Genesis 46 commentary

GENESIS 46 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Jacob Goes to Egypt
1 So Israel set out with all that was his, and
when he reached Beersheba, he offered
sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
BARNES, "Gen_46:1-4
Jacob arriving at Beer-sheba is encouraged by a revelation from God. Beer-sheba
may be regarded as the fourth scene of Abraham’s abode in the land of promise.
“Offered sacrifices.” He had gathered from the words of the Lord to Abraham Gen_
15:13, and the way in which the dreams of Joseph were realized in the events of
Providence, that his family were to descend into Egypt. He felt therefore, that in
taking this step he was obeying the will of Heaven. Hence, he approaches God in
sacrifices at an old abode of Abraham and Isaac, before he crosses the border to pass
into Egypt. On this solemn occasion God appears to him in the visions of the night.
He designates himself EL the Mighty, and the God of his father. The former name
cheers him with the thought of an all-sufficient Protector. The latter identifies the
speaker with the God of his father, and therefore, with the God of eternity, of
creation, and of covenant. “Fear not to go down into Mizraim.” This implies both that
it was the will of God that he should go down to Egypt, and that he would be
protected there. “A great nation.”
Jacob had now a numerous family, of whom no longer one was selected, but all
were included in the chosen seed. He had received the special blessing and injunction
to be fruitful and multiply Gen_28:3; Gen_35:11. The chosen family is to be the
beginning of the chosen nation. “I will go down with thee.” The “I” is here emphatic,
as it is also in the assurance that he will bring him up in the fullness of time from
Egypt. If Israel in the process of growth from a family to a nation had remained
among the Kenaanites, he would have been amalgamated with the nation by
intermarriage, and conformed to its vices. By his removal to Egypt he is kept apart
from the demoralizing influence of a nation, whose iniquity became so great as to
demand a judicial extirpation Gen_15:16. He is also kept from sinking into an
Egyptian by the fact that a shepherd, as he was, is an abomination to Egypt; by his
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location in the comparatively high land of Goshen, which is a border land, not
naturally, but only politically, belonging to Egypt; and by the reduction of his race to
a body of serfs, with whom that nation would not condescend to intermingle. “Joseph
shall put his hand upon thine eyes.” His long-lost son shall be present to perform the
last offices to him when deceased.
CLARKE, "And came to Beer-sheba - This place appears to be mentioned,
not only because it was the way from Hebron, where Jacob resided, to Egypt, whither
he was going, but because it was a consecrated place, a place where God had
appeared to Abraham, Gen_21:33, and to Isaac, Gen_26:23, and where Jacob is
encouraged to expect a manifestation of the same goodness: he chooses therefore to
begin his journey with a visit to God’s house; and as he was going into a strange land,
he feels it right to renew his covenant with God by sacrifice. There is an old proverb
which applies strongly to this case: “Prayers and provender never hinder any man’s
journey. He who would travel safely must take God with him.
GILL, "And Israel took his journey with all that he had,.... Set forward in it
immediately, as soon as possible after he had resolved to take it, and with him he
took all his children and grandchildren, and all his cattle and goods; which shows
that he took his journey not only to see his son Joseph, but to continue in Egypt, at
least during the years of famine, as his son desired he would, otherwise there would
have been no occasion of taking all along with him:
and came to Beersheba: where he and his ancestors Abraham and Isaac had
formerly lived; a place where sacrifices had often been offered up, and the worship of
God performed, and much communion enjoyed with him. This is said to be sixteen
miles from Hebron (n), where Jacob dwelt, and according to Musculus was six
German miles from it:
and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac; which were attended
with prayer and praise; with praise for hearing that his son Joseph was alive, and
with prayer that he might have a good, safe, and prosperous journey.
HENRY, "The divine precept is, In all thy ways acknowledge God; and the
promise annexed to it is, He shall direct thy paths. Jacob has here a very great
concern before him, not only a journey, but a removal, to settle in another country, a
change which was very surprising to him (for he never had any other thoughts than
to live and die in Canaan), and which would be of great consequence to his family for
a long time to come. Now here we are told,
I. How he acknowledged God in this way. He came to Beersheba, from Hebron,
where he now dwelt; and there he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac,
Gen_46:1. He chose that place, in remembrance of the communion which his father
and grandfather had with God in that place. Abraham called on God there (Gen_
21:33), so did Isaac (Gen_26:25), and therefore Jacob made it the place of his
devotion, the rather because it lay in his way. In his devotion, 1. He had an eye to God
as the God of his father Isaac, that is, a God in covenant with him; for by Isaac the
covenant was entailed upon him. God had forbidden Isaac to go down to Egypt when
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there was a famine in Canaan (Gen_26:2), which perhaps Jacob calls to mind when
he consults God as the God of his father Isaac, with this thought, “Lord, though I am
very desirous to see Joseph, yet if thou forbid me to go down to Egypt, as thou didst
my father Isaac, I will submit, and very contentedly stay where I am.” 2. He offered
sacrifices, extraordinary sacrifices, besides those at his stated times; these sacrifices
were offered, (1.) By way of thanksgiving for the late blessed change of the face of his
family, for the good news he had received concerning Joseph, and for the hopes he
had of seeing him. Note, We should give God thanks for the beginnings of mercy,
though they are not yet perfected; and this is a decent way of begging further mercy.
(2.) By way of petition for the presence of God with him in his intended journey; he
desired by these sacrifices to make his peace with God, to obtain the forgiveness of
sin, that he might take no guilt along with him in this journey, for that is a bad
companion. By Christ, the great sacrifice, we must reconcile ourselves to God, and
offer up our requests to him. (3.) By way of consultation. The heathen consulted their
oracles by sacrifice. Jacob would not go till he had asked God's leave: “Shall I go
down to Egypt, or back to Hebron?” Such must be our enquiries in doubtful cases;
and, though we cannot expect immediate answers from heaven, yet, if we diligently
attend to the directions of the word, conscience, and providence, we shall find it is
not in vain to ask counsel of God.
JAMISON, "Gen_46:1-4. Sacrifice at Beer-sheba.
Israel took his journey with all that he had — that is, his household; for in
compliance with Pharaoh’s recommendation, he left his heavy furniture behind. In
contemplating a step so important as that of leaving Canaan, which at his time of life
he might never revisit, so pious a patriarch would ask the guidance and counsel of
God. With all his anxiety to see Joseph, he would rather have died in Canaan without
that highest of earthly gratifications than leave it without the consciousness of
carrying the divine blessing along with him.
came to Beer-sheba — That place, which was in his direct route to Egypt, had
been a favorite encampment of Abraham (Gen_21:33) and Isaac (Gen_26:25), and
was memorable for their experience of the divine goodness; and Jacob seems to have
deferred his public devotions till he had reached a spot so consecrated by covenant to
his own God and the God of his fathers.
K&D, "“So Israel took his journey (from Hebron, Gen_37:14) with all who
belonged to him, and came to Beersheba.” There, on the border of Canaan, where
Abraham and Isaac had called upon the name of the Lord (Gen_21:33; Gen_26:25),
he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac, ut sibi firmum et ratum esse
testetur faedus, quod Deus ipse cum Patribus pepigerat (Calvin). Even though Jacob
might see the ways of God in the wonderful course of his son Joseph, and discern in
the friendly invitation of Joseph and Pharaoh, combined with the famine prevailing
in Canaan, a divine direction to go into Egypt; yet this departure from the land of
promise, in which his fathers had lived as pilgrims, was a step which necessarily
excited serious thoughts in his mind as to his own future and that of his family, and
led him to commend himself and his followers to the care of the faithful covenant
God, whether in so doing he thought of the revelation which Abram had received
(Gen_15:13-16), or not.
CALVIN, "1.And Israel took his journey. Because the holy man is compelled to
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leave the land of Canaan and to go elsewhere, he offers, on his departure, a
sacrifice to the Lord, for the purpose of testifying that the covenant which God
had made with his fathers was confirmed and ratified to himself. For, though he
was accustomed to exercise himself in the external worship of God, there was yet
a special reason for this sacrifice. And, doubtless, he had then peculiar need of
support, lest his faith should fail: for he was about to be deprived of the
inheritance promised to him, and of the sight of that land which was the type and
the pledge of the heavenly country. Might it not come into his mind that he had
hitherto been deluded with a vain hope? Therefore, by renewing the memory of
the divine covenant, he applies a suitable remedy against falling from the faith.
For this reason, he offers a sacrifice on the very boundaries of that land, as I
have just said; that we might know it to be something more than usual. And he
presents this worship to the God of his fathers, to testify that, although he is
departing from that land, into which Abraham had been called; yet he does not
thereby cut himself off from the God in whose worship he had been educated. It
was truly a remarkable proof of constancy, that when cast out by famine into
another region, so that he might not even be permitted to sojourn in the land of
which he was the lawful lord; he yet retains, deeply impressed on his mind, the
hope of his hidden right. It was not without subjecting himself to odium that he
differed openly from other nations, by worshipping the God of his fathers. But
what profit was there in having a religion different from all others? Seeing, then,
that he does not repent of having worshipped the God of his fathers, and that he
now also perseveres in fear and reverence towards him; we hence infer how
deeply he was rooted in true piety. By offering a sacrifice, he both increases his
own strength, and makes profession of his faith; because, although piety is not
bound to external symbols, yet he will not neglect those helps, the use of which he
has found to be, by no means, superfluous.
BENSON, "Genesis 46:1. Israel came to Beer-sheba — Which place he chose in
remembrance of the communion which his father and grandfather had had with
God in that place. And offered sacrifices — That is, extraordinary sacrifices,
besides those he was wont to offer at stated times; and this he did, as well to
express his gratitude for the preservation of Joseph’s life, and the many other
blessings which he had received, as by way of supplication to God for his
direction in this important affair, whether he might leave the promised land of
Canaan, and remove into the idolatrous country of Egypt; and if so, for the
divine protection and blessing to be vouchsafed toward himself and family, both
in his journey and in Egypt.
Unto the God of his father Isaac — Whom Isaac had honoured and served, and
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who had constantly provided for and confirmed his covenant with him. He
mentions Isaac rather than Abraham, to show that though Isaac was much
inferior to Abraham in gifts and grace, yet God was no less Isaac’s than
Abraham’s God, and therefore would be his God also, notwithstanding his
unworthiness.
COFFMN, "Introduction
This is a pivotal chapter in the history of the Chosen People. It relates the
transfer of the entire nation into Egypt, fulfilling, in part, the prophecy of God to
Abraham:
"Know of a surety that thy seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs,
and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; and also
that nation whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come
out with great substance." (Genesis 15:13,14)
We have already noted the dangers which threatened the destruction of Israel
had God permitted them to remain in Canaan. And this entire last section of
Genesis, called the [~toledowth] of Jacob, relates in the most thrilling and
exciting manner imaginable just how God brought about the removal of Israel to
Egypt, where, with an environment providentially prescribed, they would
become in time the mighty nation that God had promised Abraham. Of course,
the story of Joseph was a primary element in the chain of events culminating
right here in the migration of Israel into Egypt.
THE MIGRATION OF ISRAEL INTO EGYPT
There is a spiritual glory in the Holy Bible which bears its own witness of truth
and inspiration, but it is a profound fact that the carnal man is as blind as an owl
at noon to that glorious illumination which radiates the soul of the humblest
believer in Christ. As an apostle said, "The natural man receiveth not the things
of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them,
because they are spiritually judged" (1 Corinthians 2:14). What does the
"natural man" see in this chapter? He sees a hodge-podge of several elements
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put together haphazardly without any particular design, such various elements
being "analyzed" by Simpson as "E, J, EJ, P, R, Jr, Er, Pr, and Rje ... !"[1]
Many of the most brilliant scholars of our age have sounded the warning that,
"There are no adequate grounds (for supposing multiple sources); there are no
essential conflicts or repetitions here, and consequently there is no substantial
basis for the assignment of the material to multiple sources."[2] Also, Leupold
said:
"Critics claim that overlapping of J and P at this point can be proved, but we
assert that nobody can prove anything of the sort. There is no overlapping;
criticism is making unwarranted assertions which a straightforward
interpretation of the text proves entirely untenable."[3]
The shining light that always emanates from the Word of God is especially
visible in this chapter, in the theophany appearing to Israel at Beersheba, the
miracle of God's protecting the covenant people from death, the provision made
for them in Goshen, and in the matter of Judah becoming a forerunner for God's
people upon their entry into Egypt, suggesting the fact that the Great
Forerunner, even Jesus Christ our Lord, performs a similar, but far more
glorious service for the Greater Israel of which the Old Israel was only a type.
"Whither as a forerunner Jesus entered for us" (Hebrews 6:20). These facts, not
alleged multiple sources, are the burden of this chapter. Thoses alleged sources
do not exist. This chapter (and all the Bible) was preserved by Almighty God and
handed down through history, not the alleged "sources." The Bible exists; they
do not. It is absolutely immaterial, incompetent, and irrelevant as to whether or
not Moses, the sacred author of Genesis, ever saw or even heard of any of the
imaginary documents that so vividly appear in the hallucinations of critics. All
such things are of no importance whatever. The Son of God referred to the Holy
Scriptures as "The Word of God" (John 10:35). Therefore, as the Word of God,
we receive it, and we believe it!
Verses 1-4
"And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and
offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac. And God spake unto Israel in
the visions of the night, and said, Jacob. And he said, Here am I. And God said, I
am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there
make of thee a great nation: I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also
surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes."
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"And came to Beersheba ..." In a sense, this outpost, was somewhat a "point of
no return" on the way to Egypt, lying at the southern extremity of the land of
Canaan, being also the place where Isaac, the father of Jacob, had lived, and had
erected an altar unto God, possibly the same altar upon which Jacob offered the
sacrifices mentioned here. As for the reasons why Jacob should have paused here
to offer sacrifices, there are many. He might have remembered the occasion
when Abraham went into Egypt fleeing from famine, and the difficulties and
disastrous consequences that came as a result. Jacob's father, Isaac, never dared
to go into Egypt. Thus, Jacob might have paused for prayers and sacrifices
before doing so. At any rate, God appeared to him in a vision, thus removing all
doubt.
"And God spake unto him ..." As far as the record goes, this was the last
appearance of God to Jacob, there being eight appearances in all: (1) Genesis
28:13; (2) Genesis 31:3; (3) Genesis 31:11; (4) Genesis 32:1; (5) Genesis 32:30; (6)
Genesis 35:1; (7) Genesis 35:9; (8) Genesis 46:2. It is of interest that the
appearance of God to Jacob came not for the personal benefit of the patriarch
but upon occasions pertinent to the welfare of the covenant nation. God did not
appear to Jacob and comfort him with regard to the fact that Joseph was indeed
alive during those years when Jacob thought he was dead.
"And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night and said, Jacob ..." Note
that the terms "Israel" and "Jacob" are here used interchangeably. "In the rest
of the Book of Genesis, these names are used indiscriminately and
interchangeably."[4] As we have repeatedly noticed, there is also good reason to
