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.
First Jacob stopped to speak to God.
2 And God spoke 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.”
We should always check our moves with God before we make them.
God gives Jacob permission to go to Egypt and tells him that he will see Joseph there. Not only that, it will be Joseph who closes his eyes after death, meaning he and Joseph will be very close.
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 descendants brought he with him into Egypt.
The whole family moved.
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.
So Reuben’s family had five (not counting his wife).
10 And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman.
Simeon; seven.
11 And the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
Levi; four.
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.
Judah; six
13 And the sons of Issachar; Tola, and Phuvah, and Job, and Shimron.
Issachar; five (including one named Job who may have been, but probably wasn’t the Job the book was named after.)
14 And the sons of Zebulun; Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.
Zebulun; four.
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.
Thirty-one in the boy’s families plus Dinah and Jacob himself. It appears Dinah never married.
16 And the sons of Gad; Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli.
Gad; eight.
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.
Asher; eight.
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.
It appears Joseph only had the two sons.
21 And the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard.
Benjamin; eleven.
22 These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.
23 And the sons of Dan; Hushim.
Dan had one child at this point so there were two in their family.
24 And the sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.
Naphtali; five
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 66.
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 70.
Reuben’s family was five.
Simeon’s family was seven.
Levi’s family was four.
Judah’s family was six.
Issachar’s family was five.
Zebulan’s family was four.
Dinah and Jacob himself were two.
Gad’s family was eight.
Asher’s family was eight.
Benjamin’s family was eleven.
Dan’s family was two.
Nephtali’s family was five.
Plus the three already in Egypt, makes a total of seventy direct descendants of Jacob. This didn’t include servants or wives. There are very few girls mentioned. Either they had way more boy babies than average or their daughters had married and stayed with their hubby’s families in Canaan.
In a mere 200 years there will be an estimated 300,000 descendants of Jacob.
28 And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.
Goshen was located in the delta region of Egypt. Because of the increased water, this was superior land for cattle and sheep.
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 are yet alive.”
What more was there to live for? He had seen his son again.
31 And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his father's house, “I will go up, and show Pharaoh, and say unto him, ‘My brothers, 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 has 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 has been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers:’ that ye may live in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.’ “
Joseph was simply instructing them in proper court behavior and working it so they would get the best land.
First Jacob stopped to speak to God.
2 And God spoke 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.”
We should always check our moves with God before we make them.
God gives Jacob permission to go to Egypt and tells him that he will see Joseph there. Not only that, it will be Joseph who closes his eyes after death, meaning he and Joseph will be very close.
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 descendants brought he with him into Egypt.
The whole family moved.
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.
So Reuben’s family had five (not counting his wife).
10 And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman.
Simeon; seven.
11 And the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
Levi; four.
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.
Judah; six
13 And the sons of Issachar; Tola, and Phuvah, and Job, and Shimron.
Issachar; five (including one named Job who may have been, but probably wasn’t the Job the book was named after.)
14 And the sons of Zebulun; Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.
Zebulun; four.
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.
Thirty-one in the boy’s families plus Dinah and Jacob himself. It appears Dinah never married.
16 And the sons of Gad; Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli.
Gad; eight.
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.
Asher; eight.
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.
It appears Joseph only had the two sons.
21 And the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard.
Benjamin; eleven.
22 These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.
23 And the sons of Dan; Hushim.
Dan had one child at this point so there were two in their family.
24 And the sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.
Naphtali; five
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 66.
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 70.
Reuben’s family was five.
Simeon’s family was seven.
Levi’s family was four.
Judah’s family was six.
Issachar’s family was five.
Zebulan’s family was four.
Dinah and Jacob himself were two.
Gad’s family was eight.
Asher’s family was eight.
Benjamin’s family was eleven.
Dan’s family was two.
Nephtali’s family was five.
Plus the three already in Egypt, makes a total of seventy direct descendants of Jacob. This didn’t include servants or wives. There are very few girls mentioned. Either they had way more boy babies than average or their daughters had married and stayed with their hubby’s families in Canaan.
In a mere 200 years there will be an estimated 300,000 descendants of Jacob.
28 And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.
Goshen was located in the delta region of Egypt. Because of the increased water, this was superior land for cattle and sheep.
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 are yet alive.”
What more was there to live for? He had seen his son again.
31 And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his father's house, “I will go up, and show Pharaoh, and say unto him, ‘My brothers, 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 has 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 has been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers:’ that ye may live in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.’ “
Joseph was simply instructing them in proper court behavior and working it so they would get the best land.