Genesis 46:34

Amplified Bible

you shall say, 'Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth until now, both we and our fathers [before us],' in order that you may live [separately and securely] in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is repulsive to the Egyptians."

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
that you shall say, 'Your servants have been keepers of cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and our fathers:' that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Mitzrim."

King James Version
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.

Lexham English Bible
Then you must say, ‘You servants are men of livestock from our childhood until now, both we and also our ancestors,' so that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is a detestable thing to Egyptians."

New Century Version
This is what you should tell him: ‘We, your servants, have taken care of farm animals all our lives. Our ancestors did the same thing.' Then the king will allow you to settle in the land of Goshen, away from the Egyptians, because they don't like to be near shepherds."

New English Translation
Tell him, ‘Your servants have taken care of cattle from our youth until now, both we and our fathers,' so that you may live in the land of Goshen, for everyone who takes care of sheep is disgusting to the Egyptians."

New American Standard Bible
you shall say, 'Your servants have been keepers of livestock since our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,' so that you may live in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians."

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then ye shal say, Thy seruants are men occupied about cattell, from our childehoode euen vnto this time, both we and our fathers: that yee may dwell in the lande of Goshen: for euery sheepe keeper is an abomination vnto the Egyptians.

Legacy Standard Bible
then you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth and until now, both we and our fathers,' that you may live in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians."

Contemporary English Version
When he does, be sure to say, "We are shepherds. Our families have always raised sheep." If you tell him this, he will let you settle in the region of Goshen. Joseph wanted them to say this to the king, because the Egyptians did not like to be around anyone who raised sheep.

Complete Jewish Bible
tell him, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth until now, both we and our ancestors.' This will ensure that you will live in the land of Goshen — for any shepherd is abhorrent to the Egyptians."

Darby Translation
then ye shall say, Thy servants are men that have been occupied with cattle from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers; in order that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.

Easy-to-Read Version
You tell him, ‘We are shepherds. All our lives we have been shepherds, and our ancestors were shepherds before us.' Then Pharaoh will allow you to live in the land of Goshen. Egyptians don't like shepherds, so it is better that you stay in Goshen."

English Standard Version
you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,' in order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians."

George Lamsa Translation
You shall say to him, Your servants are cattle raisers from their youth even until now, both we and also our fathers; that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for the Egyptians despise all those who feed sheep.

Good News Translation
be sure to tell him that you have taken care of livestock all your lives, just as your ancestors did. In this way he will let you live in the region of Goshen." Joseph said this because Egyptians will have nothing to do with shepherds.

Christian Standard Bible®
you are to say, ‘Your servants, both we and our fathers, have raised livestock from our youth until now.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the land of Goshen, since all shepherds are detestable to Egyptians.”

Literal Translation
You shall say, Your servants have been men of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers. This is so that you may live in the land of Goshen. For the abomination of Egypt is every shepherd of flocks.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
then ye shal saye: Thy seruauntes are men yt haue dealt wt catell from oure youth vp hytherto, both we & oure fathers, that ye maye dwell in the lande of Gosen: for the Egipcians abhorre all kepers of catell.

American Standard Version
that ye shall say, Thy servants have been keepers of cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

Bible in Basic English
You are to say, Your servants have been keepers of cattle from our early days up to now, like our fathers; in this way you will be able to have the land of Goshen for yourselves; because keepers of sheep are unclean in the eyes of the Egyptians.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Ye shal annswere: thy seruauntes haue ben occupied about cattell from our childhood vnto this tyme, we and our fathers: that ye may dwell in the lande of Gosen. For euery one that kepeth cattell, is an abhomination vnto the Egyptians.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
that ye shall say: Thy servants have been keepers of cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and our fathers; that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.'

King James Version (1611)
That ye shall say, Thy seruants trade hath bene about cattell, from our youth euen vntill now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for euery shepheard is an abomination vnto the Egyptians.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Ye shall say, We thy servants are herdsmen from our youth until now, both we and our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Gesem of Arabia, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.