believe that in many instances such names as the Fear of Isaac, [~'Elohiym],
Jehovah, etc., are used exactly like people use synonyms today.
But let it be particularly noticed what God said to Jacob: He told him not to be
afraid, but to go on down into Egypt. He promised to be with Jacob and his
posterity in Egypt. He promised to bring them up again out of Egypt. He foretold
the death of Jacob in Egypt. Now the unqualified miracle here is the unequivocal
truth of what God promised. Such a revelation is totally beyond the power of
natural man. God indeed was the source of this promise. How strange it is that
the critics have not one word to say about this! Was this glorious revelation
actually conveyed to Jacob? Absolutely, YES. Long afterward, when Joseph
himself came to die, he spoke of it, and how God would take up the people out of
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Egypt and deliver them into the land of Canaan, requesting that the children of
Israel would carry along his bones when the promise was fulfilled! Oh yes, this is
the Word of God!
"And Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes ..." This is an idiomatic
expression which Yates declared has the following meaning. "It is a prophecy
that the illustrious son (Joseph) shall perform the last rites at his father's
death."[5] The closing of the eyes in death was a rite anciently performed by the
hands of a loved one. In colonial America, after loving hands had closed the eyes,
coins (usually nickels) were placed upon the eyes until rigor mortis ensued. From
this came the proverb for a petty thief: "He would steal a nickel off a dead man's
eyes!"
COKE, "Genesis 46:1. And Israel came to Beer-sheba, &c.— Though this was in
his way from Hebron, as it lay in the most southerly parts of Canaan; yet he
probably made choice of it, the rather, as both Abraham and Isaac had
consecrated the place, and there received favourable answers from God. See ch.
Genesis 21:33. Genesis 26:23, &c. In his devotion he had an eye to God as "the
God of his father Isaac," that is, a God in covenant with him; for by Isaac the
covenant was entailed upon him. He "offered sacrifices," extraordinary
sacrifices, besides those at his stated times. These sacrifices were offered, 1. By
way of thanksgiving for the last blessed change of the face of his family, for the
good news he had received concerning Joseph, and for the hopes he had of seeing
him. 2. By way of petition for the presence of God with him in his intended
journey. 3. By way of consultation. Jacob would not go, till he had asked
permission of Jehovah.
CONSTABLE, "God"s encouragement to move46:1-7
The structure of chapters46,47 is also chiastic. [Note: Wenham, Genesis 16-50 ,
p439.]
A God appears to Jacob ( Genesis 46:1-4)
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B Jacob journeys to Egypt ( Genesis 46:5-27)
C Joseph meets Jacob ( Genesis 46:28-34)
D Joseph"s brothers meet Pharaoh ( Genesis 47:1-6)
C" Jacob meets Pharaoh ( Genesis 47:7-10)
B" Joseph cares for his family and Egypt ( Genesis 47:11-26)
A" Jacob prepares to die ( Genesis 47:27-31)
Beersheba lay on the southern border of Canaan ( Genesis 46:1). Jacob and his
caravan stopped there to offer sacrifices to Yahweh. Earlier Abraham had
planted a tamarisk tree there and called on the name of the Lord ( Genesis
21:33). Isaac had also built an altar there and called on the Lord after God had
appeared to him ( Genesis 26:24-25). It was perhaps at this altar that Jacob now
presented his sacrifices. Jacob must have had mixed feelings as he looked
forward to seeing Joseph again. At the same time he realized he was leaving the
land promised to his family by God. This move was as momentous for Jacob as
Abram"s journey from Ur ( Genesis 12:1-3), Jacob"s flight to Paddan-aram
( Genesis 28:1-22), or his return to Canaan ( Genesis 31:3-54), all of which God
encouraged with visions.
"In addressing God as God of his father he was acknowledging the family
calling, and implicitly seeking leave to move out of Canaan. His attitude was very
different from that of Abram in Genesis 12:10 ff." [Note: Kidner, p208. Cf.
Genesis 26:24; 28:13-15; 32:9.]
Jacob was probably aware of the prophecy that Abraham"s descendants would
experience slavery in a foreign land for400 years ( Genesis 15:13). Consequently
he must have found it even more difficult to cross into Egypt ( Genesis 46:2-4).
God revealed Himself to Jacob (the sixth time) here to assure Jacob that this
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move was in harmony with His will for Jacob and his family. This is one of four
"do not be afraid" consolations that God gave in Genesis ( Genesis 46:3; cf.
Genesis 15:1; Genesis 21:17; Genesis 26:24).
God promised to make Jacob"s family a great nation in Egypt (cf. Genesis 12:2;
Genesis 15:13-14; Genesis 17:6; Genesis 17:20; Genesis 18:18; Genesis 21:13-18).
Because of the Egyptians" disdain for Hebrew shepherds Jacob"s family was not
in danger of suffering amalgamation into Egyptian life as they had been in
danger of being absorbed into Canaanite life. The Israelites" removal to Egypt
was also a divine discipline. Jacob"s sons had failed to stay separate from the
Canaanites so God temporarily removed them from the land He had promised
them. Note the parallels with Esau"s migration to Seir (cf. Genesis 36:2-8 and
Genesis 46:8 to Genesis 47:27).
God promised to go with Jacob into Egypt ( Genesis 46:4). Egypt was the womb
God used to form His nation. [Note: Waltke, Genesis , p574.] Though Jacob was
leaving God"s land he was not leaving God behind. God further promised to
bring Jacob back into the land. He did this by bringing his descendants back400
years later and by bringing Jacob personally back for burial in the land
( Genesis 50:1-21). Moreover God promised that Jacob would not die until he
had seen Joseph, implying that Joseph would be present when Jacob died
( Genesis 49:29-33). "Joseph will close your eyes" ( Genesis 46:4) refers to a
custom that Jews still practice. The eldest son or closest relative would gently
close the eyes of the deceased. [Note: Sarna, Understanding Genesis , p313.]
"Jacob"s decidedly dysfunctional family is on the verge of coming together again
in genuine community." [Note: Hamilton, The Book . . . Chapters18-50 , p593.]
TRAPP, "Genesis 46:1 And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and
came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.
Ver. 1. And came to Beersheba.] A place, (1.) Consecrated to God’s worship; (2.)
Where he and his fathers had met God, and received many mercies; (3.) That lay
in his way from Hebron to Egypt. But say it had been out of his way; yet it had
been nothing out of his way to go thither and seek God. A whet is no let; a bait
by the way no hindrance; the oiling of the wheel furthers the journey. As it is,
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Tithe, and be rich; so, Pray, and be prosperous. But say it should be some
prejudice; Is it not wisdom to make God’s service costly to us? Cannot he make
us amends? "give us much more than the hundred talents?" [2 Chronicles 25:9]
Is anything lost by his service? Prayer furthers thrift. The night of Popery will
shame many of us; who in their superstitious zeal had this proverb, Mass and
meat hindereth no man’s thrift. The very heathen offered sacrifices when they
took journeys, as Festus witnesseth. (a)
PETT, "Introduction
JOSEPH
The Life of Joseph (Genesis 37:2 to Genesis 50:26)
In this section we have the life of Joseph from beginning to end. It quite clearly
bears within it the stamp of a deep knowledge of Egypt, its customs and its
background, and could not have been written by anyone who did not have that
deep knowledge, and who was not familiar with things at court. The correct
technical terms are used for court officials. And the whole of Joseph’s stay in
Egypt is clearly written against an Egyptian background without the artificiality
which would appear if it was written by an outsider.
Jacob Goes to Egypt (Genesis 46:1-7)
Genesis 46:1
‘And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba and
offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.’
It is probable, although not stated, that Jacob started off from Hebron (Genesis
37:14). The area of Hebron was one often dwelt in by the patriarchs (Genesis
13:18 to Genesis 20:1; Genesis 23:2; Genesis 35:27). Beersheba was another
(Genesis 20:1 to Genesis 22:19; Genesis 26:1 to Genesis 28:10). So as Jacob
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makes his way to see his son he calls in at Beersheba where his father had built
an altar to Yahweh (Genesis 26:25).
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’.
BI 1-7, "And Israel took his Journey with all that he had
Israel’s journey into Egypt
I. A JOURNEY WHICH THE PATRIARCH HAD NEVER EXPECTED TO TAKE,
AND WHICH WAS FRAUGHT WITH CONSEQUENCES WHICH HE HAD NEVER
HOPED TO SEE.
II. THE RELIGIOUS SPIRIT IN WHICH THE PATRIARCH ENTERED UPON THIS
JOURNEY.
III. WHEN THE PATRIARCH SOUGHT THE LORD AT BEER-SHEBA, HE
APPEARED TO HIM AND BLESSED HIM.
1. The Lord appeared to His servant, when he had offered up his sacrifices to
Him.
2. The very gracious manner in which the Lord addressed His servant in this
vision.
3. The Lord gave to His servant words of wise and kindly counsel, just what was
suitable in the circumstances in which he was placed.
IV. THE FULFILMENT OF THE PROMISE WHICH THE LORD GAVE TO ISRAEL
IN THIS VISION CONCERNING HIS JOURNEY INTO EGYPT. (H. T. Holmes.)
The migration of Jacob’s house to Egypt
I. IT WAS THE SECOND STAGE IN THE COVENANT HISTORY.
II. IT WAS THE FULFILMENT OF THE DIVINE PLAN.
III. IT WAS ENTERED UPON WITH DUE SOLEMNITY.
IV. IT HAD THE APPROVAL OF GOD. God has always appeared in some special act
or word in every great crisis of His people’s history. As to Jacob—
1. He found God as he had sought Him. “I am God, the God of thy father.” The
Name used reveals the Omnipotent God, the Mighty One who is able to fulfil His
covenant engagements, and who could bring Jacob safely through all his
difficulties, present and future. Israel had found his God faithful in all His
gracious dealings, and he believed that he should still see the same loving
kindness and truth for the time to come.
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2. The will of God is clearly made known. “Fear not to go down to Egypt.” He was
distinctly assured that it was God’s will that he should go there.
3. The protection of God is promised. “Fear not—I will go down with thee into
Egypt.”
4. The purpose of God is declared. “I will there make of thee a great nation.” “I
will surely bring thee up again.” (T. H. Leale.)
The family migration
I. THE DEPARTURE FROM CANAAN.
1. Jacob offers sacrifice.
2. God renews the promise.
II. THE REUNION IN EGYPT.
III. THE ABODE IN GOSHEN. Why was Joseph so anxious to establish his father’s
family in Goshen? Joseph felt that there were many dangers incident to the sojourn
of the “Hebrews,” his kinsfolk, in Egypt.
1. The danger of quarrels. The Egyptians might become jealous of the foreigners
in their land. The Hebrews might, perhaps, presume too much on the favour
shown by Pharaoh to Joseph and Jacob.
2. The danger from heathenism. There was much idolatry and animal worship in
Egypt. The “ magicians” and their arts might corrupt the minds of the children of
Israel, and prevent them from the worship of the one true God.
3. The danger of his kin kinsmen forgetting Canaan as the land where their lot as
a nation was fixed by God. He did not want them to be Egyptianized. They must,
as far as possible, be kept a “separate” people. (W. S. Smith, B. D.)
Emigrate, but not without God
History repeats itself, and this old story fits into multitudinous modern instances.
But not always is sufficient heed given to the sacrificing at Beer-sheba; and the point
I make now is, that in all such changes we should seek, above all things else, the
companionship of God. Nothing will harm us anywhere if God is with us, and we
cannot have the highest good if we go even into the fairest Goshen on the continent
without Him. Horace Greely, long ago, set the fashion of saying, “Go West, young
man, go West”; and there is wisdom in the advice, provided it be conjoined with the
admonition, “But don’t go without your God.” Perhaps some here are meditating on
the propriety of their pushing away into the places where the labour market is not
overstocked, and the opportunities are far better than they are in a comparatively
crowded city such as this. Nor do we say a word against the project. Go, by all means,
if you are not afraid to work; but remember the sacrifice at Beer-sheba, and don’t go
without your God. Too many have done that, and have gone to ruin. But take Him
with you, and He will be “your shield and your exceeding great reward.” (W. M.
Taylor, D. D.)
WHEDON, "Verse 1
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1. Israel took his journey — “The writer uses here, at the opening, the covenant name,
from the sense of the national significance of this journey; yet afterward directs his
attention to the personal experiences and movements of Jacob. He came down from
Hebron to Beer-sheba, the camping place by the wells in the edge of the desert, where
Abraham had called on JEHOVAH, the EVERLASTING GOD and where Isaac his
father had sojourned so long; and here, amid the scenes of his childhood, looking
down upon the desert, which like a sea separated his new home and new life from the
old, he offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac, who there had first taught
him the name of that God.” — Newhall.
Verses 1-7
THE JOURNEY TO EGYPT, Genesis 46:1-7.
“Here begins a new stage in the history of the covenant people. The chosen family is
to be developed into a chosen nation. A permanent religious state, a great divinely
organized commonwealth, with institutions fixed for ages, is to be evolved from the
patriarchal nomadism, in order that all nations may be blessed in the seed of
Abraham. The sublime revelations and spiritual experiences which distinguished the
great patriarchs from all other men were not to vanish with them from the world, but
were to be embodied in institutions, in a literature, in a national consciousness,
which were to be immortal as the race itself. For more than two centuries Abraham
and his children had walked and talked with Jehovah as they moved from one
pasture to another between Sychem and Beer-sheba. Amid the hostile and idolatrous
Canaanitish tribes there was no opportunity for leisurely national growth, while they
were in constant danger of absorption; but in the Egyptian sojourn they had the
contact with the world’s highest civilization, which gave culture, and yet the isolation
and antagonism which saved their religion and their national life from extinction.
Egypt’s fat soil made Israel teem with fruitful generations even under oppression;
and her wisdom, art, social and religious institutions, deeply tinged the national
character, and even shaped some of the religious rites of Israel. Jacob knew that this
period of Egyptian sojourn was to come, for it had been predicted to Abraham,
(Genesis 15:13-15,) and so he recognised now the call of Providence. The rhetoric
rises in tone at the opening of this chapter, as if the writer felt the inspiration of this
crisis.” — Newhall.
2 And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night
and said, “Jacob! Jacob!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
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GILL, "And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night,.... He
appeared to Jacob as he lay upon his bed in the night season, and with an articulate
voice spoke to him as follows:
and said, Jacob, Jacob: not "Israel", the more honourable name he had given
him, but Jacob, putting him in mind of his former low estate; and doubling this
name, either out of love and affection to him, as Jarchi intimates; or rather in order
to awake him, at least to stir up his attention to what he was about to say to him:
and he said, here am I; signifying his readiness to hearken to him in what he
should say to him, and to obey him in whatsoever he should command him.
HENRY, " How God directed his paths: In the visions of the night (probably the
very next night after he had offered his sacrifices, as 2Ch_1:7) God spoke unto him,
Gen_46:2. Note, Those who desire to keep up communion with God shall find that it
never fails on his side. If we speak to him as we ought, he will not fail to speak to us.
God called him by name, by his old name, Jacob, Jacob, to remind him of his low
estate; his present fears did scarcely become an Israel. Jacob, like one well
acquainted with the visions of the Almighty, and ready to obey them, answers, “Here
I am, ready to receive orders:” and what has God to say to him?
JAMISON, "God spake unto Israel — Here is a virtual renewal of the covenant
and an assurance of its blessings. Moreover, here is an answer on the chief subject of
Jacob’s prayer and a removal of any doubt as to the course he was meditating. At first
the prospect of paying a personal visit to Joseph had been viewed with unmingled
joy. But, on calmer consideration, many difficulties appeared to lie in the way. He
may have remembered the prophecy to Abraham that his posterity was to be afflicted
in Egypt and also that his father had been expressly told not to go [Gen_15:13; Gen_
26:2]; he may have feared the contamination of idolatry to his family and their
forgetfulness of the land of promise. These doubts were removed by the answer of the
oracle, and an assurance given him of great and increasing prosperity.
K&D, "Gen_46:2-4
Here God appeared to him in a vision of the night (‫ּת‬‫א‬ ְ‫ר‬ ַ‫,מ‬ an intensive plural), and
gave him, as once before on his flight from Canaan (Gen_28:12.), the comforting
promise, “I am ‫ל‬ ֵ‫א‬ ָ‫ה‬ (the Mighty One), the God of thy father: fear not to go down into
Egypt (‫ה‬ ָ‫ד‬ ְ‫ר‬ ֵ‫מ‬ for ‫ת‬ ֶ‫ד‬ ֶ‫ר‬ ֵ‫,מ‬ as in Exo_2:4 ‫ה‬ ָ‫ע‬ ֵ for ‫ת‬ ַ‫ע‬ ַ , cf. Ges. §69, 3, Anm. 1); for I will
there make thee a great nation. I will go down with thee into Egypt, and I - bring
thee up again also will I, and Joseph shall close thine eyes.” ‫ּה‬‫ל‬ ָ‫ם־ע‬ַ an inf. abs.
appended emphatically (as in Gen_31:15); according to Ges. inf. Kal.
15

