Genesis 46
1 When Israel set out on his journey with all that he had and came to Beer-sheba, he
offered sacrifices to the God of his fatheri Isaac.ii 2 God spoke to Israel in visions of
the night, and said,iii (“Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” 3 Then he said,)iv “I
am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make
of you a great nation there. 4 I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also
bring you up again; and Joseph’s own hand shall close your eyes.”v
5 Then Jacob set out from Beer-sheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father
Jacob, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry
him. 6They also took their livestock and the goods that they had acquired in the land
of Canaan, and they came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, 7his sons,
and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters; all his offspring
he brought with him into Egypt.
8 Now these are the names of the Israelites, Jacob and his offspring, who came to
Egypt. 1.Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, 9and the children of Reuben: 2.Hanoch, 3.Pallu,
4.Hezron, and 5.Carmi. 10The children of 6. Simeon: 7. Jemuel, 8. Jamin, 9. Ohad, 10.
Jachin,11. Zohar, and 12. Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. 11The children of 13.
Levi: 14. Gershon, 15. Kohath, and 16. Merari. 12The children of 17. Judah: 18 Er, 19
Onan, 20. Shelah, 21. Perez, and 22. Zerah; viEr and Onan died in the land of Canaan,
and the children of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.vii
13
The children of 23. Issachar:
24. Tola, 25. Puvah, 26. Jashub, and 27. Shimron. 14The children of 28. Zebulun: 29.
Sered, 30. Elon, and 31. Jahleelviii
15
(these are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to
Jacob in Paddan-aram, and his daughter Dinah; in all his sons and his daughters
numbered thirty-three).ix 16The children of 32. Gad: 33. Ziphion, 34. Haggi, 35. Shuni,
36. Ezbon, 37. Eri, 38. Arodi, and 39. Areli. 17The children of 40. Asher: 41. Imnah,
42. Ishvah, 43. Ishvi, 44. Beriah, and their sister 45. Serah. The children of Beriah: 46.
Heber and 47. Malchielx 18(these are the children of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to his
daughter Leah; and these she bore to Jacob—sixteen persons).
Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
20
19
The children of
To Joseph in the land of Egypt were
born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore
to him.xi21The children of 48. Benjamin: 49. Bela, 50. Becher, 51. Ashbel, 52. Gera,
53. Naaman, 54. Ehi, 55. Rosh, 56. Muppim, 57. Huppim, and 58. Ardxii 22(these are
the children of Rachel, who were born to Jacob—fourteen persons in all).xiii
children of 59. Dan: 60. Hashum.
24
Guni, 64. Jezer, and 65. Shillemxiv
25
23
The
The children of 61. Naphtali: 62. Jahzeel, 63.
(these are the children of Bilhah, whom Laban
gave to his daughter Rachel, and these she bore to Jacob—seven persons in all).xv
26
All the persons belonging to 66. Jacob who came into Egypt, were sixty-six persons
in all.xvi
27
The children of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two; all the
persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy.xvii
28 He sent Judah ahead to Joseph to lead the way before him into Goshen. When they
came to the land of Goshen,xviii 29 Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to meet
his father Israel
xix
in Goshenxx. He presented himself to him, fell on his neck, and
wept on his neck a good while. 30 Israel said to Joseph, “I can die now, having seen
for myself that you are still alive.”xxi 31 Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's
household, "I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and will say to him, 'My brothers and my
father's household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. 32 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 When Pharaoh calls you, and says,
'What is your occupation?' 34 you shall say, 'Your servants have been keepers of
livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our ancestors'-- in order that
you may settle in the land of Goshen, because all shepherds are abhorrent to the
Egyptians."xxii
i
An Elohistic statement – Jacob/Israel having left from Beer Sheva in 28:10 now
returns there. Since Jacob/Israel originated in Beer-Sheva, a sacrifice to the God of his
father makes sense. Since, however, Isaac was sacrificed according to E without
bearing children, I hypothesize that this name was added to the text, and compare a
similar addition to the text in Exodus 3:6. Indeed, such specification is frequently
added to this expression (the god of fathers) in the Book of Deuteronomy (e.g.
