Genesis 46
New English Translation
The Family of Jacob goes to Egypt
46 So Israel began his journey, taking with him all that he had.[a] When he came to Beer Sheba[b] he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2 God spoke to Israel in a vision during the night[c] and said, “Jacob, Jacob!” He replied, “Here I am!” 3 He said, “I am God,[d] the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. 4 I will go down with you to Egypt and I myself will certainly bring you back from there.[e] Joseph will close your eyes.”[f]
5 Then Jacob started out[g] from Beer Sheba, and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little children, and their wives in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent along to transport him. 6 Jacob and all his descendants took their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and they went to Egypt.[h] 7 He brought with him to Egypt his sons and grandsons,[i] his daughters and granddaughters—all his descendants.
8 These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt—Jacob and his sons: Reuben, the firstborn of Jacob.
9 The sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
10 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul (the son of a Canaanite woman).
11 The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
12 The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan).
The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
13 The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puah,[j] Jashub,[k] and Shimron.
14 The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.
15 These were the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram, along with Dinah his daughter. His sons and daughters numbered thirty-three in all.[l]
16 The sons of Gad: Zephon,[m] Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.
17 The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and Serah their sister.
The sons of Beriah were Heber and Malkiel.
18 These were the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter. She bore these to Jacob, sixteen in all.
19 The sons of Rachel the wife of Jacob: Joseph and Benjamin.
20 Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt. Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On,[n] bore them to him.
21 The sons of Benjamin:[o] Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and Ard.
22 These were the sons of Rachel who were born to Jacob, fourteen in all.
23 The son of Dan: Hushim.[p]
24 The sons of Naphtali: Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.
25 These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter. She bore these to Jacob, seven in all.
26 All the direct descendants of Jacob who went to Egypt with him were sixty-six in number. (This number does not include the wives of Jacob’s sons.)[q] 27 Counting the two sons[r] of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt, all the people of the household of Jacob who were in Egypt numbered seventy.[s]
28 Jacob[t] sent Judah before him to Joseph to accompany him to Goshen.[u] So they came to the land of Goshen. 29 Joseph harnessed his chariot and went up to meet his father Israel in Goshen. When he met him,[v] he hugged his neck and wept on his neck for quite some time.
30 Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive.”[w] 31 Then Joseph said to his brothers and his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh,[x] ‘My brothers and my father’s household who were in the land of Canaan have come to me. 32 The men are shepherds;[y] they take care of livestock.[z] They have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ 33 Pharaoh will summon you and say, ‘What is your occupation?’ 34 Tell him, ‘Your servants have taken care of cattle[aa] from our youth until now, both we and our fathers,’ so that you may live in the land of Goshen,[ab] for everyone who takes care of sheep is disgusting[ac] to the Egyptians.”
Footnotes
- Genesis 46:1 tn Heb “and Israel journeyed, and all that was his.”
- Genesis 46:1 sn Beer Sheba. See Gen 21:31; 28:10.
- Genesis 46:2 tn Heb “in visions of the night.” The plural form has the singular meaning, probably as a plural of intensity.
- Genesis 46:3 tn Heb “the God.”
- Genesis 46:4 tn Heb “and I, I will bring you up, also bringing up.” The independent personal pronoun before the first person imperfect verbal form draws attention to the speaker/subject, while the infinitive absolute after the imperfect strongly emphasizes the statement: “I myself will certainly bring you up.”
- Genesis 46:4 tn Heb “and Joseph will put his hand upon your eyes.” This is a promise of peaceful death in Egypt with Joseph present to close his eyes.
- Genesis 46:5 tn Heb “arose.”
- Genesis 46:6 tn Heb “and they took their livestock and their possessions which they had acquired in the land of Canaan and they went to Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Genesis 46:7 tn The Hebrew text adds “with him” here. This is omitted in the translation because it is redundant in English style (note the same phrase earlier in the verse).
- Genesis 46:13 tc The MT reads “Puvah” (cf. Num 26:23); Smr and Syriac read “Puah” (cf. 1 Chr 7:1).
- Genesis 46:13 tc The MT reads יוֹב (yov, “Job,”) but Smr, supported by the LXX, reads יָשׁוּב (yashuv, “Jashub”) (see Num 26:24; 1 Chr 7:1).