CALVIN, "2.And God spake unto Israel. In this manner, God proves that the
sacrifice of Jacob was acceptable to him, and again stretches out his hand to
ratify anew his covenant. The vision by night availed for the purpose of giving
greater dignity to the oracle. Jacob indeed, inasmuch as he was docile and ready
to yield obedience to God, did not need to be impelled by force and terror; yet,
because he was a man encompassed with flesh, it was profitable for him that he
should be affected as with the glory of a present God, in order that the word
might penetrate more effectually into his heart. It is, however, proper to recall to
memory what I have said before, that the word was joined with it; because a
silent vision would have profited little or nothing. We know that superstition
eagerly snatches at mere spectres; by which means it presents God in a form of
its own. But since no living image of God can exist without the word, whenever
God has appeared to his servants, he has also spoken to them. Wherefore, in all
outward signs, let us be ever attentive to his voice, if we would not be deluded by
the wiles of Satan. But if those visions, in which the majesty of God shines,
require to be animated by the word, then they who obtrude signs, invented at the
will of men, upon the Church, exhibit nothing else than the empty pomps of a
profane theater. Just as in the Papacy, those things which are called sacraments,
are lifeless phantoms which draw away deluded souls from the true God. Let this
mutual connection, then, be observed, that the vision which gives greater dignity
to the word, precedes it; and that the word follows immediately, as if it were the
soul of the vision. And there is no question that this was an appearance of the
visible glory of God, which did not leave Jacob in suspense and hesitation; but
which, by removing his doubt, firmly sustained him, so that he confidently
embraced the oracle.
BENSON. "Genesis 46:2. God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night —
Probably the next night after he had offered his sacrifices. Those who desire to
keep up communion with God, shall find that it never fails on his side. If we
speak to him as we ought, he will not fail to speak to us.
COKE, "Genesis 46:2. And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night—
Probably the next night after he had offered his sacrifices. Those who desire to
keep up communion with God, shall find that it never fails on his side. If we
speak to him as we ought, he will certainly answer us. God called him by his
name, by his old name, "Jacob, Jacob," to remind him of his low estate. Jacob,
like one well acquainted with the visions of the Almighty, answers, "Here am
I"—ready to receive orders.
16

