Jacob goes down to Egypt
1 ① Israel left with all he owned and reached Beersheba where he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2God spoke to Israel in visions that he had during the night, “Jacob! Jacob!” “Here I am,” he said. 3“I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. 4I will go with you to Egypt and I will bring you back again and Joseph’s hand will close your eyes.”
5Jacob left Beersheba and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father with their little children and their wives in the wagons that Joseph had sent to fetch him. 6They also took their flocks and all that they had acquired in Canaan. And so it was that Jacob came to Egypt and with him all his family, 7his sons and his grandsons, his daughters and his granddaughters, in short all his children he took with him to Egypt.
8Here are the names of the descendants of Israel who came to Egypt:
Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, 9and the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 10the sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, whose mother was a Canaanite. 11The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan); and the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. 13The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Job, and Shimron. 14The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jah’leel 15(these are the sons of Leah, Jacob’s wife, who were born in Paddan-aram, together with his daughter Dinah; altogether his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three). 16The sons of Gad: Zip’ion, Haggai, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. 17The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, with Serah their sister. And the sons of Beri’ah: Heber and Malchiel. 18These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and Jacob was their father — sixteen persons. 19The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife: Joseph and Benjamin. 20And to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whose mother was Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On. 21And the sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard 22(these are the sons of Rachel — fourteen). 23The children of Dan: Hushim. 24The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem 25(these are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and Jacob was their father — seven persons in all).
26The total number of all the persons who came to Egypt with Jacob, all who were of his own blood, not counting the wives of his sons, was sixty-six. 27With the two sons born to Joseph in Egypt, the total number of Jacob’s household that came to Egypt was seventy.
Jacob meets Joseph
28Jacob sent Judah ahead to let Joseph know he was coming and that he would soon arrive in the land of Goshen.
29Joseph got his chariot ready in order to meet Israel his father in Goshen. He presented himself, threw his arms around his father and wept on his shoulder for a long time. 30Israel said to Joseph, “Now I can die, for I have seen your face and know you are alive.”
31After that Joseph said to his brothers and all his father’s family, “I will go and give the news to Pharaoh and tell him that my brothers and my father’s family who were in the land of Canaan have come to me. 32I will also tell him that you are shepherds, keeping livestock, and have brought your flocks and cattle and all your belongings. 33So when Pharaoh summons you and says: ‘What is your occupation?’ 34you will say: ‘Your servants keep flocks and herds; it has been so since our youth, and for our fathers before us.’ Then you will settle in the land of Goshen, for the Egyptians detest all shepherds.”
- Gen 46,1 Here, the adventures of Joseph have important consequences: Jacob comes to Egypt with his entire family. The Hebrews settle in Egypt and seem to forget the land of Canaan through which Abraham and Jacob had traveled with their flocks and which God had promised to them. They will remain in Egypt for several centuries until Moses leads them back to the land of promise. This long delay was part of God's plan.