Deuteronomy 1:8) according to some scholars.
ii
See the above comment.
iii
This dream revelation (typical to E) stands at the center of the Elohistic work in the
liminal period between the sojourn in Canaan and the descent to Egypt.
iv
The call to Jacob is likely a J addition, inserting "his" name for Joseph's father at the
important moment of divine revelation.
v
The content of the revelation emphasizes its transitional character. God promises
both a descent from, and an ascent back to Canaan, and see comment iii.
vi
The number of the Israelites descending to Egypt according to P is 66 (Jacob + 65
descendants), an aesthetic number in a culture influenced by the base six numbering
system.
vii
I attribute the allusion to the deaths of Er and Onan in this genealogy to the
Bridger, who commonly supplements genealogical lists with narrative material and
allusions (compare Genesis 10) and inserted Chapter 38 (which feature Er and Onan)
into the Joseph Cycle.
viii
According to P, only 31 sons were born to Leah not 33 as stated in vs. 15. "33"
seems to include the sons of Peretz, mentioned in verse 12 which was an addition by
the Bridger (Dinah is not included in the tally here, yet she appears to be part of the
final count, and see below). It thus seems likely that this verse too (vs. 15), was added
by the Bridger. Note also the use of the qal passive yulad (to bear to) which is
distinctive to Bridger genealogies. The tallying of the children that is added after the
sons of each of Jacob's four wives are listed (vss. 19-20, 25, 27) uses the same
terminology as vs. 15 and is thus also assigned to the Bridger.
ix
See the above comment.
x
Note the number of children born to Leah and her concubine is far greater than the
number of children born to Rachel and her maidservant, 47 versus 21. In fact the
number of Rachel's progeny is even less than that of Leah's maidservant Zilpah – 14
versus 16. To rectify matters it seems that the Septuagint (the ancient Greek
translation) or a Hebrew precursor may have added 4 to Rachel's tally and included a
more detailed tally of Joseph's children, including Joseph's great grandchildren – a
generation which appears nowhere in the Masoretic genealogy.
xi
See comment viii. Note also the addition of Joseph as part of the Bridger's
genealogy for the express purpose of arriving at 70 as the number of Israelites
descending to Egypt. The Septuagint added a more detailed tally of Joseph's children
after vs. 20.
xii
There is some variation as to who is Benjamin's son and who was his grandson in
the Septuagint.
xiii
See comments viii and x.
xiv
See comment x.
xv
See comment viii.
xvi
The 66 tally includes Jacob, and Er and Onan, who do not die in P's version of
events, and excludes Jacob's wives and female progeny (such as Dinah).
xvii
The Bridger has to do some creative manipulation of the numbers here so that he
can arrive at the desired seventy. The Bridger's tally includes the 65 sons in the
Priestly tally, except for Er and Onan who die in Canaan (thus getting us to 63), it
includes Peretz's sons Hezron and Hamul (getting us to 65 once more), Joseph and his
sons Menasseh and Ephraim (thus getting us to 68), and finally Dinah (Leah's
daughter) and Jacob, getting us to 70.
xviii
Goshen is the future dwelling place of the Israelites according to J, and is
mentioned as such throughout the Plague account. Judah leads the family into Egypt,
as part of J's agenda to portray Judah as the leader of Jacob's children, and compare
his central role in selling Joseph to the Ishmaelites in Chapter 37 and in convincing
his father to send Benjamin to Egypt (Chapter 43:1-5).
xix
The use of Israel as the name for Joseph's father, indicating E as the author of this
passage.
xx
See comment xviii.
xxi
In E's version, Israel dies soon after reaching Canaan, it's only P that he lives for 17
years in Egypt.
xxii
This section is a late Priestly spin off on why the Israelites are to dwell in Goshen,
separate from the Egyptians and explains what the Israelites are to do with all the
livestock they brought with them according to P (vs. 6).