WHEDON, " 2. God spake unto Israel — “Jacob thought himself led by the
hand of Providence, yet we may imagine him oppressed by sadness as he turns
his back upon the land of promise — the land of his childhood and manhood, the
land where were the graves of Abraham, and Isaac, and of his beloved Rachel —
and sets his face towards the dreary desert. Is it thus that God is to make Canaan
his inheritance? But in his trial God appears to him, as he did to Abraham in a
similar crisis, (Genesis 15:1,) and to Isaac, when the same doubt oppressed him,
(Genesis 25:24,) and the same cheering words come to Jacob that came to
them.” — Newhall.
PETT, "Genesis 46:2-4
‘And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he
said, “I am here.” And he said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be
afraid to go down into Egypt for there I will make of you a great nation. I will go
down with you into Egypt, and I will surely bring you up again, and Joseph shall
put his hand on your eyes.”
God graciously responds to his prayers. He comes as ‘God, the God of his
father’, demonstrating that He knows Jacob’s thoughts. He assures him that the
visit to Egypt is not to be shunned and that He will go with him. Indeed there he
will become a great nation. But He also confirms that one day he will return.
This refers partly to the return of his body to the land, which he considered
important (Genesis 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.
“And Joseph will put his hand on your eyes.” That is Joseph will close his eyes
when he has died. Thus he can be assured that at the time of his death Joseph
will be with him to carry out his wishes.
TRAPP, "Genesis 46:2 And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and
said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here [am] I.
17

Ver. 2. Here am I.] Josephus tells us, (a) he said, Who is there? He seems never
seriously to have read the Bible; but only in transcursu, et quasi aliud agens. Is
not that then a proper excuse for the Church of Rome’s sacrilege, in robbing the
common people of the Holy Scriptures, that she allows them to read Josephus,
where they may find the history of the Old Testament more plainly and
plentifully set forth than in the Bible! But Barclay, (b) that made this apology,
was of the mind, belike, of Walter Mapes, sometime archdeacon of Oxford, who,
relating the gross simony (traffic in sacred things) of the Pope, for confirming the
election of Reginald, bastard son to Jocelin, bishop of Sarum into the see of Bath,
concludes his narration thus: Sit tamen domina materque nostra Roma baculus
in aqua fractus, et absit credere quae vidimus; { c} howbeit, far be it from us to
believe our own eyes.
3 “I am God, the God of your father,” he said.
“Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will
make you into a great nation there.
CLARKE, "Fear not to go down into Egypt - It appears that there had been
some doubts in the patriarch’s mind relative to the propriety of this journey; he
found, from the confession of his own sons, how little they were to be trusted. But
every doubt is dispelled by this Divine manifestation. 1. He may go down confidently,
no evil shall befall him. 2. Even in Egypt the covenant shall be fulfilled, God will
make of him there a great nation. 3. God himself will accompany him on his journey,
be with him in the strange land, and even bring back his bones to rest with those of
his fathers. 4. He shall see Joseph, and this same beloved son shall be with him in his
last hours, and do the last kind office for him. Joseph shall put his hand upon thine
eyes. It is not likely that Jacob would have at all attempted to go down to Egypt, had
he not received these assurances from God; and it is very likely that he offered his
sacrifice merely to obtain this information. It was now a time of famine in Egypt, and
God had forbidden his father Isaac to go down to Egypt when there was a famine
there, Gen_26:1-3; besides, he may have had some general intimation of the
prophecy delivered to his grandfather Abraham, that his seed should be afflicted in
Egypt, Gen_15:13, Gen_15:14; and he also knew that Canaan, not Egypt, was to be
the inheritance of his family, Genesis 12, etc. On all these accounts it was necessary to
have the most explicit directions from God, before he should take such a journey.
18

GILL, "And he said, I am God, the God of thy father,.... His father Isaac, who
was now dead, and who is the rather mentioned, because in him Abraham's seed was
to be called, and in his line the promise both of the land of Canaan, and of the
Messiah, ran, and from him Jacob received the blessing; and this might be a
confirmation of it to him, in that Jehovah calls himself his God; he first declares
himself to be his God, and so able to perform whatever he should promise him, and
his father's God, who would show him favour, as he had to him:
fear not to go down into Egypt; Jacob might have many fears arise in his mind
about this journey, as interpreters generally observe; as lest it should not be
agreeable to the will of God, since his father Isaac was forbidden to go into Egypt,
when in like circumstances with him, Gen_26:1; as well as he, might fear it would be
too great a journey for him in his old age, some evil would befall him, or he die by the
way and not see his son; or lest going with his family thither, and there continuing
for some time, they might be tempted with the pleasantness and fruitfulness of the
land, and settle there, and forget and neglect the promised land of Canaan; and
especially lest they should be drawn into the idolatry of the Egyptians, and forsake
the worship of the true God; and very probably he might call to mind the prophecy
delivered to Abraham, of his seed being strangers and servants, and afflicted in a land
not theirs for the space of four hundred years, Gen_15:13; and Jacob might fear this
step he was now taking would bring on, as indeed it did, the completion of this
prediction, by which his offspring would be oppressed and diminished. The Targum
of Jonathan makes this to be Jacob's principal fear;"fear not to go down into Egypt,
because of the business of the servitude decreed with Abraham;''as also he might fear
his going thither might seem to be a giving up his title to, and expectation of the
promised land: to remove which fears the following is said:
for I will there make of thee a great nation: as he did; for though in process of
time his seed were greatly afflicted here, yet the more they were afflicted, the more
they multiplied; and their increase in Egypt was vastly greater than it had been in a
like space of time before; for in the space of two hundred fifteen years before their
descent into Egypt, they were become no more than seventy persons, whereas in the
like number of years in Egypt, they became 600,000, besides children; see Gen_
46:27 Exo_12:37.
HENRY, ". He renews the covenant with him: I am God, the God of thy father
(Gen_46:3); that is, “I am what thou ownest me to be: thou shalt find me a God, a
divine wisdom and power engaged for thee; and thou shalt find me the God of thy
father, true to the covenant made with him.”
2. He encourages him to make this removal of his family: Fear not to go down into
Egypt. It seems, though Jacob, upon the first intelligence of Joseph's life and glory in
Egypt, resolved, without any hesitation, I will go and see him; yet, upon second
thoughts, he saw some difficulties in it, which he knew not well how to get over.
Note, Even those changes that seem to have in them the greatest joys and hopes, yet
have an alloy of cares and fears, Nulla est sincera voluptas - There is no unmingled
pleasure. We must always rejoice with trembling. Jacob had many careful thoughts
about this journey, which God took notice of. (1.) He was old, 130 years old; and it is
mentioned as one of the infirmities of old people that they are afraid of that which is
high, and fears are in the way, Ecc_12:5. It was a long journey, and Jacob was unfit
19

for travel, and perhaps remembered that his beloved Rachel died in a journey. (2.)
He feared lest his sons should be tainted with the idolatry of Egypt, and forget the
God of their fathers, or enamoured with the pleasures of Egypt, and forget the land of
promise. (3.) Probably he thought of what God had said to Abraham concerning the
bondage and affliction of his seed (Gen_15:13), and was apprehensive that his
removal to Egypt would issue in that. Present satisfactions should not take us off
from the consideration and prospect of future inconveniences, which possibly may
arise from what now appears most promising. (4.) He could not think of laying his
bones in Egypt. But, whatever his discouragements were, this was enough to answer
them all, Fear not to go down into Egypt.
JAMISON, "I will there make of thee a great nation — How truly this
promise was fulfilled, appears in the fact that the seventy souls who went down into
Egypt increased [Exo_1:5-7], in the space of two hundred fifteen years, to one
hundred eighty thousand.
CALVIN, "3.Jacob, Jacob. The design of the repetition was to render him more
attentive. For, by thus familiarly addressing him, God more gently insinuates
himself into his mind: as, in the Scripture, he kindly allures us, that he may
prepare us to become his disciples. The docility of the holy man appears hence,
that as soon as he is persuaded that God speaks, he replies that he is ready to
receive with reverence whatever may be spoken, to follow wheresoever he may
be called, and to undertake whatever may be commanded. Afterwards, a
promise is added, by which God confirms and revives the faith of his servant.
Whereas, the descent into Egypt was to him a sad event, he is bidden to be of
good and cheerful mind; inasmuch as the Lord would always be his keeper, and
after having increased him there to a great nation, would bring him back again
to the place, whence he now compelled him to depart. And, indeed, Jacob’s chief
consolation turned on this point; that he should not perpetually wander up and
down as an exile, but should, at length, enjoy the expected inheritance. For, since
the possession of the land of Canaan was the token of the Divine favor, of
spiritual blessings, and of eternal felicity; if holy Jacob was defrauded of this, it
would have availed him little or nothing to have riches, and all kinds of wealth
and power heaped upon him, in Egypt. The return promised him is not, however,
to be understood of his own person, but refers to his posterity. Now, as Jacob,
relying on the promise, is commanded boldly to go down into Egypt; so it is the
duty of all the pious, after his example, to derive such strength from the grace of
God, that they may gird themselves to obey his commands. The title by which
God here distinguishes himself, is attached to the former oracles which Jacob
had received by tradition from his fathers. For why does he not rather call
himself the Creator of heaven and earth, than the God of Isaac or of Abraham,
except for this reason, that the dominion over the land of Canaan depends on the
previous covenant, which he now ratifies anew? At the same time also, he
encourages his servant by examples drawn from his own family, lest he should
20