English Revised Version
that ye shall say, Thy servants have been keepers of cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

Berean Standard Bible
you are to say, 'Your servants have raised livestock ever since our youth-both we and our fathers.' Then you will be allowed to settle in the land of Goshen, since all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
ye schulen answere, We ben thi seruauntis, men scheepherdis, fro oure childhed til in to present tyme, bothe we and oure fadris. Sotheli ye schulen seye these thingis, that ye moun dwelle in the lond of Gessen, for Egipcians wlaten alle keperis of scheep.

Young's Literal Translation
that ye have said, Thy servants have been men of cattle from our youth, even until now, both we and our fathers, -- in order that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen, for the abomination of the Egyptians is every one feeding a flock.'

Update Bible Version
that you shall say, Your slaves have been keepers of cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and our fathers: that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is disgusting to the Egyptians.

Webster's Bible Translation
That ye shall say, The occupation of thy servants 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 to the Egyptians.

World English Bible
that you shall say, 'Your servants have been keepers of cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and our fathers:' that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians."

New King James Version
that you shall say, "Your servants' occupation has been with livestock 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 an abomination to the Egyptians."

New Living Translation
you must tell him, ‘We, your servants, have raised livestock all our lives, as our ancestors have always done.' When you tell him this, he will let you live here in the region of Goshen, for the Egyptians despise shepherds."

New Life Bible
you answer, ‘Your servants have taken care of cattle since we were young, both we and our fathers.' Then he will let you live in the land of Goshen. For the Egyptians look down upon every shepherd."

New Revised Standard
you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our ancestors'—in order that you may settle in the land of Goshen, because all shepherds are abhorrent to the Egyptians."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then shall ye say - Men of cattle, have thy servants been from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers, - To the end ye may dwell in the land of Goshen, for an abomination to Egyptians, is every feeder of a flock,

Douay-Rheims Bible
You shall answer: We, thy servants, are shepherds, from our infancy until now, both we and our fathers. And this you shall say, that you may dwell in the land of Gessen, because the Egyptians have all shepherds in abomination.

Revised Standard Version
you shall say, 'Your servants have been keepers of cattle from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,' in order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
you shall say, 'Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,' that you may live in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is loathsome to the Egyptians."

Contextual Overview

²⁸Now Jacob (Israel) sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph, to direct him to Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. ²⁹Then Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen; as soon as he presented himself before him (authenticating his identity), he fell on his [father's] neck and wept on his neck a [very] long time. ³⁰And Israel said to Joseph, "Now let me die [in peace], since I have seen your face [and know] that you are still alive." ³¹Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's household, "I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and say to him, 'My brothers and my father's household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me; ³²and 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"And it shall be that when Pharaoh calls you and says, 'What is your occupation?' ³⁴you shall say, 'Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth until now, both we and our fathers [before us],' in order that you may live [separately and securely] in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is repulsive to the Egyptians."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Thy servants': Genesis 46:32, Genesis 30:35, Genesis 34:5, Genesis 37:12

for every: From the fragments of Manetho, preserved in Josephus and Africanus, it appears that hordes of marauders, call hycassos, or shepherd kings, whose chief occupation, like the Bedouin Arabs of the present day, was to keep flocks, made a powerful irruption into Egypt, which they subdued, and ruled, by a succession of kings, with great tyranny for 259 years. Hence the persons, and even the very name of shepherds were execrated, and held in the greatest odium by the Egyptians. Genesis 43:32, Exodus 8:26

Reciprocal: Genesis 25:27 - a plain man Genesis 45:10 - in the land Genesis 46:28 - Goshen Genesis 47:1 - in the land Genesis 47:3 - What is Genesis 47:4 - let thy 1 Samuel 13:4 - was had in abomination 1 Samuel 27:5 - some town

Cross-References

Genesis 30:35
So on that same day Laban [secretly] removed the male goats that were streaked and spotted and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one with white on it, and all the dark ones among the sheep, and put them in the care of his sons.

Genesis 34:5
Now Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled (violated) Dinah his daughter; but his sons were in the field with his livestock, so Jacob said nothing until they came in.

Genesis 37:12
Then his brothers went to pasture their father's flock near Shechem.

Genesis 43:32
So the servants served Joseph by himself [in honor of his rank], and his brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because [according to custom] the Egyptians could not eat food with the Hebrews, for that is loathsome to the Egyptians.

