Genesis Bible Study: Genesis 46

Jacob's Journey to Egypt

⁽¹⁾So Jacob* set out for Egypt with all his possessions. And when he came to Beersheba**, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father, Isaac.

*Jacob: Hebrew Israel.

**Beersheba: Beersheba's name is derived from the Hebrew words beer, meaning well, and sheba, meaning seven. So, the name of the town meant the seventh well or well of seven. The actual well of Beersheba was apparently dug by Abraham's servants, and was a place of conflict when Abimelech's servants attempted to seize it. To avoid conflict, Abraham and Abimelech made a treaty there in which the name of the town Well of Seven, with an extended meaning of Well of The Oath, was established (Genesis 21:31).The area of Beersheba is first mentioned in the Bible as the place where Hagar went after she was sent away from Abraham. Jacob had his Stairway To Heaven dream in the area. The prophet Elijah sought refuge there after wicked Jezebel ordered him killed (1 Kings 19:3). Beersheba was the town furthest South that belonged to the Israelites.

The famine was severe and was prophesied to continue and the move seemed a sensible one to make, especially as he would see his son. But the fact that he calls in at Beersheba may suggest he is seeking God’s assurance that his move is the right one. It was there that Yahweh had appeared to Isaac. For he ‘offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac’. - http://www.geocities.com/genesiscommentary/genesis11.html

⁽²⁾During the night God spoke to him in a vision. "Jacob! Jacob!" he called. "Here I am," Jacob replied.

⁽³⁾"I am God*," the voice said, "the God of your father. Do not be afraid* to go down to Egypt, for I will see to it that you become a great nation there.

*God: "EL" - the strong Creator and Sovereign of all men.

This is the 8th and last recorded appearance of God to Jacob:

Genesis 28:13: There above it (or "there beside him") stood the LORD, and he said: "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.

Genesis 31:3: Then the LORD said to Jacob, "Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you."

Genesis 31:11: The angel of God said to me in the dream, 'Jacob.' I answered, 'Here I am.'

Genesis 32:1: Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him.

Genesis 32:30: So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."

Genesis 35:1: Then God said to Jacob, "Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau."

Genesis 35:9: After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, [a] God appeared to him again and blessed him.

Genesis 46:2: And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, "Jacob! Jacob!" "Here I am," he replied.

*Do not be afraid: Jacob may have been afraid of leaving the promised land unless he received direct reassurance from God that God Himself was working all this out and wanted the Israelites to go to Egypt.

Genesis 26:1-6: Now a severe famine struck the land, as had happened before in Abraham's time. So Isaac moved to Gerar, where Abimelech, king of the Philistines, lived.
The LORD appeared to him there and said, "Do not go to Egypt. Do as I say, and stay here in this land. If you do, I will be with you and bless you. I will give all this land to you and your descendants, just as I solemnly promised Abraham, your father. I will cause your descendants to become as numerous as the stars, and I will give them all these lands. And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed. I will do this because Abraham listened to me and obeyed all my requirements, commands, regulations, and laws." So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

⁽⁴⁾I will go with you down to Egypt, and I will bring your descendants back* again. But you will die in Egypt with Joseph at your side*."

*back : This refers partly to the return of his body to the land, which he considered important (50.5), but also to the return of his descendants. The land is his and theirs and he will ‘return’ in them in accordance with the covenant. Egypt is but a temporary resting place.

*Joseph at your side: Literally," Joseph will place his hands on your eyes" - that is, Joseph will close Jacob's eyes upon his death and prepare him for burial.

⁽⁵⁾So Jacob left Beersheba, and his sons brought him to Egypt. They carried their little ones and wives in the wagons Pharaoh had provided for them.

⁽⁶⁾They brought their livestock, too, and all the belongings they had acquired in the land of Canaan. Jacob and his entire family arrived in Egypt--

⁽⁷⁾sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters--all his descendants.

⁽⁸⁾These are the names of the Israelites, the descendants of Jacob, who went with him to Egypt: Reuben was Jacob's oldest son.