cease to proceed with constancy in his calling. For, when he had seen that his
father Isaac, and had heard that his grandfather Abraham, though long
surrounded by great troubles, never gave way to any temptations, it ill became
him to be overcome by weariness in the same course; especially since, in the act
of dying, they handed their lamp to their posterity, and took diligent care to
leave the light of their faith to survive them in their family. In short, Jacob is
taught that he must not seek, in crooked and diverse paths, that God whom he
had learned, from his childhood, to regard as the Ruler of the family of
Abraham; provided it did not degenerate from his piety. Moreover, we have
elsewhere stated how far, in this respect, the authority of the Fathers ought to
prevail. For it was not the design of God, either that Jacob should subject himself
to men, or should approve, without discrimination, whatever was handed down
from his ancestors, — seeing that he so often condemns in the Jews, a foolish
imitation of their fathers, — but his design was to keep Jacob in the true
knowledge of himself.
BENSON, "Genesis 46:3. I am God, the God of thy father — True to the
covenant made with him. Fear not to go down into Egypt — It seems though
Jacob, upon the first intelligence of Joseph’s life and glory in Egypt, resolved,
without any hesitation, I will go and see him, yet, upon second thoughts, he saw
difficulties in Genesis 2:1 st, He was one hundred and thirty years old; it was a
long journey, and he was unfit to travel. 2d, He feared lest his sons should be
tainted with the idolatry of Egypt, and forget the God of their fathers. 3d,
Probably he thought of what God had said to Abraham concerning the bondage
and affliction of his seed. 4th, He could not think of laying his bones in Egypt.
But whatever his discouragements were, this was enough to answer them all,
Fear not to go down into Egypt.
COKE, "Genesis 46:3. I am God, the God of thy father— That is, I am what
thou ownest me to be: thou shalt find me a God of divine wisdom and power
engaged for thee; and thou shalt find me "the God of thy father," true to the
covenant made with him.
Fear not to go down into AEgypt— Which he might well have done, without this
encouragement; not only because his forefathers Abraham and Isaac had in
some degree been injured there, but because it had been foretold that their seed
should be afflicted by the AEgyptians; an event which he might conceive would
probably happen, if Joseph, their protector, should die before their return. He
might also fear that, by this means, his posterity would be deprived of the land of
21

Canaan; and, indeed, the encouragement which God gives him seems principally
calculated to obviate this apprehension. I will there make of thee a great nation;
I will go down with thee, to preserve and protect thee and thy family; and I will
surely bring thee up again; that is, in thy posterity; for the Scripture frequently
speaks of parents and children as one person
TRAPP, "Genesis 46:3 And he said, I [am] God, the God of thy father: fear not
to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:
Ver. 3. Fear not to go down into Egypt.] Cause of fear he might see sufficient;
but God would have him not to look downward on the rushing and roaring
streams of miseries that ran so swiftly under him and his posterity, but
steadfastly fasten on his power and providence, who was his God, and the God of
his father. He loves to perfect his strength in our weakness; as Elijah would have
the sacrifice covered with water, that God’s power might the more appear in the
fire from heaven.
4 I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will
surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own
hand will close your eyes.”
GILL, "I will go down with thee into Egypt,.... Which was enough to silence all
his fears; for if the presence of God went with him to protect and defend hide, to
bless and prosper him, and to direct, support, and comfort, he had nothing to fear
from any quarter:
and I will also surely bring thee up again: Jarchi takes this to be a promise
that he should be buried in the land of Canaan, which had its fulfilment, when his
corpse was carried out of Egypt to Machpelah, and there interred; but rather this
refers to the bringing up of his posterity from thence in due time, for which Jacob
22

might be most solicitous, and so the Targum of Jonathan,"and I will bring up thy
children from thence:"
and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes: and so close them when he
was dead; this, as Aben Ezra says, was a custom of the living to the dead, and it used
to be done by the nearest relations and friends, though now with us commonly by
strangers, or those that are not akin: this was a custom among the Greeks and
Romans, as appears from Homer (o), Virgil (p), Ovid (q), and other writers (r); and
so, among the Jews, Tobias is said to shut the eyes of his wife's father and mother,
and to bury them honourably,"Where he became old with honour, and he buried his
father and mother in law honourably, and he inherited their substance, and his father
Tobit's.'' (Tobit 14:13)Of the Vulgate Latin version: Maimonides (s) reckons this of
closing the eyes of the dead, among the rites used towards them, and so in the
Talmud (t): now by this expression Jacob was assured that Joseph was alive, and that
he should live to see him, and that Joseph would outlive him, and do this last office
for him; and, as Ben Melech observes, by this he had the good news told him that
Joseph should remain behind him, to sustain and support his sons, and his sons'
sons, all the years that he should live after him.
HENRY, "He promises him comfort in the removal. (1.) That he should multiply
in Egypt: “I will there, where thou fearest that thy family will sink and be lost, make
it a great nation. That is the place Infinite Wisdom has chosen for the
accomplishment of that promise.” (2.) That he should have God's presence with him:
I will go down with thee into Egypt. Note, Those that go whither God sends them
shall certainly have God with them, and that is enough to secure them wherever they
are and to silence their fears; we may safely venture even into Egypt if God go down
with us. (3.) That neither he nor his should be lost in Egypt: I will surely bring thee
up again. Though Jacob died in Egypt, yet this promise was fulfilled, [1.] In the
bringing up of his body, to be buried in Canaan, about which, it appears, he was very
solicitous, Gen_49:29, Gen_49:32. [2.] In the bringing up of his seed to be settled in
Canaan. Whatever low or darksome valley we are called into at any time, we may be
confident, if God go down with us into it, that he will surely bring us up again. If he
go with us down to death, he will surely bring us up again to glory. (4.) That living
and dying, his beloved Joseph should be a comfort to him: Joseph shall put his hand
upon thine eyes. This is a promise that Joseph should live as long as he lived, that he
should be with him at his death, and close his eyes with all possible tenderness and
respect, as the dearest relations used to do. Probably Jacob, in the multitude of this
thought within him, had been wishing that Joseph might do this last office of love for
him: Ille meos oculos comprimat - Let him close my eyes; and God thus answered
him in the letter of his desire. Thus God sometimes gratifies the innocent wishes of
his people, and makes not only their death happy, but the very circumstances of it
agreeable.
JAMISON, "I will also surely bring thee up again — As Jacob could not
expect to live till the former promise was realized, he must have seen that the latter
was to be accomplished only to his posterity. To himself it was literally verified in the
removal of his remains to Canaan; but, in the large and liberal sense of the words, it
was made good only on the establishment of Israel in the land of promise.
Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes — shall perform the last office of
23

