Genesis 46

AND Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices Both in thankfulness to God for former favours, and especially for Iosephs preservation and happiness; and by way of supplication to God for his direction in this great case, whether he might leave the promised land of Canaan and go into the idolatrous and impious land of Egypt; and for his protection and blessing as well in his journey as in Egypt. unto the God of his father Isaac Whom Isaac honoured and served, and who had constantly protected and provided for Isaac and confirmed his covenant with him. He mentions Isaac rather than Abraham, partly for Isaacs honour, to show that though Isaac was much inferiour to Abraham in gifts and graces, yet God was no less Isaacs than Abrahams God, and therefore would be his God also notwithstanding his unworthiness: and partly for his own comfort, because Isaac was Iacobs immediate Parent and had transferred the blessing of the Covenant from Esau to Iacob, and the validity of that translation depended upon Isaacs interest in God..

And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night (i. e.) In that way or manner of visions which God affordeth to men by night and in their sleep. See Gen 20. 3. Iob 33. 15, 16. Mat. 1. 20. and 2. 13, 19. Act. 16 9. and 18. 9, &c., and said, Jacob, Jacob He doubles the name both in token of his friendship and familiarity with him and to raise Iacobs attention. Compare Gen. 22, 11. 1 Sam. 3. 10.: And he said, here am I.

And he said, I am God, the God of thy father, fear not For here were many causes of fear; lest he should do evil in forsaking the promised and blessed land, and going to a place which had been incommodious to his grandfather, Gen. 12. 15. and forbidden to his father. Gen. 26. 2. lest he should expose his children to manifold perils, as, of being infected with the vices and particularly the Idolatry which reigned there above all other countries, and of being inveagled by the pleasantness and eminent fruitfulness of that soil to give up themselves to all manner of pleasures and to settle themselves there and give over all thoughts of returning to Canaan; and of being brought into that grievous bondage and affliction which was spoken of Gen. 15. 13. and lest some mischief should befal him or his in so long and dangerous a journey. to go down into Egypt: for I will there make of thee a great nation.

I will go down with thee into Egypt, and I will also surely bring thee up again Though not in thy person, yet in thy body, Gen. 47. 29, 30. and 50. 5, 13. and in thy posterity, which are a part of thy self, or thy self multiplyed.: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes Shall close thy eyes; which office was usually performed by the nearest and dearest relations of the dying party among the Iews, Greeks and Romans. Hereby Iacob is assured that he should die in peace, and that Ioseph both now was alive, and should survive his father..

And Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba: 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.

And they took their cattle, and their goods which they had gotten in the land of Canaan And in Mesopotamia. But Canaan only is here mentioned, because here they got the far greatest part of them, which by a Synecdoche is put for the whole., and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him.

His sons, and his sons sons with him, his daughters Either, his daughter, Dina..., the plural number for the singular, as ver. 23. Gen. 21. 7. Numb. 26. 8. or Dina... and her daughters; for grandchildren are commonly called their grandfathers children or sons or daughters: or his daughters in law, his sons wives., and his sons daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.

And these are the names of the children of Israel which came into Egypt This Genealogy is both here and elsewhere described exactly and particularly, as well to show the faithfulness of God in the performance of his promise concerning the vast multiplication of Abrahams seed, and that in so short a time; as to distinguish the tribes; which was of great importance and necessary for the disposal of the Kingdome and Priesthood and above all for the discovery of the true Messias. Compare this following catalogue with that Numb. 26. and 1 Chron. 6. and 7. and 8,, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacobs first born.

And the sons of Reuben, Hanoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.

And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad Who is not mentioned in those parallel places, because he was then dead and that without issue., and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman Which is here mentioned as a brand upon him, and as an intimation that the rest of them, except Iudah, married to persons of a better race..

And the sons of Levi, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

And the sons of Judah: Er, and Onan, and Shelah and Pharez, and Zerah, but Er, and Onan died in the land of Canaan And therefore are contained in the following number, ver. 15.. And the sons of Pharez were Hezron, and Hamul Who, though they seem to have been born in Egypt, yet are here set down amongst those who came into Egypt, because they came thither in their fathers loyns, as Levi is said to pay tithes in Abraham, Heb. 7. 9. And the children may as well be said to come thither in their Parents, as their father Iacob is said to return from thence, ver. 4. in his children. Obj. If this be the sense, why should these two be mentioned rather than the grandchildren of the other brethren, who came into Egypt in the same manner! Ans. This may be done either, 1. From some special excellency or eminency in them above the rest, as Hezron was eminent for being the progenitour of the Messiah, and Hamul might be so for some other cause though unknown to us. Or 2. Because they were the first grand-children that were born in Egypt, and it may be all that were born whilst Iacob lived there, and therefore are not unfitly named with Iacob and allotted to him, as Iosephs two eldest sons Ephraim and Manasseh were by Iacob appropriated to himself, and reckoned as his immediate sons, when all the rest of Iosephs sons were excluded from that priviledge, Gen. 48. 5, 6. And the like may be said of the other two Grandchildren mentioned ver. 17..

