Genesis 46 - Outline of Genesis (Book Notes menu page)

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.
46:2 And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob.
And he said, Here [am] I.
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: {cp. Ex 1:7}
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.
46:5 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.
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:
46:7 His sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters,
and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.
  Israel... came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.
    Beersheba, in the southern extreme of Canaan, marked the point of leaving the promised land and entering into Egyptian territory.
  Fear not to go down into Egypt.-
    ''This showed that Jacob did fear to go down. Love for Joseph prompted him to go, but love for God made him hesitate; for God had forbidden his fathers to go {eg. Gen 26:1-4}. He, therefore, at Beersheba, sought for guidance and got it. This anxiety, not to be misled by natural affection, evidenced spiritual growth.'' [GWms] v.1-4
  At his first departure from Canaan, Jacob had not been seeking God, but God had sought him.
    On more than one occasion, God spoke to Jacob 'in the visions of the night':
    - God called Jacob at Bethel, as he was en-route to Haran. 28:10-15
    In Haran, he was a man of God, striving according to the flesh. cp. 1Cor 3:3
  - God called Jacob back to Canaan. Gen 31:3,11
      In Canaan, he was a man of God, struggling in his own strength. cp. Rom 7:21-24
  - God directed Jacob to Egypt. v.2-4
      In Egypt, he was a man of God, walking by faith. cp. Rom 8:1-4
    I will go down with thee... I will surely bring thee up...-
      God would fulfill His promise that Israel would possess the land of Canaan. cp. Gen 12:7
      God would ensure that Jacob himself returned to the promised land. cp. 47:29-31; 50:13
    Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.-
      ie., Joseph would close Jacob's eyes in peace, at the time of his death. cp. 49:33- 50:1
46:8 And these [are] the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt,
Jacob and his sons:
Reuben, Jacob's firstborn.
46:9 And the sons of Reuben;
Hanoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.
46:10 And the sons of Simeon;
Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar,
and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman.
46:11 And the sons of Levi;
Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
46:12 And the sons of Judah;
Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharez, and Zerah:
but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan.
And the sons of Pharez were Hezron and Hamul.
46:13 And the sons of Issachar;
Tola, and Phuvah, and Job, and Shimron.
46:14 And the sons of Zebulun;
Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.
46:15 These [be] the sons of Leah,
which she bare unto Jacob in Padanaram, with his daughter Dinah:
all the souls of his sons and his daughters [were] thirty and three.
46:16 And the sons of Gad;
Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli.
46:17 And the sons of Asher;
Jimnah, and Ishuah, and Isui, and Beriah, and Serah their sister:
and the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel.
46:18 These [are] the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter,
and these she bare unto Jacob, [even] sixteen souls.
46:19 The sons of Rachel Jacob's wife; Joseph, and Benjamin.
46:20 And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim,
which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.
46:21 And the sons of Benjamin [were] Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel,
Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard.
46:22 These [are] the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls [were] fourteen.
46:23 And the sons of Dan; Hushim.
46:24 And the sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.
46:25 These [are] the sons of Bilhah, which Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter,
and she bare these unto Jacob: all the souls [were] seven.
46:26 All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins,
besides Jacob's sons' wives, all the souls [were] threescore and six;
46:27 And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, [were] two souls:
all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, [were] threescore and ten.
  all the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt- numbered 66.
  all the souls of the house of Jacob in Egypt- numbered 70. This total includes
    Joseph, plus his two sons, plus Jacob himself. 4 + 66 = 70 [ScofRB]
    Notes:
    1. Acts 7:14 reports 'all of Jacob's kindred' as 75 persons. ''This number follows the Septuagint (Greek translation of the OT) which arrived at 75 by including the son and grandson of Manasseh and two sons and a grandson of Ephraim.'' [Ryrie S.B.]
    2. The numbers reported in the text (v.26,27) included only the named individuals. The entire clan was more numerous, because it included (unnamed) wives, daughters and 'little ones' (grand-children). v.5-7,26
  The genealogy of Jacob is important because:
  - it traces part of the line to the Messiah. cp. v.12; Mat 1:1-3
  - it reminds us that ''the Lord knoweth them that are His'' (2Tim 2:19).
    While no humanly compiled list is complete, God's family includes sons and daughters who are unknown by name to you and me.
    Jacob never made your acquaintance; your name never entered his mind.
    But is your name in the registry of those destined for the heavenly city? Heb 11:8-10,16; Rev 21:27
46:28 And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen;
and they came into the land of Goshen.
46:29 And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen,
and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.
46:30 And Israel said unto Joseph,
Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou [art] yet alive.
46:31 And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his father's house,
I will go up, and shew Pharaoh, and say unto him,
My brethren, and my father's house, which [were] in the land of Canaan, are come unto me;
46:32 And the men [are] shepherds, for their trade hath been to feed cattle;
and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.
46:33 And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say,
What [is] your occupation?
46:34 That ye shall say, Thy servants' trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now,
both we, [and] also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen;
for every shepherd [is] an abomination unto the Egyptians.
  the land of Goshen - a region in northern Egypt, east of the lower Nile,
    between the river Nile and Lake Timsah. The region was fertile and irrigated by a canal from the Nile.
    While Goshen was a temporary refuge from the famine, it was far from the land of promise, and would soon become a place of imprisonment and slavery. Gen 15:13,14; Ex 1:8-11
  Joseph's attempt at 'political correctness' (v.33,34) seems to have had little effect (Gen 47:3).
    Nevertheless, Pharaoh employed some of them at raising his cattle (47:6).
    'Shepherds' is translated from two HB words. The literal meaning is ''tenders {feeders, followers} of flocks.'' Joseph's recommended designation for their occupation was ''cattle men.''

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