(Gen 46:1 NASB) So Israel set out with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
Gen 46:1: Beersheba has been a significant place in Genesis thus far. It is the place where Abraham and Abimelech swore an oath and where Isaac and Abimelech made an oath. Jacob and Esau met there also.
Israel now offers sacrifices there. Apparently this is the place where Elohim designated Israel to do this.
(Gen 46:2 NASB) And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.”
(Gen 46:3 NASB) And He said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there.
(Gen 46:4 NASB) “I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will close your eyes.”
Gen 46:4: Elohim came to Israel in a vision and told him to go down to Egypt. It is there that He will make a great nation of him. Elohim states that He will be with him.
It is there that Jacob will die and Joseph will be by his side when he dies and will close his eyes.
(Gen 46:5 NASB) Then Jacob arose from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob and their little ones and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
(Gen 46:6 NASB) And they took their livestock and their property, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and came to Egypt, Jacob and all his descendants with him:
(Gen 46:7 NASB) his sons and his grandsons with him, his daughters and his granddaughters, and all his descendants he brought with him to Egypt.
Gen 46:7: It probably wasn’t until the vision that Jacob agreed to relocate to Egypt. Then the whole family made the trip.
(Gen 46:8 NASB) Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, Jacob and his sons, who went to Egypt: Reuben, Jacob’s first-born.
(Gen 46:9 NASB) And the sons of Reuben: Hanoch and Pallu and Hezron and Carmi.
(Gen 46:10 NASB) And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel and Jamin and Ohad and Jachin and Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman.
(Gen 46:11 NASB) And the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
Gen 46:11: The sons and their descendants are listed according to their mothers.
(Gen 46:12 NASB) And the sons of Judah: Er and Onan and Shelah and Perez and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). And the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
(Gen 46:13 NASB) And the sons of Issachar: Tola and Puvvah and Iob and Shimron.
(Gen 46:14 NASB) And the sons of Zebulun: Sered and Elon and Jahleel.
(Gen 46:15 NASB) These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, with his daughter Dinah; all his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three.
Gen 46:15: These are the sons of Leah. The entire number of the clan that came from her is 33.
(Gen 46:16 NASB) And the sons of Gad: Ziphion and Haggi, Shuni and Ezbon, Eri and Arodi and Areli.
(Gen 46:17 NASB) And the sons of Asher: Imnah and Ishvah and Ishvi and Beriah and their sister Serah. And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel.
(Gen 46:18 NASB) These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah; and she bore to Jacob these sixteen persons.
Gen 46:18: The clan from Zilpah numbered sixteen.
(Gen 46:19 NASB) The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
(Gen 46:20 NASB) Now to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him.
(Gen 46:21 NASB) And the sons of Benjamin: Bela and Becher and Ashbel, Gera and Naaman, Ehi and Rosh, Muppim and Huppim and Ard.
(Gen 46:22 NASB) These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob; there were fourteen persons in all.
Gen 46:22: From the clan of Rachel, fourteen.
(Gen 46:23 NASB) And the sons of Dan: Hushim.
(Gen 46:24 NASB) And the sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel and Guni and Jezer and Shillem.
(Gen 46:25 NASB) These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel, and she bore these to Jacob; there were seven persons in all.
Gen 46:25: From Bilhah, there were seven.
(Gen 46:26 NASB) All the persons belonging to Jacob, who came to Egypt, his direct descendants, not including the wives of Jacob’s sons, were sixty-six persons in all,
(Gen 46:27 NASB) and the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt were two; all the persons of the house of Jacob, who came to Egypt, were seventy.
Gen 46:27: There were sixty-six people that came from the body of Jacob, plus the wives of the sons of Jacob. If you add in Jacob, Joseph, and Joseph’s two sons, that makes seventy.
(Gen 46:28 NASB) Now he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to point out the way before him to Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.
(Gen 46:29 NASB) And Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; as soon as he appeared before him, he fell on his neck and wept on his neck a long time.
Gen 46:29: Jacob sent Judah ahead so that Joseph could meet them part of the way. Joseph wept on his neck for a long time.
(Gen 46:30 NASB) Then Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.”
(Gen 46:31 NASB) And Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me;
(Gen 46:32 NASB) and the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock; and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’
Gen 46:32: This is a tender moment in the book of Genesis. Jacob is so happy that he is ready to die.
Joseph now gives them instructions on what to say to Pharaoh. Pharaoh was probably ready to give them places in his palace and Joseph did not want them to insult Pharaoh.
(Gen 46:33 NASB) “And it shall come about when Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’
(Gen 46:34 NASB) that you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ that you may live in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is loathsome to the Egyptians.”
Gen 46:34: The Nile delta was cattle country. Goshen was in the eastern delta region. Joseph wants them to mention their shepherding, but emphasize that they raise cattle. The land of Goshen would be perfect for them since they would be able to stay culturally and spiritually separated from the pagan Egyptians.
Patrick McGuire
Copyright 2014 Patrick McGuire and Beit Yeshua Torah Assembly All rights reserved, no portion of this Lesson may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations in articles and reviews. Beit Yeshua Torah Assembly Fort Smith, Arkansas