filial piety; and this implied that he should henceforth enjoy, without interruption,
the society of that favorite son.
CALVIN, "4.And Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes. This clause was
added for the sake of showing greater indulgence. For though Jacob, in desiring
that, when he died, his eyes should be closed by the hand of Joseph, showed that
some infirmity of the flesh was involved in the wish; yet God is willing to comply
with it, for the sake of moderating the grief of a fresh banishment. Moreover, we
know that the custom of closing the eyes was of the greatest antiquity; and that
this office was discharged by one most closely connected with the deceased either
by blood or affection.
BENSON, "Genesis 46:4. I will go down with thee into Egypt — Those that go
where God sends them shall certainly have God with them. And I will surely
bring thee up again — Though Jacob died in Egypt, yet this promise was
fulfilled. 1st, In the bringing up of his body to be buried in Canaan. 2d, In the
bringing up of his seed to be settled in Canaan. Whatever low and darksome
valley we are called into, we may be confident, if God go down with us, he will
surely bring us up again. If he go with us down to death, he will surely bring us
up again to glory. And Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes — This is a
promise that Joseph should live as long as he lived, that he should be with him at
his death, and close his eyes with all possible tenderness. Probably Jacob, in the
multitude of his thoughts within him, had been wishing that Joseph might do this
last office of love for him; and God thus answered him in the letter of his desire.
Thus God sometimes gratifies the innocent wishes of his people, and makes not
only their death happy, but the very circumstances of it agreeable.
COKE, "Genesis 46:4. I will go down with thee into AEgypt— Those who go
where God sends them, shall certainly have God with them. And I will also
surely bring thee up again.—Whatever low and darksome valley we are called
into, we may be confident, if God go down with us, he will surely bring us up
again to glory.
Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes— Shall do the last tender office for
thee of closing thine eyes; he shall survive thee; and thou shalt die in peace in his
arms. The custom of closing the eyes of persons departed is very ancient; and
they were usually the nearest and dearest friends who performed this last office.
This descent into AEgypt was in the one hundred and thirty-seventh year of
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Jacob's life, two hundred and fifteen years after the promise made to Abraham,
ch. Genesis 12:2-3. and in the year of the world two thousand two hundred and
ninety-eight.
REFLECTIONS.—We have here Jacob removing to AEgypt, with some singular
events in the way.
1st. His solemn sacrifice offered at Beer-sheba. It was a place where his fathers
had enjoyed sweet communion with God; and he hoped there to enjoy the
pretence of the God of his fathers. With thankfulness thus he acknowledges the
past, and particularly his late mercies, and begs the continuance of Jehovah's
blessing on his removal. Note; (1.) We must not neglect to worship God on a
journey; as we need then peculiarly his care, we have a new cause to entreat his
protection. (2.) Thanks for past mercies are an earnest of greater in store for us.
2nd. God graciously meets him there. Observe, If our communion with God be
interrupted, we must lay it at the door of our sloth and negligence. He calls him
by his name, with the most gracious condescension, and speaks to him in terms of
heart-reviving confidence. He is his Covenant-God, and will take care of him. 1.
He silences his fears. Many fears might be expected to attend such a change: fear
for himself, an old man, and little able to bear the journey; fear for his family,
lest they should be so well pleased with AEgypt as to forget Canaan; or,
remembering Abraham's vision, fearing this land of plenty might become a
house of bondage. But one word from God quiets all. Note; If God says, Fear not,
we may well be at rest, whatever our difficulties are. 2. He encourages him with
promises. His family shall increase; God's presence shall be with him; and he
will surely bring him back again; his bones shall lie in Canaan, his seed return to
this land of their possession, and Joseph shall close his dying eyes. Note; (1.) It is
an unspeakable comfort to a servant of Jesus going down to the grave to have his
promises to preserve him there, and bring him up thence on the resurrection-
day. (2.) It is pleasing even in death, when filial piety is at hand to pay the last
kind office to the beloved departing parent. It is a wish as natural as innocent,
Ille meos oculos comprimat, Let him close my dying eyes.
WHEDON, " 4. I will go down with thee into Egypt — And if God be with us,
who can be against us?
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And I will also surely bring thee up — “Wonderfully worded promise!
Personally, he was then bidding those scenes an everlasting farewell; but in the
mediatorial nation which was to spring from him, and with which, as heir of
God’s covenant, he was identified, he would return again. In this hope, by faith,
he was to be glad though he die in Egypt, for it is added immediately, Joseph
shall put his hand upon thine eyes, to close them in death; the last sad duty of
love. Ancient writers of other nations frequently make pathetic allusion to this
last ministration of affection. (Compare Homer’s Iliad, 11:453; Odyssey, 11:426;
24:296; Ovid, Heroides, 1:102, etc.”) — Newhall.
TRAPP, "Verse 4
Genesis 46:4 I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee
up [again]: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.
Ver. 4. I will go down with thee.] That was as good security as could be. For if
Caesar could say to the fearful ferryman, in a terrible storm, Be of good cheer,
thou carriest Caesar, and therefore canst not miscarry; (a) how much more may
he presume to be safe that hath God in his company! A child in the dark fears
nothing while he hath his father by the hand.
And I will also surely bring thee up again.] So saith God to his dying people
when they are to enter into the grave. He will surely bring them back from the
jaws of death to the joys of eternal life. Yea, by rotting, he will refine their frail
bodies; as the goldsmith melts a picture of gold, or bruised piece of plate that is
out of fashion, to make it up better.
And Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.] An ancient and an honourable
custom, in use among the Romans also, as Pliny tells us. The eyes are commonly
open, lift up to heaven, when men are dying; unless they be such as that pope
was, who, breathing out his last, said, Now I shall know whether the soul be
immortal, or not. (b) Or that desperate advocate in the court of Rome, mentioned
by Bellarmine, who, dying, used these words, Ego propero ad inferos, neque est,
ut aliquid pro me agat Deus. But Jacob had hope in his death; and Joseph had
the honour of closing up those eyes, that shall shortly "see God" again "in the
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flesh." [Job 19:26]
NISBET, "FATHER AND SON
‘Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.’
Genesis 46:4
I. ‘Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.’ Nothing in by-gone
years would have given Jacob more pleasure than the knowledge that at the end
of his sad and weary pilgrimage, Joseph should close his eyes in death. When
Rachel was taken from him, he turned naturally to Joseph to perform the last
sad offices; but at one time nothing seemed more unlikely than that this would be
the case; yet now the impossible had suddenly become possible, and Joseph was
to receive his last instructions (Genesis 47:29).
II. It is pleasant to think that God takes delight in gratifying the innocent and
natural wishes of His saints, where it is possible. ‘The steps of a good man are
ordered by the Lord,’ and surely the last ones. He who loved to receive at Mary’s
hands the anointing for His burying, will see that the body which has served
Him, and been His temple, shall be rightly honoured. I like to believe that God’s
love-idylls end joyfully; that those who have loved find each other, and enclasp in
an embrace that can never be unloosed; that days of weeping clear towards
evensong, and that Josephs put their hands upon our eyes. But even if that
cannot be, our risen Lord will stand beside us then.
‘Thou shalt see,
Steadfastly gazing towards eternity,
The heavens opened, and at God’s right hand,
27

With the same smile as once, thy Master stand;
Nor only so, but come down from His place,
And stand beside thee, and His arms embrace,
Nor ever let thy hand go, holding fast,
Till all the tyranny be overpast.’
Illustration
‘It is very good that an old man’s years, last years, should be illumined by
messages and tokens of love from his children and his grandchildren, that he
should enter when he is past seventy into the pleasant stir of new lives and new
friends, into a world of wider interests. Those, I imagine, are the lives that best
deserve to be called happy, those lives in which all that has been given in the
anxious days comes back tenfold in the days of peace, and where the end is a
golden sunset.’
5 Then Jacob left Beersheba, and Israel’s sons
took their father Jacob and their children and
their wives in the carts that Pharaoh had sent to
transport him.
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BARNES, "Gen_46:5-7
The descent into Egypt is now described. “His daughters, and his sons’ daughters.”
In the following list only one daughter of Jacob is mentioned, Dinah, and only one
son’s daughter, Serah. It is possible, but not probable, that there were more
daughters than these at the time in his family. But even if there were no others, the
plural is adopted in order to correspond with the general form of classification, from
which the one daughter and the one granddaughter are merely accidental deviations.
The same principle applies to the sons of Dan Gen_46:23, and to other instances in
Scripture 1Ch_2:8, 1Ch_2:42.
GILL, "And Jacob rose up from Beersheba,.... In high spirits, and proceeded
on in his journey, being encouraged and animated by the promises of God now made
unto him:
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; it
may be wondered at that Joseph did not send his chariot to fetch his father; it could
not be for want of due respect and honour to him, but it may be such a carriage was
not fit for so long a journey, and especially to travel in, in some parts of the road
through which they went: no mention being made of Jacob's wives, it may be
presumed they were all now dead; it is certain Rachel was, see Gen_35:19; and it is
more than probable that Leah died before this time, since Jacob says he buried her
himself in Machpelah in Canaan, Gen_49:31; and it is very likely also that his two
concubine wives Bilhah and Zilpah were also dead, since no notice is taken of them.
HENRY 5-27, "Old Jacob is here flitting. Little did he think of ever leaving
Canaan; he expected, no doubt, to die in his nest, and to leave his seed in actual
possession of the promised land: but Providence orders it otherwise. Note, Those
that think themselves well settled may yet be unsettled in a little time. Even old
people, who think of no other removal than that to the grave (which Jacob had much
upon his heart, Gen_37:35; Gen_42:38), sometimes live to see great changes in their
family. It is good to be ready, not only for the grave, but for whatever may happen
betwixt us and the grave. Observe, 1. How Jacob was conveyed; not in a chariot,
though chariots were then used, but in a wagon, Gen_46:5. Jacob had the character
of a plain man, who did not affect any thing stately or magnificent; his son rode in a
chariot (Gen_41:43), but a wagon would serve him. 2. The removal of what he had
with him. (1.) His effects (Gen_46:6), cattle and goods; these he took with him that
he might not wholly be beholden to Pharaoh for a livelihood, and that it might not
afterwards be said of them, “that they came beggars to Egypt.” (2.) His family, all his
seed, Gen_46:7. It is probable that they had continued to live together in common
with their father; and therefore when he went they all went, which perhaps they were
the more willing to do, because, though they had heard that the land of Canaan was
promised them, yet, to this day, they had none of it in possession. We have here a
particular account of the names of Jacob's family, his sons' sons, most of whom are
afterwards mentioned as heads of houses in the several tribes. See Num_26:5, etc.
Bishop Patrick observes that Issachar called his eldest son Tola, which signifies a
worm, probably because when he was born he was a very little weak child, a worm,
and no man, not likely to live; and yet there sprang from him a very numerous
offspring, 1Ch_7:2. Note, Living and dying do not go by probability. The whole
number that went down into Egypt was sixty-six (Gen_46:26), to which add Joseph
29

and his two sons, who were there before, and Jacob himself, the head of the family,
and you have the number of seventy, Gen_46:27. The Septuagint makes them
seventy-five, and Stephen follows them (Act_7:14), the reason of which we leave to
the conjecture of the critics; but let us observe, [1.] Masters of families ought to take
care of all under their charge, and to provide for those of their own house food
convenient both for body and soul. When Jacob himself removed to a land of plenty,
he would not leave any of his children behind him to starve in a barren land. [2.]
Though the accomplishment of promises is always sure, yet it is often slow. It was
now 215 years since God had promised Abraham to make of him a great nation
(Gen_12:2); and yet that branch of his seed on which the promise was entailed had
increased only to seventy, of which this particular account is kept, that the power of
God in multiplying these seventy to so vast a multitude, even in Egypt, may appear
the more illustrious. When God pleases, a little one shall become a thousand, Isa_
60:22.
JAMISON, "Gen_46:5-27. Immigration to Egypt.
And Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba — to cross the border and settle in
Egypt. However refreshed and invigorated in spirit by the religious services at Beer-
sheba, he was now borne down by the infirmities of advanced age; and, therefore, his
sons undertook all the trouble and toil of the arrangements, while the enfeebled old
patriarch, with the wives and children, was conveyed by slow and leisurely stages in
the Egyptian vehicles sent for their accommodation.
WHEDON, "Verse 5
5. In the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him — “Instead of transporting
them upon camels and asses, as was usual in Palestine. The use of the Egyptian
wagons, and the fact that they were sent by Pharaoh himself, evidently made a deep
impression, and is emphasized by the writer. See note on Genesis 14:27. On the direct
route from Hebron to Beer-sheba the hills are too steep and sharp, and the surface is
too rocky, to allow of travel on wheeled vehicles. Artificial wagon roads have never
been constructed through that country. But wheels could pass from Beer-sheba east
of the direct route, through the great Wady el-Khulil, and thence through the valleys
to Hebron. (Robinson, 1:215.)” — Newhall.
CALVIN, "5.And Jacob rose up. By using the words “rose up,” Moses seems to
denote that Jacob received new vigor from the vision. For although the former
promises were not forgotten, yet the addition of the recent memorial came most
opportunely, in order that he, bearing the land of Canaan in his heart, might
endure his absence from it with equanimity. When it is said that he took with
him all that he had acquired, or possessed in the land of Canaan, it is probable
that his servants and handmaids came together with his cattle. (178) But, on his
departure, no mention is made of them: nay, a little afterwards, when Moses
enumerates the separate heads of each tribe, he says that only seventy souls came
with him. Should any one say that Jacob had been compelled to liberate his
slaves, on account of the famine, or that he lost them through some misfortune to
30

us unknown, the conjecture is unsatisfactory; for it is most incredible that he,
who had been an industrious master of a family, and had abounded in the
earthly blessings of God, should have become so entirely destitute, that not even
one little servant remained to him. It is more probable that, when the children of
Israel were themselves employed in servile works, they were then deprived of
their servants in Egypt; or, at least, a sufficient number was not left them, to
inspire them with confidence in any enterprise. And although, in the account of
their deliverance, Moses is silent respecting their servants, yet it may be easily
gathered from other passages, that they did not depart without servants.
COFFMAN, "Verses 5-7
"And Jacob rose up 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. And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had
gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with
him: his sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons'
daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt."
One purpose in these lines is to show that all of Israel actually went down into
Egypt, just as all of them later were delivered. This purpose is also apparent in
the list of Jacob's posterity in the following verses.
It is to be noted that, despite the suggestion by Pharaoh that they would not need
to bring their possessions with them, since plenty was available in Egypt, they
nevertheless brought all that it was possible to carry. This was obviously for the
purpose of not being any greater burden to the Egyptians than was unavoidable.
Note also in these verses that nothing whatever is said of the wives of Jacob's
sons and grandsons, nor is there any reference to their servants or employees.
From this, it is evident that the company which went down into Egypt was far
larger than the list of barely seventy persons next recorded.
TRAPP, "Verse 5
Genesis 46:5 And Jacob rose up from Beersheba: and the sons of Israel carried
31

Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which
Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
Ver. 5. And Jacob rose up from Beersheba.] The word "rose up" is emphatical,
and imports that his heart was lightened, and his joints oiled and nimbled, as it
were, with the heavenly vision. As when he had seen God at Bethel, he "lift up
his feet," and went on his way lustily; [Genesis 29:1] so here, as fast as his old
legs would carry him; as Father Latimer said to Ridley, when they were going to
the stake. (a) And as it is recorded of good old Rawlins White, martyr; that
whereas before he was wont to go stooping, or rather crooked, through infirmity
of age, having a sad countenance and very feeble complexion, and, with it, very
soft in speech and gesture; now he went and stretched up himself, not only bolt
upright, as he went to the stake, but also bare, with it, a most pleasant and
comfortable countenance, not without great courage and audacity, both in
speech and behaviour. (b) In like sort, Jacob here, having sought God, and
received a gracious promise of his presence and protection, rose up merrily from
Beersheba, and doubts not to follow God whithersoever he shall lead him.
PETT, "Genesis 46:5-7
‘And Jacob rose up 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. And they took their cattle and their goods which they had
obtained in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob and all his seed with
him, his sons and his daughters, and his sons’ daughters and all his seed he
brought with him into Egypt.’
So at God’s assurance Jacob now takes all he has into Egypt. It is clear that
much of his herds have survived the famine up to this point, probably helped by
the corn from Egypt, but water was getting scarcer and they may not have
survived much longer. They also took their goods (in spite of what Pharaoh had
said, but that was a gesture and was probably not intended to be taken literally).
But most importantly his whole family went with him, together with their
‘households’ (Exodus 1:1). Jacob’s wives are not mentioned. It may be that they
were all dead.
32

“His sons and his daughters and his sons” daughters.’ His sons’ sons are not
mentioned although we know that Reuben had two sons (Genesis 42:37), but this
was because they were considered as included in ‘sons’. Daughters were slightly
different as his ‘daughters’ were mainly his daughters-in-law, his sons’ wives,
whereas presumably his sons’ daughters were daughters of the blood (although
only one is named, but that was because to name more would have taken the
number over seventy).
6 So Jacob and all his offspring went to Egypt,
taking with them their livestock and the
possessions they had acquired in Canaan.
GILL, "And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten
in the land of Canaan,.... Some interpreters add, by way of explanation, and in
Mesopotamia; much of Jacob's substance being yet there, though the greatest part
was got in Canaan, and so that is put for the whole; and Jarchi supposes that Jacob
gave all that he got in Padanaram to Esau for his part in the cave of Machpelah, and
therefore mention is only made of his substance in Canaan; but there is no need of
any such additions or suppositions, since the text only speaks of the substance of
Jacob's sons, and what they had was only gotten in Canaan, into which they came
very young; all which they brought with them as being their property, and not
obliged to leave it behind to strangers; though they were bid not to regard their stuff,
yet they were not willing to live upon others, but upon their own, and as much as
they could independent of others; and that they might not be upbraided hereafter
that they came into Egypt poor and destitute of everything:
and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him; safe and well.
JAMISON, "goods, which they had gotten in the land — not furniture, but
substance - precious things.
TRAPP, "Verse 6
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Genesis 46:6 And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the
land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him:
Ver. 6. And they took their cattle, and their goods.] Though Pharaoh sent to them
they should not, yet, not willing to be much chargeable, they brought that they had. It
is a happiness so to live with others as not to be much beholden; but rather helpful,
than burdensome. He that receives a courtesy, we say, sells his liberty: and "the
borrower is servant to the lender." [Proverbs 22:7] St Paul glories in this to the
liberal Corinthians, that when he was present with them he was "chargeable to no
man." [2 Corinthians 11:9] Oυ κατεναρκησα ουδενος; (a) dunned no man, I was no
man’s parasite. He was not of those that "served not the Lord Jesus Christ, but their
own bellies." [Romans 16:18] The Duke of Bavaria’s house is so pestered with friars
and Jesuits that, notwithstanding the greatness of his revenue, he is very poor; as
spending all his estate upon these Popish parasites. Such among the Turks are the
Dervislars and Imailers, that under pretence of religion, live, like body lice, upon
other men’s sweat and labours. (b)
7 Jacob brought with him to Egypt his sons and
grandsons and his daughters and
granddaughters—all his offspring.
CLARKE, "All his seed brought he with him into Egypt - When Jacob went
down into Egypt he was in the one hundred and thirtieth year of his age, two
hundred and fifteen years after the promise was made to Abraham, Gen_12:1-4, in
the year of the world 2298, and before Christ.
GILL, "His sons, and his sons' sons with him,.... His eleven sons, and their
sons, his grandchildren:
and his daughters; his own daughter Dinah, and his daughters in law, the wives of
his sons; for these came with him into Egypt, as appears from Gen_46:5; though the
plural may be put for the singular, as in Gen_46:23,
34

and his sons' daughters; and mention is made of Sarah the daughter of Asher,
Gen_46:17; Jarchi adds, Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, but it is certain she was
born in Egypt, Num_26:59,
and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt; left none behind him in
Canaan, son or daughter; no mention is made of servants, though no doubt many
came along with him: the design of the historian is to give an account of Jacob's
children, who they were, and their number, when they came into Egypt, that the
increase of them might be observed.
JAMISON, "daughters — As Dinah was his only daughter, this must mean
daughters-in-law.
all his seed brought he with him — Though disabled by age from active
superintendence, yet, as the venerable sheik of the tribe, he was looked upon as their
common head and consulted in every step.
BENSON, "Genesis 46:7. All his seed — It is probable they continued to live
together in common with their father, and therefore when he went, they all went;
which, perhaps, they were the more willing to do, because, though they had
heard that the land of Canaan was promised them, yet, to this day, they had
none of it in possession. We have here a particular account of the names of
Jacob’s family; his sons’ sons, most of whom are afterward mentioned as heads
of houses in the several tribes. See Numbers 26:5, &c, The daughters mentioned
seem to have been daughters-in-law. The whole number that went down into
Egypt were sixty-six, to which add Joseph and his two sons, who were there
before, and Jacob himself, the head of the family, and you have the number of
seventy. It was now two hundred and fifteen years since God had promised
Abraham to make of him a great nation, Genesis 41:2; and yet that branch of his
seed, on which the promise was entailed, was as yet increased but to seventy, of
which this particular account is kept, that the power of God in multiplying these
seventy to so vast a multitude, even in Egypt, may be more illustrious. When he
pleases, a little one shall become a thousand.
COKE, "Genesis 46:7. His daughters— As he had only one daughter, we must
suppose that his daughters-in-law are here meant; see ch. Genesis 37:35. Bishop
Warburton, according to his usual manner, observes, that "the promise God had
made to Abraham, to give his posterity the land of Canaan, could not be
performed till that family was grown strong enough to take and keep possession
of it. In the mean time, therefore, they were necessitated to reside among
idolaters, and to reside unmixed: but whoever examines their history will see
that the Israelites ever had a violent propensity to join themselves to Gentile
35

nations, and to practise their manners. God, therefore, in his infinite wisdom,
brought them into AEgypt, and kept them there during this period, the only
place where they could remain for so long a time safe, and unconfounded with
the natives; the ancient AEgyptians being, by numerous institutions, forbidden
all fellowship with strangers, and bearing, besides, a particular aversion to the
profession of the Israelites, who were shepherds. Thus the natural dispositions of
the Israelites, which in AEgypt occasioned their superstitions, and in
consequence the necessity of a burdensome ritual, would, in any other country,
have absorbed them into Gentilism, and confounded them with idolaters. From
the Israelites going into AEgypt, arises a new occasion to adore the footsteps of
Eternal Wisdom, in his dispensations to his chosen people." Divine Legation, vol.
3: p. 415.
8 These are the names of the sons of Israel
(Jacob and his descendants) who went to Egypt:
Reuben the firstborn of Jacob.
BARNES, "Verse 8-27
The list given here of the family of Jacob as it came down into Egypt is not to be
identified with a list of their descendants two hundred and fifty years after, contained
in Num. 26, or with another list constructed after the captivity, and referring to
certain of their descendants in and after the times of the monarchy. Nor is this the
place to mark out or investigate the grounds of the diversities from the present which
these later lists exhibit. Our proper business here is to examine into the nature and
import of this ancient and original list of the family of Jacob. It purports to be a list
of the names of the sons of Israel, “who went into Mizraim.” This phrase implies that
the sons of Israel actually went down into Egypt; and this is accordingly historically
true of all his immediate sons, Joseph having gone thither about twenty-two years
before the others. And the word “sons” is to be understood here in its strict sense, as
we find it in the immediate context Gen_46:7 distinguished from sons’ sons and
other descendants.
“Jacob and his sons.” From this expression we perceive the progenitor is to be
36

