted, and they amounted but to nine. For Judah's wife was dead, ch. 38. 12, Simeon's also appears to have been dead, ch. 46. 10, and Joseph's wife was already in Egypt. Now these nine added to sixty-six give seventy-five, the whole amount of Jacob's kindred that Joseph called into Egypt. C.]
Ver. 34. [Abomination. Deep, inveterate, and almost inconquerable prejudices, against whole nations, and particular professions and employments, have been common in all ages; and have never been eradicated but by Christianity, which teaches, 'in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free; but Christ is all.' The Egyptian prejudices against shepherds are ascribed to two causes: the one recorded by Josephus, the inroads, conquests, and cruelties of the borderers, called shepherd-kings; the other mentioned by Tacitus, the sacrifice by the shepherd nations of the bull and the ram—the one representing Apis, the other Jupiter Ammon, two principal deities of Egypt. The first was most probably the sole ground of prejudice in the days of Joseph, as there is no evidence that in his time the Egyptians had sunk into that idolatry, for which, by apostasy from the patriarchal religion of Abraham and Joseph, they became liable to the divine judgment some centuries afterwards in the days of Moses. C.]
Reflections.—Learn, my soul, to begin all thy thanksgivings with the beginnings of thy mercies; and let me worship God as not only my own, but also the God of my fathers. In all the changes of thy lot consult the Lord's direction, and supplicate his presence. It is safe to go anywhere on earth if his everlasting arms be about me, his covenant established with me, and his comforts delighting my soul. God's promises, though they lie long under ground, will spring up, bud, and ripen at last. Let me therefore always take care of my whole family, and live in the firm assurance that on Jesus is the care of all the churches. Let me hope that, though my beginnings be small, they will, in God's time, greatly, and even quickly, increase. Wherever I am, in station or in place, let me attend to its relative duties, giving honour to whom honour is due; and let me never be ashamed of an honest calling, but endeavour therein to abide with God. Be it my care and happiness to live always near the heavenly state, and as little connected with carnal and worldly men as possible; that when it pleases God to call me hence, I may be willing and ready at his bidding.