Genesis 45:10
"You shall live in the land of Goshen [the best pasture land of Egypt], and you shall be close to me—you and your children and your grandchildren, your flocks and your herds and all you have.

Genesis 46:32
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.'

Exodus 8:26
But Moses said, "It is not right [or even possible] to do that, for we will sacrifice to the LORD our God what is repulsive and unacceptable to the Egyptians [that is, animals that the Egyptians consider sacred]. If we sacrifice what is repulsive and unacceptable to the Egyptians, will they not riot and stone us?

Gill's Notes on the Bible

That ye shall say, thy servants' trade hath been about cattle,.... Breeding, feeding, and selling them:

from our youth, even until now: this had been their constant employment, they never followed any other:

both we, [and] also our fathers; their father, grandfather, and great grandfather, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were all of the same occupation:

that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; Joseph instructed his brethren to be very particular in the account of their occupation to Pharaoh, that it might be a direction to him how to dispose of them, and where to settle them, namely, in the land of Goshen; which was a country that abounded with good pasture, and so the fittest place for them to be fixed in: and besides this, Joseph had some other reasons for placing them there, as that they might be near to him, who might dwell at On or Heliopolis, to which place, or province, Goshen belonged; and that being also the nearest part of the land to Canaan, they might the more easily and sooner get away when there was an occasion for it; as well as he was desirous they should not be brought into the heart of the land, lest they should be corrupted with the superstition, and idolatry, and vices of the people; and being afar off, both from the court, and the body of the people, might be less subject to their contempt and insults, since it follows:

for every shepherd [is] an abomination unto the Egyptians; not because shepherds ate of the milk and flesh of the creatures they fed, which the Egyptians abstained from; for the Egyptians in those times did eat the flesh of slain beasts, see Genesis 43:16; nor because they fed, and slew, and ate those creatures, which the Egyptians worshipped as gods, as Jarchi; for it does not appear that the Egyptians were so early worshippers of such creatures; nor is this phrase, "every shepherd", to be understood of any other than foreign shepherds; for one of the three sorts of the people of Egypt, as distinct from, and under the king, priests, and soldiers, according to Diodorus Siculus d, were shepherds, and were not despised on that account; for, as the same writer says, all the Egyptians were reckoned equally noble and honourable e; and such it is plain there were in Egypt, in the times of Joseph, see Genesis 47:6; and goat herds were had in esteem and honour by those about Mendes, though swine herds were not f: wherefore this must be understood of foreign shepherds, the Egyptians having been greatly distressed by such, who either came out of Ethiopia, and lived by plunder and robbery g, or out of Phoenicia or Arabia; for, according to Manetho h, it was said that they were Arabians or Phoenicians who entered into Egypt, burnt their cities, c. and set up kings of their own, called their Hycsi, or pastor kings: and therefore Joseph might the rather fear his brethren and father's family would be the more contemptible in that they came from Canaan, which was near to Arabia and Phoenicia but Dr. Lightfoot i is of opinion, that the Egyptians, being plagued for Abraham's and Sarah's sake, made a law, that for the future none should converse with Hebrews, nor with foreign shepherds, so familiarly as to eat or drink with them.

d Bibliothec. l. 1. p. 67. e lbid. p. 83. f Herodot. Euterpe, sive, l. 2. p. 46, 47. g Gaulmin. Not. in Dfore Hayamim, p. 267. h Apud Joseph. contr. Apion. l. 1. sect. 14. i Works: vol. 1. p. 694.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

- Jacob Goes Down to Egypt

9. פלוּא pallû', Pallu, “distinguished.” חצרן chetsrôn, Chetsron, of the “court,” or “village.” כרמי karmı̂y, Karmi, “vine-dresser.”

10. ימוּאל y^emû'êl, Jemuel, “day of El.” ימין yâmı̂yn, Jamin, “right hand.” אהד 'ôhad, Ohad, “joining together.” יכין yâkı̂yn, Jakin, “he shall establish.” צחר tsôchar, Tsochar, “whiteness.”