included with the sons among those who descended to Egypt. This also is historically
exact. For the sake of clearness it is proper here to state the approximate ages of
these heads of Israel at the time of the descent. Jacob himself was 130 years of age
Gen_47:9. Joseph was in his thirtieth year when he stood before Pharaoh to interpret
his dreams and receive his commission as governor-general of Egypt, Gen_41:46. At
the end of the second year of the famine nine full years were added to his life. He was
therefore, we may suppose, 39 years old when Jacob arrived in Egypt, and born when
his father was 91. As we conceive that he was born in the fifteenth year of Jacob’s
sojourn in Padan-aram, and Reuben in the eighth, we infer that Reuben was at the
time of the descent into Egypt seven years older than Joseph, or 46, Simon 45, Levi
44, Judah 43, Dan about 43, Naphtali about 42, Gad about 42, Asher about 41,
Issakar about 41, Zebulun about 40, Dinah about 39, Benjamin about 26. “Jacob’s
first-born Reuben.” This refers to the order of nature, without implying that the
rights of first-birth were to be secured to Reuben 1Ch_5:1-2.
CLARKE, "These are the names of the children of Israel - It may be
necessary to observe here, First, that several of these names are expressed differently
elsewhere, Jemuel for Nemuel, Jachin for Jarib, Gershon for Gershom, etc.; compare
Num_26:12; 1Ch_4:24. But it is no uncommon case for the same person to have
different names, or the same name to be differently pronounced; See Clarke on Gen_
25:18 (note). Secondly, that it is probable that some names in this list are brought in
by prolepsis or anticipation, as the persons were born (probably) during the
seventeen years which Jacob sojourned in Egypt, see Gen_46:12. Thirdly, that the
families of some are entered more at large than others because of their peculiar
respectability, as in the case of Judah, Joseph, and Benjamin; but see the tables
under Gen_46:20.
GILL, "And these are the names of the children of Israel which came into
Egypt,.... Not meaning precisely Jacob's seed and offspring, but the body of the
people of Israel, as they were when they went into Egypt, including Jacob himself:
Jacob and his sons; for he went with them to Egypt, and was the head and
principal of them:
Reuben, Jacob's firstborn; see Gen_29:32.
JAMISON 8-27, "all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into
Egypt, were threescore and ten — Strictly speaking, there were only sixty-six
went to Egypt; but to these add Joseph and his two sons, and Jacob the head of the
clan, and the whole number amounts to seventy. In the speech of Stephen (Act_7:14)
the number is stated to be seventy-five; but as that estimate includes five sons of
Ephraim and Manasseh (1Ch_7:14-20), born in Egypt, the two accounts coincide.
K&D 8-27, "The size of Jacob's family, which was to grow into a great nation, is
given here, with evident allusion to the fulfilment of the divine promise with which
he went into Egypt. The list of names includes not merely the “sons of Israel” in the
stricter sense; but, as is added immediately afterwards, “Jacob and his sons,” or, as
the closing formula expresses it (Gen_46:27), “all the souls of the house of Jacob,
37

who came into Egypt” (‫ה‬ፎ ָ ַ‫ה‬ for ‫ה‬ፎ ָ ‫ר‬ ֶ‫שׁ‬ ֲ‫,א‬ Ges. §109), including the patriarch himself,
and Joseph with his two sons, who were born before Jacob's arrival in Egypt. If we
reckon these, the house of Jacob consisted of 70 souls; and apart from these, of 66,
besides his sons' wives. The sons are arranged according to the four mothers. Of
Leah there are given 6 sons, 23 grandsons, 2 great-grandsons (sons of Pharez,
whereas Er and Onan, the sons of Judah who died in Canaan, are not reckoned), and
1 daughter, Dinah, who remained unmarried, and was therefore an independent
member of the house of Jacob; in all, therefore, 6 + 23 + 2 + 1 = 32, or with Jacob, 33
souls. Of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid, there are mentioned 2 sons, 11 grandsons, 2
great-grandsons, and 1 daughter (who is reckoned like Dinah, both here and Num_
26:46, for some special reason, which is not particularly described); in all, 2 + 11 + 2
+ 1 = 16 souls. Of Rachel, “Jacob's (favourite) wife,” 2 sons and 12 grandsons are
named, of whom, according to Num_26:40, two were great-grandsons, = 14 souls;
and of Rachel's maid Bilhah, 2 sons and 5 grandsons = 7 souls. The whole number
therefore was 33 + 16 + 14 + 7 = 70.
(Note: Instead of the number 70 given here, Exo_1:5, and Deu_10:22, Stephen
speaks of 75 (Act_7:14), according to the lxx, which has the number 75 both here
and Exo_1:5, on account of the words which follow the names of Manasseh and
Ephraim in Gen_46:20 : ᅚγένοντο δᆯ οᅷοᆳ Μανασσᇿ, οཋς ᅞτεκεν αᆒτሬ ᅧ παλλακᇿ ᅧ
Σύρα, τοᆷ Μαχίρ· Μαχᆳρ δᆯ ᅚγέννησε τᆵν Γαλαάδ, υίοᆳ δᆯ ᅠφραιʷ́µ ᅊδελφοሞ Μανασσᇿ.
Σουταλαᆭµ καᆳ Ταάµ. υίοᆳ δᆯ Σουταλαάµ. ᅠδώµ: and which are interpolated by
conjecture from Gen_1:23, and Num_26:29, Num_26:35, and Num_26:36 (33, 39, and
40), these three grandsons and two great-grandsons of Joseph being reckoned in.)
The wives of Jacob's sons are neither mentioned by name nor reckoned, because
the families of Israel were not founded by them, but by their husbands alone. Nor is
their parentage given either here or anywhere else. It is merely casually that one of
the sons of Simeon is called the son of a Canaanitish woman (Gen_46:10); from
which it may be inferred that it was quite an exceptional thing for the sons of Jacob
to take their wives from among the Canaanites, and that as a rule they were chosen
from their paternal relations in Mesopotamia; besides whom, there were also their
other relations, the families of Ishmael, Keturah, and Edom. Of the “daughters of
Jacob” also, and the “daughters of his sons,” none are mentioned except Dinah and
Serah the daughter of Asher, because they were not the founders of separate houses.
If we look more closely into the list itself, the first thing which strikes us is that
Pharez, one of the twin-sons of Judah, who were not born till after the sale of Joseph,
should already have had two sons. Supposing that Judah's marriage to the daughter
of Shuah the Canaanite occurred, notwithstanding the reasons advanced to the
contrary in Gen 38, before the sale of Joseph, and shortly after the return of Jacob to
Canaan, during the time of his sojourn at Shechem (Gen_33:18), it cannot have taken
place more than five, or at the most six, years before Joseph was sold; for Judah was
only three years older than Joseph, and was not more than 20 years old, therefore, at
the time of his sale. But even then there would not be more than 28 years between
Judah's marriage and Jacob's removal to Egypt; so that Pharez would only be about
11 years old, since he could not have been born till about 17 years after Judah's
marriage, and at that age he could not have had two sons. Judah, again, could not
have taken four sons with him into Egypt, since he had at the most only two sons a
year before their removal (Gen_42:37); unless indeed we adopt the extremely
improbable hypothesis, that two other sons were born within the space of 11 or 12
months, either as twins, or one after the other. Still less could Benjamin, who was
only 23 or 24 years old at the time (vid., pp. 200f. and 204f.), have had 10 sons
38

already, or, as Num_26:38-40 shows, eight sons and two grandsons. From all this it
necessarily follows, that in the list before us grandsons and great-grandsons of Jacob
are named who were born afterwards in Egypt, and who, therefore, according to a
view which we frequently meet with in the Old Testament, though strange to our
modes of thought, came into Egypt in lumbis patrum. That the list is really intended
to be so understood, is undoubtedly evident from a comparison of the “sons of Israel”
(Gen_46:8), whose names it gives, with the description given in Num 26 of the whole
community of the sons of Israel according to their fathers' houses, or their tribes and
families. In the account of the families of Israel at the time of Moses, which is given
there, we find, with slight deviations, all the grandsons and great-grandsons of Jacob
whose names occur in this chapter, mentioned as the founders of the families, into
which the twelve tribes of Israel were subdivided in Moses' days. The deviations are
partly in form, partly in substance. To the former belong the differences in particular
names, which are sometimes only different forms of the same name; e.g., Jemuel and
Zohar (Gen_46:10), for Nemuel and Zerah (Num_26:12-13); Ziphion and Arodi
(Gen_46:16), for Zephon and Arod (Num_26:15 and Num_26:17); Huppim (Gen_
46:21) for Hupham (Num_26:39); Ehi (Gen_46:21), an abbreviation of Ahiram
(Num_26:38); sometimes different names of the same person; viz., Ezbon (Gen_
46:16) and Ozni (Num_26:16); Muppim (Gen_46:21) and Shupham (Num_26:39);
Hushim (Gen_46:23) and Shuham (Num_26:42). Among the differences in
substance, the first to be noticed is the fact, that in Num 26 Simeon's son Ohad,
Asher's son Ishuah, and three of Benjamin's sons, Becher, Gera, and Rosh, are
missing from the founders of families, probably for no other reason than that they
either died childless, or did not leave a sufficient number of children to form
independent families. With the exception of these, according to Num 26, all the
grandsons and great-grandsons of Jacob mentioned in this chapter were founders of
families in existence in Moses' time. From this it is obvious that our list is intended to
contain, not merely the sons and grandsons of Jacob, who were already born when he
went down to Egypt, but in addition to the sons, who were the heads of the twelve
tribes of the nation, all the grandsons and great-grandsons who became the founders
of mishpachoth, i.e., of independent families, and who on that account took the place
or were advanced into the position of the grandsons of Jacob, so far as the national
organization was concerned.
On no other hypothesis can we explain the fact, that in the time of Moses there was
not one of the twelve tribes, except the double tribe of Joseph, in which there were
families existing, that had descended from either grandsons or great-grandsons of
Jacob who are not already mentioned in this list. As it is quite inconceivable that no
more sons should have been born to Jacob's sons after their removal into Egypt, so is
it equally inconceivable, that all the sons born in Egypt either died childless, or
founded no families. The rule by which the nation descending from the sons of Jacob
was divided into tribes and families (mishpachoth) according to the order of birth
was this, that as the twelve sons founded the twelve tribes, so their sons, i.e., Jacob's
grandsons, were the founders of the families into which the tribes were subdivided,
unless these grandsons died without leaving children, or did not leave a sufficient
number of male descendants to form independent families, or the natural rule for the
formation of tribes and families was set aside by other events or causes. On this
hypothesis we can also explain the other real differences between this list and Num
26; viz., the fact that, according to Num_26:40, two of the sons of Benjamin
mentioned in Gen_46:21, Naaman and Ard, were his grandsons, sons of Belah; and
also the circumstance, that in Gen_46:20 only the two sons of Joseph, who were
already born when Jacob arrived in Egypt, are mentioned, viz., Manasseh and
Ephraim, and none of the sons who were born to him afterwards (Gen_48:6). The
two grandsons of Benjamin could be reckoned among his sons in our list, because
39

Genesis 46 commentary

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