94 | Genesis 45:16
REGION OF GOSHEN |
16 When the news reached Pharaoh’ s palace that Joseph’ s brothers |
Tell ed-Dab ' a( Avaris) |
Zoan |
had come, o Phar aoh and all his of fi cials were pleased. 17 Phar aoh said to Jo seph,“ Tell your brothers,‘ Do this: Load your an i mals and re turn to the land of Ca naan, 18 and bring your fa ther and your fam i lies back to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt p and you can en joy the fat of the land.’ q
19“ You are also di rected to tell them,‘ Do this: Take some carts r from Egypt for your chil dren and
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GOSHEN |
your wives, and get your fa ther |
and come. 20 Never mind about |
Pithom |
your be long ings, be cause the best |
of all Egypt will be yours.’” |
21 So the sons of Is rael did this. |
On( Heliopolis) |
Jo seph gave them carts, as Pharaoh |
Memphis |
had com manded, and he also |
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0
0
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40 km.
40 mi.
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gave them pro vi sions for their jour ney. s
22 To each of them he gave new cloth ing, but to Benja min he gave three hun dred shek els a of sil ver and five sets of clothes. t
23 And this is what he sent to his fa ther: ten don keys loaded
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with the best things of Egypt, and ten fe male don keys loaded with grain and bread and |
other pro vi sions for his jour ney. 24 Then he sent his broth ers away, and as they were leaving |
he said to them,“ Don’ t quar rel on the way!” u |
25 So they went up out of Egypt and came to their fa ther Ja cob in the land of Ca naan. 26 They |
told him,“ Jo seph is still alive! In fact, he is ruler of all Egypt.” Ja cob was stunned; he did not |
believe them. v 27 But when they told him ev ery thing Jo seph had said to them, and when he |
saw the carts w Jo seph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their fa ther Ja cob re vived. 28 And |
Is rael said,“ I’ m con vinced! My son Jo seph is still alive. I will go and see him be fore I die.” |
M e
D e d i t e r l t a R e g r a n i o n e a n S
Wadi Tumilat e a
45:16 o Ac 7:13
45:18 p Ge 27:28; 46:34; 47:6, 11, 27; Nu 18:12, 29 q Ps 37:19
45:19 r Ge 46:5 45:21 s Ge 42:25 45:22 t Ge 37:3; 43:34 45:24 u Ge 42:21‐22 45:26 v Ge 44:28 45:27 w ver 19
46:1 x Ge 21:14; 28:10 y Ge 26:24; 28:13;
31:42
46:2 z Ge 15:1; Job 33:14-15 a Ge 22:1; 31:11
46:3 b Ge 28:13 c Ge 12:2; Dt 26:5
d Ex 1:7
46:4 e Ge 28:15; 48:21; Ex 3:8 f Ge 50:1, 24
Jacob Goes to Egypt
46 So Is rael set out with all that was his, and when he reached Be er sheba, x he of fered
sac ri fices to the God of his fa ther Isaac. y 2 And God spoke to Is rael in a vi sion at night z and said,“ Jacob! Jacob!”“ Here I am,” a he replied. 3“ I am God, the God of your fa ther,” b he said.“ Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for
I will make you into a great na tion c there. d
4 I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. e And Jo seph’ s own hand will close your eyes. f” 5 Then Ja cob left Be er sheba, and Is ra el’ s sons took their fa ther Ja cob and their chil dren
a 22 That is, about 7 1 / 2 pounds or about 3.5 kilograms
45:16 – 20 Phar aoh’ s reaction to the news that Joseph’ s brothers had come reflects Joseph’ s good standing with him. 45:21 – 23 Having arrived in Egypt as a slave, Joseph has become exceptionally wealthy. 45:22 three hundred shekels of silver and five sets of clothes. Whereas he was sold as a slave for 20 shekels( 37:28), Joseph generously gives his younger brother Benjamin gifts of considerable value. 45:25 – 28 Jacob responds with incredulity, since his sons had deceived him 20 years earlier by telling him that Joseph was dead( 37:31 – 35).
46:1— 47:12 Jacob Goes to Egypt. The account of Jacob’ s journey to Egypt has four parts:( 1) At Beersheba God permits Jacob to relocate to Egypt( vv. 1 – 7).( 2) A list of the names of those who went to Egypt( vv. 8 – 27).( 3) Jacob encounters Joseph( vv. 28 – 30).( 4) Joseph prepares the way for his father to meet Phar aoh, conscious of the Egyptians’ strong antipathy toward shepherds( 46:31— 47:12). 46:1 Possibly leaving from Hebron( see 37:14), Jacob travels southward. Beersheba. Where previously both Abraham and Isaac settled for some time( 21:22 – 34; 26:23 – 33). 46:2 – 4 Through a nighttime vision, God authorizes Jacob to go to Egypt. This contrasts with a previous occasion when God prohibited Jacob’ s father, Isaac, from going to Egypt during a famine( 26:1 – 5). Remarkably, it will be in Egypt that God transforms Abraham’ s descendants into a great nation, fulfilling his promise to Abraham( 12:2). Later, in the book of Exodus, the remarkable growth of the Israelites eventually leads to their expulsion from Egypt and return to the land of Canaan. Through this entire process, God promises to be with Jacob. 46:4 I will surely bring you back again. The“ you” is singular and refers to Jacob. While Jacob subsequently dies in Egypt( 49:33), Joseph arranges to bury Jacob in Canaan alongside Abraham and Isaac( 50:4 – 13). Burying the patriarchs at Hebron reflects God’ s commitment to give the land of Canaan to their descendants. Although the fulfillment of God’ s promises lies well beyond their lifetime, the patriarchs anticipated an ongoing relationship with God even after death( Heb 11:12 – 16,39). In the future they would share in the results of God’ s redemptive work in the world. 46:5 – 7 Jacob’ s entire family, with all their possessions, relocates to Egypt, a journey of