- Genesis 46:15 tn Heb “all the lives of his sons and his daughters, thirty-three.”
- Genesis 46:16 tc The MT reads “Ziphion,” but see Num 26:15, Smr and the LXX, all of which read “Zephon.”
- Genesis 46:20 sn On is another name for the city of Heliopolis.
- Genesis 46:21 sn The sons of Benjamin. It is questionable whether youthful Benjamin had ten sons by the time he went into Egypt, but it is not impossible. If Benjamin was born when Joseph was six or seven, he was ten when Joseph was sold into Egypt, and would have been thirty-two at this point. Some suggest that the list originally served another purpose and included the names of all who were in the immediate family of the sons, whether born in Canaan or later in Egypt.
- Genesis 46:23 tn This name appears as “Shuham” in Num 26:42. The LXX reads “Hashum” here.
- Genesis 46:26 tn Heb “All the people who went with Jacob to Egypt, the ones who came out of his body, apart from the wives of the sons of Jacob, all the people were sixty-six.”sn The number sixty-six includes the seventy-one descendants (including Dinah) listed in vv. 8-25 minus Er and Onan (deceased), and Joseph, Manasseh, and Ephraim (already in Egypt).
- Genesis 46:27 tn The LXX reads “nine sons,” probably counting the grandsons of Joseph born to Ephraim and Manasseh (cf. 1 Chr 7:14-20).
- Genesis 46:27 tn Heb “And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two people; all the people belonging to the house of Jacob who came to Egypt were seventy.”sn The number seventy includes Jacob himself and the seventy-one descendants (including Dinah, Joseph, Manasseh, and Ephraim) listed in vv. 8-25, minus Er and Onan (deceased). The LXX gives the number as “seventy-five” (cf. Acts 7:14).
- Genesis 46:28 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Genesis 46:28 tn Heb “to direct before him to Goshen.”
- Genesis 46:29 tn Heb “and he appeared to him.”
- Genesis 46:30 tn Heb “after my seeing your face that you are still alive.”
- Genesis 46:31 tn Heb “tell Pharaoh and say to him.”
- Genesis 46:32 tn Heb “feeders of sheep.”
- Genesis 46:32 tn Heb “for men of livestock they are.”
- Genesis 46:34 tn Heb “your servants are men of cattle.”
- Genesis 46:34 sn So that you may live in the land of Goshen. Joseph is apparently trying to stress to Pharaoh that his family is self-sufficient, that they will not be a drain on the economy of Egypt. But they will need land for their animals and so Goshen, located on the edge of Egypt, would be a suitable place for them to live. The settled Egyptians were uneasy with nomadic people, but if Jacob and his family settled in Goshen they would represent no threat.
- Genesis 46:34 tn Heb “is an abomination.” The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (toʿevah, “abomination”) describes something that is loathsome or off-limits. For other practices the Egyptians considered disgusting, see Gen 43:32 and Exod 8:22.
Genesis 46
New King James Version
Jacob’s Journey to Egypt(A)
46 So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to (B)Beersheba, and offered sacrifices (C)to the God of his father Isaac. 2 Then God spoke to Israel (D)in the visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
3 So He said, “I am God, (E)the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will (F)make of you a great nation there. 4 (G)I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely (H)bring you up again; and (I)Joseph [a]will put his hand on your eyes.”
5 Then (J)Jacob arose from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little ones, and their wives, in the [b]carts (K)which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 6 So they took their livestock and their goods, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to Egypt, (L)Jacob and all his descendants with him. 7 His sons and his sons’ sons, his daughters and his sons’ daughters, and all his descendants he brought with him to Egypt.
8 Now (M)these were the names of the children of Israel, Jacob and his sons, who went to Egypt: (N)Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn. 9 The (O)sons of Reuben were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 10 (P)The sons of Simeon were [c]Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, [d]Jachin, [e]Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. 11 The sons of (Q)Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12 The sons of (R)Judah were (S)Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). (T)The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. 13 The sons of Issachar were Tola, [f]Puvah, [g]Job, and Shimron. 14 The (U)sons of Zebulun were Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 15 These were the (V)sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Padan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the persons, his sons and his daughters, were thirty-three.