⁽⁹⁾The sons of Reuben were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

⁽¹⁰⁾The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul. (Shaul's mother was a Canaanite woman.)

⁽¹¹⁾The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

⁽¹²⁾The sons of Judah were Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah. (But Er and Onan had died in the land of Canaan.) The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.

⁽¹³⁾The sons of Issachar were Tola, Puah, Jashub,and Shimron.

⁽¹⁴⁾The sons of Zebulun were Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.

⁽¹⁵⁾These are the sons of Jacob who were born to Leah in Paddan-aram, along with their sister, Dinah. In all, Jacob's descendants through Leah numbered thirty-three.

⁽¹⁶⁾The sons of Gad were Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.

⁽¹⁷⁾The sons of Asher were Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, and Beriah. Their sister was named Serah. Beriah's sons were Heber and Malkiel.

⁽¹⁸⁾These sixteen were descendants of Jacob through Zilpah, the servant given to Leah by her father, Laban.

⁽¹⁹⁾The sons of Jacob's wife Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.

⁽²⁰⁾Joseph's sons, born in the land of Egypt, were Manasseh and Ephraim. Their mother was Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, priest of Heliopolis.

⁽²¹⁾Benjamin's sons were Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.

⁽²²⁾These fourteen were the descendants of Jacob and his wife Rachel.

⁽²³⁾The son of Dan was Hushim.

⁽²⁴⁾The sons of Naphtali were Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.

⁽²⁵⁾These seven were the descendants of Jacob through Bilhah, the servant given to Rachel by her father, Laban.

⁽²⁶⁾So the total number of Jacob's direct descendants who went with him to Egypt, not counting his sons' wives, was sixty-six.

⁽²⁷⁾Joseph also had two sons who had been born in Egypt. So altogether, there were seventy* members of Jacob's family in the land of Egypt.

*seventy: 70 = 7 * 10! It excludes his sons’ wives (verse 26) and ignores retainers and camp followers. The number who actually went down into Egypt may well have numbered a few thousand for we have the households of each of the sons as well as Jacob’s household. (And we must remember that from his household Abraham was able to raise three hundred and eighteen fighting men (14.14)). The numbers may have diminished because of the effect of the famine making them surplus to requirements, and some may have been left in Canaan for other reasons, but there would still be a goodly number. But this passage is a good example of the early use of numbers. The ‘seventy’, which is the divine number seven intensified, included everyone by implication and indicated the divine completeness of the number who went down to Egypt. It said in effect that not one was missing. They were ‘seventy’. They were God’s divinely complete band. No early reader would take the number literally. They would know exactly what it indicated. It is very questionable whether the sons of Perez, Hezron and Hamul, could yet have been born (see on 38.6-10), or even more so that at this stage the young man Benjamin would have ten sons (verse 21). These were rather seen as going down ‘in the loins’ of their fathers. And the number is made up by including Dinah, but excluding his sons’ daughters, and including the sons of Joseph who were born in Egypt but had ‘gone down to Egypt’ in the loins of their father. This table of names therefore was written by the writer in Egypt at a later date. He looks at the extended family as it was then and names them in his list. By then these sons had been born and were acknowledged as being part of ‘the seventy’, the divinely complete band. We do not think like this but it is quite in accord with ancient thinking. It is probable that he had a genealogical list and amended it to suit his purpose. This would explain why he mentions Er and Onan, and then excludes them, and brought Jacob and Dinah in to replace them. Also why he introduced Zilpah’s daughter Serah (verse 17). The original list had thirty three ‘sons’ of Leah. He specifically excluded Er and Onan and brought in Dinah and Jacob to make up the thirty three, the thirty three signifying a complete number (intensified three, compare 4.24). The second part of the list included Joseph and his two sons, but he excludes them in making up his sixty six, although retaining them in the text. He also now excludes Jacob and introduces Serah. This was necessary to make up the sixty and six (twice thirty and three) and finally the seventy. Thus for the purpose of the record the number is split into two main groups, one of thirty and three, (intensified three - compare the contrast of seven with seventy and seven in Genesis 4.24), depicting completeness, and one to make up the number sixty six (but see below). Both these groups are therefore ‘complete’ in themselves, being made up, by inference in the second case, of intensified three. And there were ‘three’ in Egypt, Joseph and his two sons. Together with Jacob they make up seventy. Thus the divine completeness of the whole group is made apparent and emphasised to the ancient mind.