11. גרשׁון gêr^eshôn, Gereshon, “expelling.” קהת q^ehâth, Qehath, “assembly.” מררי m^erârı̂y, Merari, “flowing, bitter.”

12. חמוּל châmûl, Chamul, “pitied, treated with mercy.”

13. תולע tôlâ‛, Tola‘, “worm, scarlet.” פוּה pû'âh, Puvvah, “mouth?” יוב yôb, Job, “enemy?” שׂמרן śı̂mrôn, Shimron, “watch.”

14. סרד sered, Sered, “fear.” אלון 'êlôn, Elon, “oak.” יחלאל yachl^e'êl, Jachleel, “El shall sicken or inspire with hope.”

16. צפיון tsı̂phyôn, Tsiphjon, “watcher.” חגי chaggı̂y, Chaggi, “festive.” שׁוּני shûnı̂y, Shuni, “quiet.” אצבון 'etsbôn, Etsbon, “toiling?” ערי ‛êrı̂y, ‘Eri, “watcher.” ארודי 'ǎrôdı̂y, Arodi, rover? אראלי 'ar'êlı̂y, Areli, “lion of El?”

17. ימנה yı̂mnâh, Jimnah, “prosperity.” ישׁוה yı̂shvâh, Jishvah, ישׁוי yı̂shvı̂y, Jishvi, “even, level.” בריעה berı̂y‛âh, Beri‘ah, “in evil.” שׂרח śerach, Serach, “overflow.” חבר cheber, Cheber, “fellowship.” מלכיאל malkı̂y'êl Malkiel, “king of EL”

21. בלע bela‛, Bela‘, “devouring.” בכר beker, Beker, “a young camel.” אשׁבל 'ashbêl Ashbel, “short?” גרא gêrâ', Gerah, “a grain.” <נעמן na‛ămân, Na‘aman, “pleasant.” אחי 'êchı̂y Echi, “brotherly?” ראשׁ rô'sh, Rosh, “head.” מפים mûppı̂ym, Muppim, חפים chûppı̂ym, Chuppim, “covering.” ארד 'ard, Ard, “fugitive, rover.”

23. צשׁים chûshı̂ym, Chushim, “haste.”

24. יחצאל yachts^e'êl, Jachtseel, “El will divide.” גוּני gûnı̂y, Guni, “dyed.” יצר yêtser, Jetser, “form.” שׂלם śı̂llêm, Shillem, “retribution.”

The second dream of Joseph is now to receive its fulfillment. His father is to bow down before him. His mother is dead. It is probable that also Leah is deceased. The figure, by which the dream shadows forth the reality, is fulfilled, when the spirit of it receives its accomplishment.

Genesis 46:1-4

Jacob arriving at Beer-sheba is encouraged by a revelation from God. Beer-sheba may be regarded as the fourth scene of Abraham’s abode in the land of promise. “Offered sacrifices.” He had gathered from the words of the Lord to Abraham Genesis 15:13, and the way in which the dreams of Joseph were realized in the events of Providence, that his family were to descend into Egypt. He felt therefore, that in taking this step he was obeying the will of Heaven. Hence, he approaches God in sacrifices at an old abode of Abraham and Isaac, before he crosses the border to pass into Egypt. On this solemn occasion God appears to him in the visions of the night. He designates himself EL the Mighty, and the God of his father. The former name cheers him with the thought of an all-sufficient Protector. The latter identifies the speaker with the God of his father, and therefore, with the God of eternity, of creation, and of covenant. “Fear not to go down into Mizraim.” This implies both that it was the will of God that he should go down to Egypt, and that he would be protected there. “A great nation.”

Jacob had now a numerous family, of whom no longer one was selected, but all were included in the chosen seed. He had received the special blessing and injunction to be fruitful and multiply Genesis 28:3; Genesis 35:11. The chosen family is to be the beginning of the chosen nation. “I will go down with thee.” The “I” is here emphatic, as it is also in the assurance that he will bring him up in the fullness of time from Egypt. If Israel in the process of growth from a family to a nation had remained among the Kenaanites, he would have been amalgamated with the nation by intermarriage, and conformed to its vices. By his removal to Egypt he is kept apart from the demoralizing influence of a nation, whose iniquity became so great as to demand a judicial extirpation Genesis 15:16. He is also kept from sinking into an Egyptian by the fact that a shepherd, as he was, is an abomination to Egypt; by his location in the comparatively high land of Goshen, which is a border land, not naturally, but only politically, belonging to Egypt; and by the reduction of his race to a body of serfs, with whom that nation would not condescend to intermingle. “Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.” His long-lost son shall be present to perform the last offices to him when deceased.