16 The sons of Gad were [h]Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, [i]Ezbon, Eri, [j]Arodi, and Areli. 17 (W)The sons of Asher were Jimnah, Ishuah, Isui, Beriah, and Serah, their sister. And the sons of Beriah were Heber and Malchiel. 18 (X)These were the sons of Zilpah, (Y)whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob: sixteen persons.
19 The (Z)sons of Rachel, (AA)Jacob’s wife, were Joseph and Benjamin. 20 (AB)And to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him. 21 (AC)The sons of Benjamin were Belah, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, (AD)Ehi, Rosh, (AE)Muppim, [k]Huppim, and Ard. 22 These were the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob: fourteen persons in all.
23 The son of Dan was [l]Hushim. 24 (AF)The sons of Naphtali were [m]Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and [n]Shillem. 25 (AG)These were the sons of Bilhah, (AH)whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and she bore these to Jacob: seven persons in all.
26 (AI)All the persons who went with Jacob to Egypt, who came from his body, (AJ)besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, were sixty-six persons in all. 27 And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two persons. (AK)All the persons of the house of Jacob who went to Egypt were seventy.
Jacob Settles in Goshen
28 Then he sent Judah before him to Joseph, (AL)to point out before him the way to Goshen. And they came (AM)to the land of Goshen. 29 So Joseph made ready his (AN)chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; and he presented himself to him, and (AO)fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while.
30 And Israel said to Joseph, (AP)“Now let me die, since I have seen your face, because you are still alive.”
31 Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, (AQ)“I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘My brothers and those of my father’s house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. 32 And the men are (AR)shepherds, for their occupation has been to feed livestock; and they have brought their flocks, their herds, and all that they have.’ 33 So it shall be, when Pharaoh calls you and says, (AS)‘What is your occupation?’ 34 that you shall say, ‘Your servants’ (AT)occupation has been with livestock (AU)from our youth even till now, both we and also our fathers,’ that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is (AV)an[o] abomination to the Egyptians.”
Footnotes
- Genesis 46:4 Will close your eyes when you die
- Genesis 46:5 wagons
- Genesis 46:10 Nemuel, 1 Chr. 4:24
- Genesis 46:10 Jarib, 1 Chr. 4:24
- Genesis 46:10 Zerah, 1 Chr. 4:24
- Genesis 46:13 Puah, Num. 26:23; 1 Chr. 7:1
- Genesis 46:13 Jashub, Num. 26:24; 1 Chr. 7:1
- Genesis 46:16 Sam., LXX Zephon and Num. 26:15
- Genesis 46:16 Ozni, Num. 26:16
- Genesis 46:16 Arod, Num. 26:17
- Genesis 46:21 Hupham, Num. 26:39
- Genesis 46:23 Shuham, Num. 26:42
- Genesis 46:24 Jahziel, 1 Chr. 7:13
- Genesis 46:24 Shallum, 1 Chr. 7:13
- Genesis 46:34 loathsome
Genesis 46
English Standard Version
Joseph Brings His Family to Egypt
46 So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to (A)Beersheba, and offered sacrifices (B)to the God of his father Isaac. 2 And God spoke to Israel (C)in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” 3 Then he said, “I am God, (D)the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will (E)make you into a great nation. 4 I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also (F)bring you up again, and (G)Joseph's hand shall close your eyes.”
5 Then Jacob set out from Beersheba. The sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons (H)that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 6 They also took their livestock and their goods, which they had gained in the land of Canaan, and (I)came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, 7 his sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters. All his offspring he brought with him into Egypt.
8 (J)Now (K)these are the names of the descendants of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons. (L)Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, 9 and the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 10 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. 11 The sons of (M)Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12 The sons of (N)Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but (O)Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan); and the sons of (P)Perez were Hezron and Hamul. 13 (Q)The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Yob, and Shimron. 14 The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 15 These are the sons of Leah, (R)whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, together with his daughter Dinah; altogether his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three.
16 The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. 17 (S)The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, with Serah their sister. And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel. 18 (T)These are the sons of Zilpah, (U)whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob—sixteen persons.
19 The sons of Rachel, Jacob's wife: Joseph and Benjamin. 20 And (V)to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera the priest of (W)On, bore to him. 21 And (X)the sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. 22 These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob—fourteen persons in all.
