Text -- Genesis 46:1-23 (NET)

The Family of Jacob goes to Egypt

46:1 So Israel began his journey, taking with him all that he had. When he came to Beer Sheba he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 46:2 God spoke to Israel in a vision during the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob!” He replied, “Here I am!” 46:3 He said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. 46:4 I will go down with you to Egypt and I myself will certainly bring bring you back from there. Joseph will close your eyes.” 46:5 Then Jacob started out from Beer Sheba, and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little children, and their wives in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent along to transport him. 46:6 Jacob and all his descendants took their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and they went to Egypt. 46:7 He brought with him to Egypt his sons and grandsons, his daughters and granddaughters– all his descendants. 46:8 These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt– Jacob and his sons: Reuben, the firstborn of Jacob. 46:9 The sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 46:10 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul (the son of a Canaanite woman). 46:11 The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 46:12 The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. 46:13 The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron. 46:14 The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 46:15 These were the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram, along with Dinah his daughter. His sons and daughters numbered thirty-three in all. 46:16 The sons of Gad: Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. 46:17 The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and Serah their sister. The sons of Beriah were Heber and Malkiel. 46:18 These were the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter. She bore these to Jacob, sixteen in all. 46:19 The sons of Rachel the wife of Jacob: Joseph and Benjamin. 46:20 Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt. Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore them to him. 46:21 The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and Ard. 46:22 These were the sons of Rachel who were born to Jacob, fourteen in all. 46:23 The son of Dan: Hushim.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Gen 46:1

¹ tn Heb “and Israel journeyed, and all that was his.”

² sn Beer Sheba. See Gen 21:31; 28:10.

NET Notes: Gen 46:2

¹ tn Heb “in visions of the night.” The plural form has the singular meaning, probably as a plural of intensity.

NET Notes: Gen 46:3

¹ tn Heb “the God.”

NET Notes: Gen 46:4

¹ tn Heb “and I, I will bring you up, also bringing up.” The independent personal pronoun before the first person imperfect verbal form draws attention to the speaker/subject, while the infinitive absolute after the imperfect strongly emphasizes the statement: “I myself will certainly bring you up.”

² tn Heb “and Joseph will put his hand upon your eyes.” This is a promise of peaceful death in Egypt with Joseph present to close his eyes.

NET Notes: Gen 46:5

¹ tn Heb “arose.”

NET Notes: Gen 46:6

¹ tn Heb “and they took their livestock and their possessions which they had acquired in the land of Canaan and they went to Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

NET Notes: Gen 46:7

¹ tn The Hebrew text adds “with him” here. This is omitted in the translation because it is redundant in English style (note the same phrase earlier in the verse).

NET Notes: Gen 46:13

¹ tc The MT reads “Puvah” (cf. Num 26:23); the Samaritan Pentateuch and Syriac read “Puah” (cf. 1 Chr 7:1).

² tc The MT reads “Iob,” but the Samaritan Pentateuch and some LXX mss read “Jashub” (see Num 26:24; 1 Chr 7:1).

NET Notes: Gen 46:15

¹ tn Heb “all the lives of his sons and his daughters, thirty-three.”

NET Notes: Gen 46:16

¹ tc The MT reads “Ziphion,” but see Num 26:15, the Samaritan Pentateuch and the LXX, all of which read “Zephon.”

NET Notes: Gen 46:20

¹ sn On is another name for the city of Heliopolis.

NET Notes: Gen 46:21

¹ sn The sons of Benjamin. It is questionable whether youthful Benjamin had ten sons by the time he went into Egypt, but it is not impossible. If Benjamin was born when Joseph was six or seven, he was ten when Joseph was sold into Egypt, and would have been thirty-two at this point. Some suggest that the list originally served another purpose and included the names of all who were in the immediate family of the sons, whether born in Canaan or later in Egypt.

NET Notes: Gen 46:23

¹ tn This name appears as “Shuham” in Num 26:42. The LXX reads “Hashum” here.