Genesis 46:5-7

The descent into Egypt is now described. “His daughters, and his sons’ daughters.” In the following list only one daughter of Jacob is mentioned, Dinah, and only one son’s daughter, Serah. It is possible, but not probable, that there were more daughters than these at the time in his family. But even if there were no others, the plural is adopted in order to correspond with the general form of classification, from which the one daughter and the one granddaughter are merely accidental deviations. The same principle applies to the sons of Dan Genesis 46:23, and to other instances in Scripture 1Ch 2:8, 1 Chronicles 2:42.

Verse 8-27

The list given here of the family of Jacob as it came down into Egypt is not to be identified with a list of their descendants two hundred and fifty years after, contained in Numbers 26:0, or with another list constructed after the captivity, and referring to certain of their descendants in and after the times of the monarchy. Nor is this the place to mark out or investigate the grounds of the diversities from the present which these later lists exhibit. Our proper business here is to examine into the nature and import of this ancient and original list of the family of Jacob. It purports to be a list of the names of the sons of Israel, “who went into Mizraim.” This phrase implies that the sons of Israel actually went down into Egypt; and this is accordingly historically true of all his immediate sons, Joseph having gone thither about twenty-two years before the others. And the word “sons” is to be understood here in its strict sense, as we find it in the immediate context Genesis 46:7 distinguished from sons’ sons and other descendants.

“Jacob and his sons.” From this expression we perceive the progenitor is to be included with the sons among those who descended to Egypt. This also is historically exact. For the sake of clearness it is proper here to state the approximate ages of these heads of Israel at the time of the descent. Jacob himself was 130 years of age Genesis 47:9. Joseph was in his thirtieth year when he stood before Pharaoh to interpret his dreams and receive his commission as governor-general of Egypt, Genesis 41:46. At the end of the second year of the famine nine full years were added to his life. He was therefore, we may suppose, 39 years old when Jacob arrived in Egypt, and born when his father was 91. As we conceive that he was born in the fifteenth year of Jacob’s sojourn in Padan-aram, and Reuben in the eighth, we infer that Reuben was at the time of the descent into Egypt seven years older than Joseph, or 46, Simon 45, Levi 44, Judah 43, Dan about 43, Naphtali about 42, Gad about 42, Asher about 41, Issakar about 41, Zebulun about 40, Dinah about 39, Benjamin about 26. “Jacob’s first-born Reuben.” This refers to the order of nature, without implying that the rights of first-birth were to be secured to Reuben 1 Chronicles 5:1-2.

Genesis 46:9-15

The sons of Leah and their descendants are here enumerated. Reuben has four sons, who appear without variation in the other two lists Num 26:5-6; 1 Chronicles 5:3. Of the six sons of Simon, Ohad appears in the other lists, and Nemuel and Zerah appear as colloquial variations of Jemuel and Zohar. Such diversities in oral language are usual to this day in the East and elsewhere. “Son of a Kenaanitess.” This implies that intermarriage with the Kenaanites was the exception to the rule in the family of Jacob. Wives might have been obtained from Hebrew, Aramaic, or at all events Shemite tribes who were living in their vicinity. The three sons of Levi are common to all the lists, with the slight variation of Gershom for Gershon. The sons of Judah are also unvaried. We are here reminded that Er and Onon died in the land of Kenaan Genesis 46:12, and of course did not come down into Egypt. The extraordinary circumstances of Judah’s family are recorded in Genesis 38:0: In order that Hezron and Hamul may have been born at the arrival of Jacob’s household in Egypt, Judah’s and Perez’s first sons must have been born in the fourteenth year of their respective fathers. For the discussion of this matter see the remarks on that chapter. The four sons of Issakar occur in the other lists, with the variation of Jashub for Job. The three sons of Zebulun recur in the book of Numbers; but in the list of Chronicles no mention is made of his posterity. Dinah does not appear in the other lists. The descendants of Leah are in all thirty-two; six sons, one daughter, twenty-three grandsons, and two great grandsons. “All the souls, his sons and his daughters, were thirty and three.” Here “all the souls” include Jacob himself, and “his sons and his daughters” are to be understood as a specification of what is included besides himself.

