88 | Genesis 46:14
14
The sons of Zeb u lun: Se red, Elon and Jah le el.
15
These were the sons Leah bore to Ja cob in Pad dan Aram, a be sides his daugh ter Di nah. These sons and daugh ters of his were thir ty three in all.
16
The sons of Gad: Ze phon, b Hag gi, Shu ni, Ez bon, Eri, Ar o di and Are li.
17
The sons of Ash er: Im nah, Ish vah, Ish vi and Be ri ah. Their sis ter was Se rah. The sons of Be ri ah:
He ber and Mal ki el.
18
These were the chil dren born to Ja cob by Zil pah, whom La ban had giv en to his daugh ter Leah— six teen in all.
19
The sons of Ja cob’ s wife Ra chel: Jo seph and Ben ja min. 20 In Egypt, Ma nas seh and Ephra im were born to Jo seph by As e nath daugh ter of Po tiph era, priest of On. c
21
The sons of Ben ja min: Bela, Be ker, Ash bel, Gera, Na a man, Ehi, Rosh, Mup pim, Hup pim and Ard.
22
These were the sons of Ra chel who were born to Ja cob— four teen in all.
23
The son of Dan: Hu shim.
24
The sons of Naph ta li: Jah zi el, Guni, Je zer and Shil lem.
25
These were the sons born to Ja cob by Bil hah, whom La ban had giv en to his daugh ter Ra chel— sev en in all.
26
All those who went to Egypt with Ja cob— those who were his di rect de scen dants, not counting his sons’ wives— num bered six ty-six per sons.
27
With the two sons d who had been born to Jo seph in Egypt, the mem bers of Ja cob’ s fam i ly, which went to Egypt, were sev en ty e in all.
28
Now Ja cob sent Ju dah ahead of him to Jo seph to get di rec tions to Go shen. When they ar rived in the re gion of Go shen, 29 Jo seph had his char i ot made ready and went to Go shen to meet his fa ther Is ra el. As soon as Jo seph ap peared be fore him, he threw his arms around his fa ther f and wept for a long time.
30
Is ra el said to Jo seph,“ Now I am ready to die, since I have seen for my self that you are still alive.”
31
Then Jo seph said to his broth ers and to his fa ther’ s house hold,“ I will go up and speak to Phar aoh and will say to him,‘ My broth ers and my fa ther’ s house hold, who were liv ing in the land of Ca naan, have come to me. 32 The men are shep herds; they tend live stock, and they have brought along their flocks and herds and ev erything they own.’ 33 When Phar aoh calls you in and asks,‘ What is your oc cu pa tion?’ 34 you should answer,‘ Your ser vants have tend ed live stock from our boy hood on, just as our fa thers did.’ Then you will be al lowed to set tle in the re gion of Go shen, for all shep herds are de test able to the Egyp tians.”
47
Jo seph went and told Phar aoh,“ My fa ther and broth ers, with their flocks and herds and ev ery thing they own, have come from the land of Ca naan and are now in Go shen.” 2 He chose five of his broth ers and pre sent ed them be fore Phar aoh.
3
Phar aoh asked the broth ers,“ What is your oc cu pa tion?”
“ Your ser vants are shep herds,” they re plied to Phar aoh,“ just as our fa thers were.” 4 They also said to him,“ We have come to live here for a while, be cause the fam ine is se vere in Ca naan and your ser vants’ flocks have no pas ture. So now, please let your ser vants set tle in Go shen.”
5
Phar aoh said to Jo seph,“ Your fa ther and your broth ers have come to you, 6 and the land of Egypt is be fore you; set tle your fa ther and your broth ers
a
15 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia b
16 Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint( see also Num. 26:15); Masoretic Text Ziphion c
20 That is, Heliopolis d
27 Hebrew; Septuagint the nine children e
27 Hebrew( see also Exodus 1:5 and note); Septuagint( see also Acts 7:14) seventy-five f
29 Hebrew around him
46:26 sixty-six The total descendants of Israel( Jacob) given in v. 27 is 70. This can be explained by the figure 66 referring just to those who came to Egypt. Er and Onan did not come to Egypt but died in Canaan before the journey was made( 38:1 – 10). Joseph’ s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, were born in Egypt and could also be subtracted. The figure 66 could also involve adding Dinah and subtracting Joseph. 46:27 seventy This figure may be arrived at by counting the people listed in this genealogy and then adding Joseph, his two sons, and Jacob or Dinah. Compare note on 46:26.
46:28 – 34 Jacob and Joseph are finally reunited after the nearly two decades since Joseph was sold into slavery. After spending time with his father, Joseph prepares the family for their audience with Pharaoh. He tells them what to say to ensure that they are given Egypt’ s fertile pastureland to the north.
46:34 detestable to the Egyptians It is unclear why shepherds were held in low social esteem by the Egyptians. The Egyptians may have considered foreign herdsmen competition for resources, which may reflect a general disdain for foreigners from Canaan— called“ Asiatics” in Egyptian texts( compare 43:32 and note).
47:1 – 12 The first part of this chapter focuses on the meeting of Joseph’ s family’ s with Pharaoh. Pharaoh meets first with a representative group of Joseph’ s brothers and gives them the pasturelands of Goshen( vv. 1 – 6). Then Pharaoh meets Jacob, and Jacob blesses him( vv. 7 – 10). The section ends by noting the gracious and benevolent way in which Joseph provides for his family( vv. 11 – 12), which contrasts sharply with the section that follows( vv. 13 – 31).
47:1 Goshen See note on 45:10. 47:6 in charge of my own livestock The offer to oversee the king’ s cattle would result in an elevated status for the foreigners, with all the associated legal advantages.