Genesis 46 - Relocation Location

 

Israel (Jacob) started the journey with all that he had. When he got to Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. God spoke to him in night visions and called him by name saying, "Jacob, Jacob!" Jacob answered, "Here I am." God told Jacob not to be afraid to go down to Egypt. He (God) promised to make him a great nation there. God is repeating the initial promise he made to Abraham, Jacob's grandfather. Is there a promise that God has made to you that He keeps repeating and you're just waiting for it to come to fruition? God promised to go with Jacob down to Egypt and to bring him up again and that Joseph would put his hand on Jacob's eyes. As we journey on, we will learn that Jacob was not buried in Egpyt. However, most googled commentaries also say that God is talking about Jacob's posterity. So, in fact, they are leaving The Promised Land (Canaan) and going to Egypt. Have you ever possessed God's promise to you, but had to "leave" it for a while or almost sacrifice it like Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac (the promised son)? As far as Joseph putting his hand on Jacob's eyes, the commentaries state that it was the custom in Egypt for a close relative to close the eyes of a deceased loved one. Jacob left Beersheba with his sons who carried him, their wives and children in the carts that Pharaoh sent. They also had all of their livestock and goods they acquired in Canaan and went to Egypt. All of Jacob's descendants made the trip to Egypt. Chapter 46 gives the breakdown of all who went to Egypt from his oldest son, Reuben, to his youngest son, Benjamin, and all of their children. Verse 26 states there were 66 people, from Jacob's body, who went to Egypt with Jacob. However, the math equals 67 people. As for the initial number of people blood related to Jacob in Egypt, the number is 70 which includes Joseph and his two sons. Also, keep in mind that there were wives of his sons that traveled to Egypt. Below is an excerpt from BibleWise that breaks down the number of people based on the scripture. It also addresses the significance of the number seven.

Source: BibleWise - The list of people is formulated in relation to the wives and concubines. It begins with the children of Leah, then her handmaid, Zilpah. This is followed by the sons of Rachel and her handmaid, Bilhah. Altogether Leah’s descendants number 33. Names are given to the four sons of Reuben, the six sons of Simeon, the three sons of Levi, the five sons of Judah and so on. And then there's the daughter, Dinah. Zilpah’s descendants number 16. Rachel’s descendants number 14. And Bilhah’s descendants number 7. The total of all these descendants is 70. Scholars have long pointed out the prominence of the number seven and its multiples among these lists.

The total number of children belonging to Leah and Zilpah is 49 – seven times seven. Rachel and Bilhah have 21 – three times seven. One might say that this is the number of Jacob’s descendants from his loins. If seven and its multiples indicate completeness, Jacob’s family is “complete.” However, scholars recognize that some machinations of the numbers are required to achieve this finality. The text states that 66 migrated to Egypt. Obviously, Joseph and his two sons are not included in the list because they are already in Egypt. That brings the number to 67. Various strategies are used to get it down one more. Some exclude Dinah or Jacob himself. Source: BibleWise (https://www.biblewise.com).

For the "scholars" who want to justify the number sixty-six, how can they exclude Dinah when she is included on the list in the Bible (Verse 15)? So, there were seventy descendants of Jacob's blood relatives in Egypt. Yes, Jacob is in his family of course, but he cannot be his own descendant. I think that this could have simply been a copyist's error and/or miscalculation.

Jacob sent Judah ahead of them to Joseph so that he could show them the way to Goshen (the relocation location in Egypt). Joseph got his chariot ready and went to Goshen to see his father. He presented himself to Israel (Jacob), embraced him and cried for a good while. Jacob said to Joseph, "Now let me die, since I have seen your face, because you are still alive." Joseph told his family that he would go tell Pharaoh that those of his father's house have arrived. Joseph would let Pharaoh know they are shepherds who have attended livestock all their lives. Joseph told his family to tell Pharaoh that they were shepherds if he asked about their occupation. This would allow them to dwell in Goshen with no problems because shepherds were detested by the Egyptians.

The next stop is Genesis 47.

To God Be The Glory!

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