Genesis 46:16-18

Next are enumerated the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid. The seven sons of Gad recur in Numbers 26:0, with the variants Zephon, Ozni, and Arod, for Ziphion, Ezbon, and Arodi; but they do not occur in Chronicles. Of Asher’s five children, Jishuah is omitted in Numbers, but appears in Chronicles. This seems to arise from circumstances that the list in Numbers was drawn up at the time of the facts recorded, and that in Chronicles is extracted partly from Genesis. The other names are really the same in all the lists. The descendants of Zilpah are sixteen - two sons, eleven grandsons, one granddaughter, and two great-grandsons.

Genesis 46:19-22

The sons of Rachel. It is remarkable that she alone is called the wife of Jacob, because she was the wife of his choice. Yet the children of the beloved, we perceive, are not placed before those of the less loved Deuteronomy 21:15-16. Joseph’s two sons are the same in all lists. Of the ten sons of Benjamin only five appear in Numbers Numbers 26:38-41, Bela and Ashbel being the same, and Ahiram, Shupham, and Hupham, being variants of Ehi, Muppim, and Huppim. In two hundred and fifty years the other five have become extinct. Naaman and Ard seem to have died early, as two sons of Bela, named after them, take their places as heads of families or clans. In Chronicles 1 Chronicles 7:6-12 we have two lists of his descendants which do not seem to be primary, as they do not agree with either of the former lists, or with one another, though some of the names recur. The descendants of Rachel are fourteen - two sons and twelve grandsons.

Genesis 46:23-25

The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid, come last. Hushim, the son of Dan, appears in Numbers Numbers 26:42 as Shuham, and perhaps in Chronicles 1 Chronicles 7:12 in an obscure connection. The four sons of Naphtali occur in all the lists, Shallum being the variant in Chronicles 1 Chronicles 7:13 for Shillem. The descendants of Bilhah are seven - two sons and five grandsons.

Genesis 46:26-27

All the souls that went with Jacob into Egypt, “that came out of his loins,” were eleven sons, one daughter, fifty grandchildren, and four great-grandsons; in all, sixty-six. Jacob, Joseph and his two sons, are four; and thus, all the souls belonging to the family of Jacob which went into Egypt were seventy. This account, with its somewhat intricate details, is expressed with remarkable brevity and simplicity.

The Septuagint gives seventy-five as the sum-total, which is made out by inserting Makir the son, and Gilead the grandson of Menasseh, Shuthelah and Tahan, sons, and Edom or Eran, a grandson of Ephraim Numbers 26:0. This version has also the incorrect statement that the sons of Joseph born to him in Egypt were nine; whereas by its own showing they were seven, and Jacob and Joseph are to be added to make up the nine. Some suppose that Stephen’s statement - ἀποστείλας δὲ Ιωσὴφ μετεκαλέσατο τὸν πατέρα αὑτοῦ Ιακὼβ καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν συγγένειαν ἐν ψυχαῖς ἐβδομήκοντα πέντε aposteilas de Iōsēph ton patera autou Iakōb kai tēn sungeneian en psuchais hebdomēkonta pente - is founded on this version. If Stephen here quoted the Septuagint as a well-known version, he was accountable only for the correctness of his quotation, and not for the error which had crept into his authority. This was immaterial to his present purpose, and it was not the manner of the sacred speakers to turn aside from their grand task to the pedantry of criticism. But it is much more likely that the text of the Septuagint has here been conformed in a bungling way to the number given by Stephen. For it is to be observed that his number refers, according to the text, to Jacob and all his kindred, “exclusive of Joseph and his sons.” They could not therefore, amount to seventy-five, but only to sixty-seven, if we count merely Jacob and his proper descendants. It is probable, therefore, that in the idea of Stephen the “kindred” of Jacob included the eight or nine surviving wives that accompanied the children of Israel. Judah’s wife was dead, and it is probable that Reuben’s was also deceased before he committed incest with Bilhah. If there were two or three more widowers the number of surviving wives would be eight or nine.