⁽²⁸⁾Jacob sent Judah* on ahead to meet Joseph and get directions to the land of Goshen. And when they all arrived there,

*Judah: Judah is now clearly seen as the leader of the brothers.

⁽²⁹⁾Joseph prepared his chariot and traveled to Goshen to meet his father. As soon as Joseph arrived, he embraced his father and wept on his shoulder for a long time.

⁽³⁰⁾Then Jacob said to Joseph, "Now let me die, for I have seen you with my own eyes and know you are still alive."

Jacob had not seen Joseph in over 22 years! How would you react? I know how I'll react when at long last I see my daughter DJ when I see her again in heaven!

⁽³¹⁾And Joseph said to his brothers and to all their households, "I'll go and tell Pharaoh that you have all come from the land of Canaan to join me.

⁽³²⁾And I will tell him, `These men are shepherds and livestock breeders. They have brought with them their flocks and herds and everything they own.'

⁽³³⁾So when Pharaoh calls for you and asks you about your occupation,

⁽³⁴⁾tell him, `We have been livestock breeders from our youth, as our ancestors have been for many generations.' When you tell him this, he will let you live here in the land of Goshen, for shepherds are despised in the land of Egypt."

Joseph is clearly very concerned that they should settle in Goshen. That was his purpose from the beginning (45.10). He knows that it will be better for them there. It is good pasture and they will meet their own kind. They might be very miserable elsewhere in Egypt because of the general attitude to shepherds and foreigners. Pharaoh has, however, said that they can live anywhere and he is a little afraid that Pharaoh might, with the best of intentions, insist on somewhere else. So with his knowledge of affairs he briefs them on what to say so as to get his way.

By far the most important reason for settling in the land of Goshen was in order to keep his family isolated and insulated from the culture and religion of Egypt. Joseph was strong enough to survive life in the city and in the palace, but he had already been given an Egyptian wife, the daughter of a priest, and an Egyptian name (41:45). What would become of the nation Israel if they were brought into the city and integrated into Egyptian life? That is why Joseph ordered his brothers to say that their only occupation was that of a shepherd. Joseph saw the disdain for shepherds as a blessing in that it would keep the two cultures from merging. To have lived and worked in the city with the Egyptians would have been disastrous. Joseph, I believe, clearly saw this, and thus he was diligent to have his family settled in Goshen.

Joseph had already planned where his family would settle. Joseph reconnoitered Goshen and found it to be perfect for his family because it would allow them to prosper, and it would keep the Egyptian culture away from them. Goshen was an area in the eastern part of the Nile delta (towards the Sinai penninsula) suitable for tending livestock. Joseph encouraged his brothers to emphasize the fact that they had been tending livestock for generations (see vss. 31-33). For some reason (as Moses tells us), "shepherds [were] detestable to the Egyptians" (vs. 34). This would serve the Israelites well. The Egyptians would leave them alone, giving the Israelites an opportunity to build themselves as a nation. Many times it is beneficial to be detested by the world. It keeps us separate, sanctified, away from temptation. "So the Lord often permits us to be despised or rejected by the world, that being liberated and cleansed from its pollution, we may cultivate holiness."

This was, of course, a different Pharaoh than the one who was later to enslave the Israelites (see Ex. 1:8). The many years of faithful service by Joseph quite clearly endeared him to this Pharaoh. We should all follow Joseph's example and be faithful as we serve our employers, whether they be believers or non-believers. Our faithful service is a testimony to God's faithfulness.

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