And the sons of Issachar: Tola and Phuvah, and Job, and Shimron.

And the sons of Zebulun: Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.

These be the sons of Leah which she bare unto Jacob in Padan-Aram This is true properly and immediately of the sons, who were indeed born there, but improperly and mediately of the Grandchildren, which are as truly said to be born of Leah in Padan, as to be born of her at all, because they were indeed born of them which were born of her and that in Padan. with his daughter Dinah; all the souls of his sons and his daughters To wit, which came into Egypt as before; so that Er and Onan are excluded, as dying before this journey into Egypt, ver. 12. Daughters is here put for daughter, as ver. 7. because Dinah was all the Daughters which Iacob had. Heb. all the souls, sons and daughters, being reckoned together with their father., were thirty and three.

And the sons of Gad: Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli.

And the sons of Asher: Jimnah, and Jshuah, and Jshui, and Beriah: and Serah their sister: and the sons of Beriah, Heber and Malchiel.

These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter: and these she bare unto Jacob, even sixteen souls.

The sons of Rachel, Jacobs wife: Joseph and Benjamin.

And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt, were born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Asenath, the daughter of Poti-pherah; Priest of On bare unto him.

And the sons of Benjamin were Belah; and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard Whereof part seem to be born before his coming to Egypt, and part in Egypt, Benjamin being now but twenty and four years old..

These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.

And the sons of Dan: Hushim.

And the sons of Naphtali, Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.

These are the sons of Bilhah, which Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter, and she bare these unto Jacob, all the souls were seven.

All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loyns Heb. thigh, which is here put for the secret parts between the thighs, which are called sometimes the feet, as Gen. 49. 10. Deut. 28. 57. Ezek. 16. 25. for the like reason, because they are between the feet. From this Eastern manner of speech came that passage in the Greek fables concerning Ba... hus being born out of Iupiters Thigh., besides Jacobs sons wives, all these souls were threescore and six So many they are excluding Iacob, as the common Parent, and Ioseph and his two sons, as being in Egypt before Iacobs coming thither: which four being included they make up 70, as it is ver. 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 He does not say, which came with Iacob into Egypt, because some of them came thither before him, and others with him, some in their persons, and some in their Parents. As for the difficulty arising from comparing this place with Act. 7. 14. it will be more fit to speak of it when we come to that place., were threescore and ten.

And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen Heb. to prepare, or to teach him, the way before his face, i. e. before his coming, to Goshen; i. e. to show him where it was, and into what part of it he should come and settle himself; or, to give notice unto Ioseph of his approach, before his face or coming into Goshen., and they came into the land of Goshen.

And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father to Goshen, and presented himself unto him And doubtless fell down before him with all that reverence which children owe to their Parents, and in this posture Iacob falls upon his neck, &c. Of which posture see Gen. 33. 4. and 45. 14. Luk. 15. 20. Act. 20. 37., and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.

And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die Now I expect no greater happiness upon earth and therefore am content to die. Compare Luk. 2. 29., since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.

And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his fathers house, I will go up, and show Pharaoh, and say unto him, My brethren, and my fathers house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me.

And the men are shepherds, for their trade has been to feed cattle: and they have brought their flocks and their herds, and all that they have.

And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation?

That ye shall say, Thy servants trade has been about cattel from our youth, even untill now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen In which design and choice shows both his prudence and piety. He brings them not to Court, where it had been easie for him to have put them all into the best places and offices of the Court; and as he is not ashamed to own himself a brother to shepherds, which were contemptible among the Egyptians, so he seeks not to advance them higher, but continues them in their employment, and placeth them in: whereby, 1. He kept them together which was very convenient for them in many respects. 2. He secured them both from envy, and as far as he could, from the corruption of their Religion and Manners which was likely to follow their mixture with the Egyptians, and especially their being at the Court, 3. He put them into a capacity of returning to Canaan, when God gave them opportunity.; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians Either 1. Because they did both kill and eat those creatures which the Egyptians adored. Or. 2. Because of the fresh remembrance of the horrid cruelties lately committed there by the Phoenician Shepherds, who as some very antient writers affirm, were seated in Egypt in great numbers and had arrived to great power, and waged a cruel War with other Egyptians, wherein they wasted divers Cities, and burned their Temples, and barbarously murdered a multitude of people. And therefore it is no wonder if the calling of Shepherds was grown out of use and credit among them. True it is, the Egyptians had some Sheep and other Cattle, G... n. 47. 6, 17. Exod. 8. 26. and 9. 3. which they kept for delight or profit by their milk, wool, &c, or for sale to others, but they did not use them, as other Shepherds generally did, kill and eat them. And it is probable that they committed even the keeping of their Sheep and Cattle to those strangers which were dispersed among them, and looked upon the employment as too vile and mean for any Egyptian. And though Pharaoh offered it to Josephs brethren as a favour to be Rulers over his Cattle, Gen. 47. 6. that might proceed only from hence because he saw them firmly resolved upon that course of life and therefore could not bestow any higher preferment upon them..