23 The son[a] of Dan: Hushim. 24 (Y)The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. 25 (Z)These are the sons of Bilhah, (AA)whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob—seven persons in all.
26 All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt, who were his own descendants, not including Jacob's sons' wives, were sixty-six persons in all. 27 And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two. (AB)All the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy.
Jacob and Joseph Reunited
28 He had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to show the way before him in Goshen, and they came (AC)into the land of Goshen. 29 Then Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen. He presented himself to him and (AD)fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while. 30 Israel said to Joseph, (AE)“Now let me die, since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive.” 31 Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's household, (AF)“I will go up and tell Pharaoh and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father's household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. 32 (AG)And the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ 33 When Pharaoh calls you and says, (AH)‘What is your occupation?’ 34 you shall say, (AI)‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock (AJ)from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ in order that you may dwell (AK)in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is (AL)an abomination to the Egyptians.”
Footnotes
- Genesis 46:23 Hebrew sons
Genesis 46
EasyEnglish Bible
Joseph's whole family in Egypt
46 So Jacob left Canaan. He took everything that belonged to him. When he came to Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to God, the God of his father Isaac. 2 During the night, God spoke to Israel in a dream. He said, ‘Jacob! Jacob!’ Jacob replied, ‘Yes, I am here.’ 3 God said, ‘I am God. I am the God that your father worshipped. Do not be afraid to go to Egypt. Your descendants will be very many so that you become a great nation there. 4 I will go with you to Egypt. I will also bring you back again. Joseph will be with you when you die.’
5 Then Jacob left Beersheba and he continued to travel. Jacob's sons took their father as well as their wives and children. They rode in the carts that Pharaoh had sent to take them to Egypt. 6 They also took all their animals and everything that they had got in Canaan. In that way, Jacob and all his family went to Egypt. 7 He took his sons and his grandsons, his daughters and granddaughters. He took all his family with him to Egypt.
8 These are the names of the descendants of Israel[a] who went to Egypt, (that is, the sons of Jacob):
Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob.
9 The sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi.
10 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman.
11 The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath and Merari.
12 The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez and Zerah. Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
13 The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puah, Jashub and Shimron.
14 The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon and Jahleel.
15 These were the sons that Leah gave birth to in Paddan Aram. Jacob was their father. Leah also gave birth to a daughter, Dinah. These sons and daughters of Jacob were 33 in all.
16 The sons of Gad: Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi and Areli.
17 The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi and Beriah. Their sister was Serah. The sons of Beriah were Heber and Malkiel.
18 These were the children that Zilpah gave birth to. Jacob was their father. Leah gave Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. There were 16 children in all.
19 The sons of Jacob's wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
20 Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in Egypt. Their mother was Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On.
21 The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and Ard.
22 These were the sons of Rachel, born to Jacob. There were 14 in all.
23 The son of Dan: Hushim.
24 The sons of Naphtali: Jahziel, Guni, Jezer and Shillem.
25 These were the sons that Bilhah gave birth to. She was Rachel's servant that Laban gave to her. Bilhah gave birth to these sons for Jacob. There were seven in all.
26 Jacob's descendants who went with him to Egypt were 66. That does not include his son's wives. 27 Joseph had two sons that were born in Egypt. So there were 70 people of Jacob's family who were there in Egypt.
28 Then Jacob sent Judah to go to Joseph before he got there himself. He learned how to get to Goshen and they arrived there. 29 Joseph prepared his chariot and he went to Goshen to meet Jacob, his father. When they met, Joseph hugged his father and he wept for a long time.
30 Jacob said to Joseph, ‘Now I am ready to die. I have seen for myself that you are still alive.’ 31 Then Joseph spoke to his brothers and to his father's people. He said, ‘I will go and say to Pharaoh, “My brothers and all my father's people have arrived here from Canaan. 32 The men are shepherds. They take care of their animals. They have brought with them their sheep, goats and cows, and everything that they have.” 33 Pharaoh will call you to meet him. He will ask you, “What is your job?” 34 Then you should answer, “We have always taken care of cows and sheep since we were young men. Our ancestors have always done this work.” Egyptians do not want to live near people who take care of sheep. So Pharaoh will let you stay in the region called Goshen.’[b]
Footnotes
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