Genesis 46

¹ And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac. ² And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I. ³ And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation: ⁴ I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes. ⁵ And Jacob rose up from Beersheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. ⁶ And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him: ⁷ His sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt. ⁸ And these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn. ⁹ And the sons of Reuben; Hanoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi. ¹⁰ And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman. ¹¹ And the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ¹² And the sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharez, and Zarah: but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Pharez were Hezron and Hamul. ¹³ And the sons of Issachar; Tola, and Phuvah, and Job, and Shimron. ¹⁴ And the sons of Zebulun; Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel. ¹⁵ These be the sons of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob in Padanaram, with his daughter Dinah: all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty and three. ¹⁶ And the sons of Gad; Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli. ¹⁷ And the sons of Asher; Jimnah, and Ishuah, and Isui, and Beriah, and Serah their sister: and the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel. ¹⁸ These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bare unto Jacob, even sixteen souls. ¹⁹ The sons of Rachel Jacob’s wife; Joseph, and Benjamin. ²⁰ And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him. ²¹ And the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard. ²² These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen. ²³ And the sons of Dan; Hushim. ²⁴ And the sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem. ²⁵ These are the sons of Bilhah, which Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter, and she bare these unto Jacob: all the souls were seven. ²⁶ All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were threescore and six; ²⁷ And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten. ²⁸ And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. ²⁹ And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. ³⁰ And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive. ³¹ And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his father’s house, I will go up, and shew Pharaoh, and say unto him, My brethren, and my father’s house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me; ³² And the men are shepherds, for their trade hath been to feed cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have. ³³ And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation? ³⁴ That ye shall say, Thy servants’ trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

