Genesis 46:17-34

Context

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,¹ bore them to him.

46:21 The sons of Benjamin:²

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.³

46:24 The sons of Naphtali:

Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.

46:25 These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter. She bore these to Jacob, seven in all.

46:26 All the direct descendants of Jacob who went to Egypt with him were sixty-six in number. (This number does not include the wives of Jacob’s sons.)⁴ 46:27 Counting the two sons⁵ of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt, all the people of the household of Jacob who were in Egypt numbered seventy.⁶

46:28 Jacob⁷ sent Judah before him to Joseph to accompany him to Goshen.⁸ So they came to the land of Goshen. 46:29 Joseph harnessed his chariot and went up to meet his father Israel in Goshen. When he met him,⁹ he hugged his neck and wept on his neck for quite some time.

46:30 Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive.”¹⁰ 46:31 Then Joseph said to his brothers and his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh,¹¹ ‘My brothers and my father’s household who were in the land of Canaan have come to me. 46:32 The men are shepherds;¹² they take care of livestock.¹³ They have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ 46:33 Pharaoh will summon you and say, ‘What is your occupation?’ 46:34 Tell him, ‘Your servants have taken care of cattle¹⁴ from our youth until now, both we and our fathers,’ so that you may live in the land of Goshen,¹⁵ for everyone who takes care of sheep is disgusting¹⁶ to the Egyptians.”

[46:20] ¹sn On is another name for the city of Heliopolis.

[46:21] ²sn 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.

[46:23] ³tn This name appears as “Shuham” in Num 26:42. The LXX reads “Hashum” here.

[46:26] ⁴tn Heb “All the people who went with Jacob to Egypt, the ones who came out of his body, apart from the wives of the sons of Jacob, all the people were sixty-six.”

[46:27] ⁵tn The LXX reads “nine sons,” probably counting the grandsons of Joseph born to Ephraim and Manasseh (cf. 1 Chr 7:14-20).

[46:27] ⁶tn Heb “And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two people; all the people belonging to the house of Jacob who came to Egypt were seventy.”

[46:28] ⁷tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[46:28] ⁸tn Heb “to direct before him to Goshen.”

[46:29] ⁹tn Heb “and he appeared to him.”

[46:30] ¹⁰tn Heb “after my seeing your face that you are still alive.”

[46:31] ¹¹tn Heb “tell Pharaoh and say to him.”

[46:32] ¹²tn Heb “feeders of sheep.”

[46:32] ¹³tn Heb “for men of livestock they are.”

[46:34] ¹⁴tn Heb “your servants are men of cattle.”

[46:34] ¹⁵sn So that you may live in the land of Goshen. Joseph is apparently trying to stress to Pharaoh that his family is self-sufficient, that they will not be a drain on the economy of Egypt. But they will need land for their animals and so Goshen, located on the edge of Egypt, would be a suitable place for them to live. The settled Egyptians were uneasy with nomadic people, but if Jacob and his family settled in Goshen they would represent no threat.

[46:34] ¹⁶tn Heb “is an abomination.” The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “abomination”) describes something that is loathsome or off-limits. For other practices the Egyptians considered disgusting, see Gen 43:32 and Exod 8:22.