Genesis 46
46
The Family of Jacob goes to Egypt
1 So Israel began his journey, taking with him all that he had.#tn Heb “and Israel journeyed, and all that was his.” When he came to Beer Sheba#sn Beer Sheba. See Gen 21:31; 28:10. he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2 God spoke to Israel in a vision during the night#tn Heb “in visions of the night.” The plural form has the singular meaning, probably as a plural of intensity. and said, “Jacob, Jacob!” He replied, “Here I am!” 3 He said, “I am God,#tn Heb “the God.” the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. 4 I will go down with you to Egypt and I myself will certainly bring you back from there.#tn Heb “and I, I will bring you up, also bringing up.” The independent personal pronoun before the first person imperfect verbal form draws attention to the speaker/subject, while the infinitive absolute after the imperfect strongly emphasizes the statement: “I myself will certainly bring you up.” Joseph will close your eyes.”#tn Heb “and Joseph will put his hand upon your eyes.” This is a promise of peaceful death in Egypt with Joseph present to close his eyes.
5 Then Jacob started out#tn Heb “arose.” from Beer Sheba, and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little children, and their wives in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent along to transport him. 6 Jacob and all his descendants took their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and they went to Egypt.#tn Heb “and they took their livestock and their possessions which they had acquired in the land of Canaan and they went to Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons. 7 He brought with him to Egypt his sons and grandsons,#tn The Hebrew text adds “with him” here. This is omitted in the translation because it is redundant in English style (note the same phrase earlier in the verse). his daughters and granddaughters – all his descendants.
8 These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt – Jacob and his sons:
Reuben, the firstborn of Jacob.
9 The sons of Reuben:
Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
10 The sons of Simeon:
Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar,
and Shaul (the son of a Canaanite woman).
11 The sons of Levi:
Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
12 The sons of Judah:
Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah
(but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan).
The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
13 The sons of Issachar:
Tola, Puah,#tc The MT reads “Puvah” (cf. Num 26:23); the Samaritan Pentateuch and Syriac read “Puah” (cf. 1 Chr 7:1). Jashub,#tc The MT reads “Iob,” but the Samaritan Pentateuch and some LXX mss read “Jashub” (see Num 26:24; 1 Chr 7:1). and Shimron.
14 The sons of Zebulun:
Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.
15 These were the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram, along with Dinah his daughter. His sons and daughters numbered thirty-three in all.#tn Heb “all the lives of his sons and his daughters, thirty-three.”
16 The sons of Gad:
Zephon,#tc The MT reads “Ziphion,” but see Num 26:15, the Samaritan Pentateuch and the LXX, all of which read “Zephon.” Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.
17 The sons of Asher:
Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and Serah their sister.
The sons of Beriah were Heber and Malkiel.
18 These were the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter. She bore these to Jacob, sixteen in all.
19 The sons of Rachel the wife of Jacob:
Joseph and Benjamin.
20 Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt. Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On,#sn On is another name for the city of Heliopolis. bore them to him.
21 The sons of Benjamin:#sn The sons of Benjamin. It is questionable whether youthful Benjamin had ten sons by the time he went into Egypt, but it is not impossible. If Benjamin was born when Joseph was six or seven, he was ten when Joseph was sold into Egypt, and would have been thirty-two at this point. Some suggest that the list originally served another purpose and included the names of all who were in the immediate family of the sons, whether born in Canaan or later in Egypt.
Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and Ard.
22 These were the sons of Rachel who were born to Jacob, fourteen in all.
23 The son of Dan: Hushim.#tn This name appears as “Shuham” in Num 26:42. The LXX reads “Hashum” here.
24 The sons of Naphtali:
Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.
25 These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter. She bore these to Jacob, seven in all.
26 All the direct descendants of Jacob who went to Egypt with him were sixty-six in number. (This number does not include the wives of Jacob’s sons.)#tn Heb “All the people who went with Jacob to Egypt, the ones who came out of his body, apart from the wives of the sons of Jacob, all the people were sixty-six.”sn The number sixty-six includes the seventy-one descendants (including Dinah) listed in vv. 8-25 minus Er and Onan (deceased), and Joseph, Manasseh, and Ephraim (already in Egypt). 27 Counting the two sons#tn The LXX reads “nine sons,” probably counting the grandsons of Joseph born to Ephraim and Manasseh (cf. 1 Chr 7:14-20). of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt, all the people of the household of Jacob who were in Egypt numbered seventy.#tn Heb “And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two people; all the people belonging to the house of Jacob who came to Egypt were seventy.”sn The number seventy includes Jacob himself and the seventy-one descendants (including Dinah, Joseph, Manasseh, and Ephraim) listed in vv. 8-25, minus Er and Onan (deceased). The LXX gives the number as “seventy-five” (cf. Acts 7:14).
28 Jacob#tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity. sent Judah before him to Joseph to accompany him to Goshen.#tn Heb “to direct before him to Goshen.” So they came to the land of Goshen. 29 Joseph harnessed his chariot and went up to meet his father Israel in Goshen. When he met him,#tn Heb “and he appeared to him.” he hugged his neck and wept on his neck for quite some time.