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Glossary

Beersheba Place v. 1, 5: Well of the oath, or well of seven, a well dug by Abraham, and so named because he and Abimelech here entered into a compact ( Gen. 21:31 ). On re-opening it, Isaac gave it the same name ( Gen. 26:31-33 ). Modern identification: Tel Beer Sheva.
Egypt Place v. 1, 3-8, 20, 26-27: The land of the Nile and the pyramids, the oldest kingdom of which we have any record, holds a place of great significance in Scripture. Modern identification: Ain Shams.
Isaac Person v. 1: Laughter. (1) Israel, or the kingdom of the ten tribes ( Amos 7:9 , 16). (2. ) The only son of Abraham by Sarah. He was the longest lived of the three patriarchs ( Gen. 21:1-3 ).
Canaan Place v. 6, 12, 31: Biblical region. Modern identification: Canaan.
Reuben Person v. 8-9: Behold a son!, the eldest son of Jacob and Leah ( Gen. 29:32 ). His sinful conduct, referred to in Gen. 35:22 , brought down upon him his dying father’s malediction (48:4).
Carmi Person v. 9: Vine-dresser. (1. ) The last named of the four sons of Reuben ( Gen. 46:9 ). (2. ) A descendant of Judah ( 1 Chr. 4:1 ). He is elsewhere (2:18) called Caleb (q. v. ). (3. ) The son of Zimri, and the father of Achan.
Phallu Person v. 9: Separated, the second son of Reuben ( Gen. 46:9 ).
Jachin Person v. 10: Firm. (1. ) The fourth son of Simeon ( Gen. 46:10 ), called also Jarib ( 1 Chr. 4:24 ). (2. ) The head of one of the courses (the twenty-first) of priests ( 1 Chr. 24:17 ).
Ohad Person v. 10: United, or power, the third son of Simeon ( Gen. 46:10 ).
Simeon Person v. 10: Hearing. (1. ) The second son of Jacob by Leah ( Gen. 29:33 ). He was associated with Levi in the terrible act of vengeance against Hamor and the Shechemites (34:25, 26).
Zohar Person v. 10: Brightness. (1. ) The father of Ephron the Hittite ( Gen. 23:8 ). (2. ) One of the sons of Simeon ( Gen. 46:10 ; Ex. 6:15 ).
Kohath Person v. 11: Assembly, the second son of Levi, and father of Amram ( Gen. 46:11 ). He came down to Egypt with Jacob, and lived to the age of one hundred and thirty-three years ( Ex. 6:18 ).
Levi Person v. 11: Adhesion. (1. ) The third son of Jacob by Leah. The origin of the name is found in Leah’s words ( Gen. 29:34 ).
Merari Person v. 11: Sad; bitter, the youngest son of Levi, born before the descent of Jacob into Egypt, and one of the seventy who accompanied him thither ( Gen. 46:11 ; Ex. 6:16 ).
Hamul Person v. 12: Spared, one of the sons of Pharez, son of Judah ( 1 Chr. 2:5 ). His descendants are called Hamulites ( Num. 26:21 ).
Shelah Person v. 12: Petition. (1. ) Judah’s third son ( Gen. 38:2 , 5, 11, 14). (2. ) A son of Arphaxad ( 1 Chr. 1:18 ).
Tola Person v. 13: A scarlet worm. (1. ) Eldest son of Issachar ( Gen. 46:13 ). (2. ) A judge of the tribe of Issachar who “judged” Israel twenty-three years ( Judg. 10:1 , 2), when he died, and was buried in Shamir. He was succeeded by Jair.
Zebulun Person v. 14: Dwelling, the sixth and youngest son of Jacob and Leah ( Gen. 30:20 ). Little is known of his personal history. He had three sons (46:14).
Dinah Person v. 15: Judged; vindicated, daughter of Jacob by Leah, and sister of Simeon and Levi ( Gen. 30:21 ). She was seduced by Shechem, the son of Hamor, the Hivite chief, when Jacob’s camp was in the neighbourhood of Shechem.
Leah Person v. 15, 18: Weary, the eldest daughter of Laban, and sister of Rachel ( Gen. 29:16 ). Jacob took her to wife through a deceit of her father ( Gen. 29:23 ). She was “tender-eyed” (17).
Paddan-aram Place v. 15: A plain, occurring only in Gen. 48:7 , where it designates Padan-aram. Modern identification: Harran.
Gad Person v. 16: Fortune; luck. (1. ) Jacob’s seventh son, by Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid, and the brother of Asher ( Gen. 30:11-13 ; 46:16 , 18). In the Authorized Version of 30:11 the words, “A troop cometh: and she called,” etc.
Beriah Person v. 17: A gift, or in evil. (1. ) One of Asher’s four sons, and father of Heber ( Gen. 46:17 ). (2. ) A son of Ephraim.
Heber Person v. 17: Passing over. (1. ) Son of Beriah and grandson of Asher ( Gen. 46:17 ; 1 Chr. 7:31 , 32). (2. ) The Kenite ( Judg. 4:11 , 17; 5:24), a descendant of Hobab. His wife Jael received Sisera.
Serah Person v. 17: Abundance; princess, the daughter of Asher and grand-daughter of Jacob ( Gen. 46:17 ); called also Sarah ( Num. 26:46 ; R. V., “Serah”).
Zilpah Person v. 18: Drooping, Leah’s handmaid, and the mother of Gad and Asher ( Gen. 30:9-13 ).
Benjamin Person v. 19, 21: Son of my right hand. (1. ) The younger son of Jacob by Rachel ( Gen. 35:18 ). His birth took place at Ephrath, on the road between Bethel and Bethlehem, at a short distance from the latter place.
Rachel Person v. 19, 22, 25: Ewe, “the daughter”, “the somewhat petulant, peevish, and self-willed though beautiful younger daughter” of Laban, and one of Jacob’s wives ( Gen. 29:6 , 28).
Asenath Person v. 20: An Egyptian name, meaning “gift of the sun-god”, daughter of Potipherah, priest of On or Heliopolis, wife of Joseph ( Gen. 41:45 ). She was the mother of Manasseh and Ephraim (50-52; 46:20).
Heliopolis Place v. 20: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Ain Shams.
Potipherah Person v. 20: A priest of On, whose daughter Asenath became Joseph’s wife ( Gen. 41:45 ).
Becher Tribe v. 21: First-born; a youth, the second son of Benjamin ( Gen. 46:21 ), who came down to Egypt with Jacob.
Gera Person v. 21: Grain. (1. ) The son of Bela and grandson of Benjamin ( 1 Chr. 8:3 , 5, 7). (2. ) The father of Ehud the judge ( Judg. 3:15 ). (3. ) The father of Shimei, who so grossly abused David ( 2 Sam. 16:5 ; 19:16 , 18).
Naphtali Person v. 24: My wrestling, the fifth son of Jacob. His mother was Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid ( Gen. 30:8 ). When Jacob went down into Egypt, Naphtali had four sons ( Gen. 46:24 ). Little is known of him as an individual.
Goshen Place v. 28-29, 34: (1. ) A district in Egypt where Jacob and his family settled, and in which they remained till the Exodus ( Gen. 45:10 ; 46:28 , 29, 31, etc. ). Modern identification: Qantir.