30 Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive.”#tn Heb “after my seeing your face that you are still alive.” 31 Then Joseph said to his brothers and his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh,#tn Heb “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 The men are shepherds;#tn Heb “feeders of sheep.” they take care of livestock.#tn Heb “for men of livestock they are.” They have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ 33 Pharaoh will summon you and say, ‘What is your occupation?’ 34 Tell him, ‘Your servants have taken care of cattle#tn Heb “your servants are men of cattle.” from our youth until now, both we and our fathers,’ so that you may live in the land of Goshen,#sn So that you may live in the land of Goshen. Joseph is apparently trying to stress to Pharaoh that his family is self-sufficient, that they will not be a drain on the economy of Egypt. But they will need land for their animals and so Goshen, located on the edge of Egypt, would be a suitable place for them to live. The settled Egyptians were uneasy with nomadic people, but if Jacob and his family settled in Goshen they would represent no threat. for everyone who takes care of sheep is disgusting#tn Heb “is an abomination.” The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “abomination”) describes something that is loathsome or off-limits. For other practices the Egyptians considered disgusting, see Gen 43:32 and Exod 8:22. to the Egyptians.”
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Berĕshith (Genesis) 46
46
1And Yisra’ĕl set out with all that he had, and came to Be’ĕrsheḇa, and slaughtered slaughterings to the Elohim of his father Yitsḥaq.
2And Elohim spoke to Yisra’ĕl in the visions of the night, and said, “Ya‛aqoḇ, Ya‛aqoḇ!” And he said, “Here I am.”
3And He said, “I am the Ěl, Elohim of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Mitsrayim, for I shall make you there into a great nation.
4I Myself am going down with you to Mitsrayim and I Myself shall certainly bring you up again. And let Yosĕph put his hand on your eyes.
5And Ya‛aqoḇ rose up from Be’ĕrsheḇa. And the sons of Yisra’ĕl brought their father Ya‛aqoḇ, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to transport him.
6And they took their livestock and their property which they had acquired in the land of Kena‛an, and came into Mitsrayim, Ya‛aqoḇ and all his seed with him.
7His sons and his sons’ sons, his daughters and his sons’ daughters, and all his seed he brought with him to Mitsrayim.
8And these were the names of the children of Yisra’ĕl, Ya‛aqoḇ and his sons, who came into Mitsrayim: Re’uḇĕn was Ya‛aqoḇ’s first-born.
9And the sons of Re’uḇĕn: Ḥanoḵ, and Pallu, and Ḥetsron, and Karmi.
10And the sons of Shim‛on: Yemu’ĕl, and Yamin, and Ohaḏ, and Yaḵin, and Tsoḥar, and Sha’ul, son of a Kena‛anite woman.
11And the sons of Lĕwi: Gĕrshon, Qehath, and Merari.
12And the sons of Yehuḏah: Ěr, and Onan, and Shĕlah, and Perets, and Zeraḥ – but Ěr and Onan died in the land of Kena‛an. And the sons of Perets were Ḥetsron and Ḥamul.
13And the sons of Yissasḵar: Tola, and Puw‛ah, and Yoḇ, and Shimron.
14And the sons of Zeḇulun: Sereḏ, and Ělon, and Yaḥle’ĕl.
15These were the sons of Lĕ’ah, whom she bore to Ya‛aqoḇ in Paddan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the beings, his sons and his daughters, were thirty-three.
16And the sons of Gaḏ: Tsiphyon and Ḥaggi, Shuni and Etsbon, Ěri and Aroḏi, and Arĕli.
17And the sons of Ashĕr: Yimnah, and Yishwah, and Yishwi, and Beri‛ah, and Seraḥ, their sister. And the sons of Beri‛ah: Ḥeḇer and Malki’ĕl.
18These were the sons of Zilpah, whom Laḇan gave to Lĕ’ah his daughter. And these she bore to Ya‛aqoḇ: sixteen beings.
19The sons of Raḥĕl, Ya‛aqoḇ’s wife: Yosĕph and Binyamin.
20And to Yosĕph in the land of Mitsrayim were born Menashsheh and Ephrayim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him.
21And the sons of Binyamin: Belah, and Beḵer, and Ashbĕl, Gĕra and Na‛aman, Ěḥi and Rosh, Muppim and Ḥuppim, and Ard.
22These were the sons of Raḥĕl who were born to Ya‛aqoḇ: fourteen beings in all.
23And the son of Dan: Ḥushim.
24And the sons of Naphtali: Yaḥtse’ĕl, and Guni, and Yĕtser, and Shillĕm.
25These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Laḇan gave to Raḥĕl his daughter, and she bore these to Ya‛aqoḇ: seven beings in all.
26All the beings who went with Ya‛aqoḇ to Mitsrayim, who came from his body, besides Ya‛aqoḇ’s sons’ wives, were sixty-six beings in all.
27And the sons of Yosĕph who were born to him in Mitsrayim were two beings. All the beings of the house of Ya‛aqoḇ who went to Mitsrayim were seventy.
28And he sent Yehuḏah before him to Yosĕph, to point out before him the way to Goshen. And they came to the land of Goshen.
29And Yosĕph made ready his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Yisra’ĕl. And he appeared to him, and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a long time.
30And Yisra’ĕl said to Yosĕph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.”
31And Yosĕph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I am going up to inform Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘My brothers and those of my father’s house, who were in the land of Kena‛an, have come to me.
32And the men are shepherds, that they have been men of livestock, and they have brought their flocks and their herds, and all that they have.’
33“And it shall be, when Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’
34“that you shall say, ‘Your servants have been men of livestock from our youth even till now, both we and also our fathers,’ so that you dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Mitsrites.
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