The number of the children of Israel is very particularly noted. But the Scripture lays no stress upon the number itself, and makes no particular application of it. It stands forth, therefore, on the record merely as a historical fact. It is remarkable that it is the product of seven, the number of holiness; and ten, the number of completeness. It is still more remarkable that it is the number of the names of those who are the heads of the primitive nations. This is in accordance with the fact that the church is the counterpart of the world, not only in diversity of character and destiny, but also in the adaptation of the former to work out the restitution of all things to God in the latter. The covenant with Abraham is a special means by which the seed may come, who is to give legal and vital effect to the old and general covenant with Noah the representative of the nations. The church of God in the world is to be the instrument by which the kingdom of the world is to become the kingdom of Christ. “When the Most High bestowed the inheritance on the nations, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel” Deuteronomy 32:8. This curious sentence may have an immediate reference to the providential distribution of the human family over the habitable parts of the earth, according to the number of his church, and of his dispensation of grace; but at all events it conveys the great and obvious principle that all things whatsoever in the affairs of men are antecedently adapted with the most perfect exactitude to the benign reign of grace already realized in the children of God, and yet to be extended to all the sons and daughters of Adam.

Genesis 46:28-34

The settlement in Goshen is now narrated. “Judah he sent before him.” We have already seen why the three older sons of Jacob were disqualified for taking the lead in important matters relating to the family. “To lead the way before him into Goshen” - to get the requisite directions from Joseph, and then conduct the immigrants to their destined resting-place. “And went up.” Egypt was the valley of the Nile, and therefore, a low country. Goshen was comparatively high, and therefore, at some distance from the Nile and the sea. “And he appeared unto him.” A phrase usually applied to the appearance of God to men, and intended to intimate the unexpectedness of the sight, which now came before the eyes of Jacob. “I will go up.” In a courtly sense, to approach the residence of the sovereign is to go up. Joseph intends to make the “occupation” of his kindred a prominent part of his communication to Pharaoh, in order to secure their settlement in Goshen. This he considers desirable, on two grounds: first, because Goshen was best suited for pasture; and secondly, because the chosen family would thus be comparatively isolated from Egyptian society.

The two nations were in some important respects mutually repulsive. The idolatrous and superstitious customs of the Egyptians were abhorrent to a worshipper of the true God; and “every shepherd was the abomination of Egypt.” The expression here employed is very strong, and rises even to a religious aversion. Herodotus makes the cowherds the third of the seven classes into which the Egyptians were divided (Herodotus ii. 164). Others include them in the lowest class of the community. This, however, is not sufficient to account for the national antipathy. About seventeen or eighteen centuries before the Christian era it is probable that the Hyksos, or shepherd kings, were masters of the southern part of the country, while a native dynasty still prevailed in lower Egypt. The religion of these shepherd intruders was different from that of the Egyptians which they treated with disrespect. They were addicted to the barbarities which are usually incident to a foreign rule. It is not surprising, therefore, that the shepherd became the abomination of Egypt.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Genesis 46:34. Thy servants trade hath been about cattle — "The land of Goshen, called also the land of Rameses, lay east of the Nile, by which it was never overflowed, and was bounded by the mountains of the Thebaid on the south, by the Nile and Mediterranean on the west and north, and by the Red Sea and desert of Arabia on the east. It was the Heliopolitan nome or district, and its capital was called ON. Its proper name was Geshen, the country of grass or pasturage, or of the shepherds, in opposition to the rest of the land which was sown after having been overflowed by the Nile." - Bruce. As this land was both fruitful and pleasant, Joseph wished to fix his family in that part of Egypt; hence he advises them to tell Pharaoh that their trade had been in cattle from their youth: and because every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians, hence he concluded that there would be less difficulty to get them quiet settlement in Goshen, as they would then be separated from the Egyptians, and consequently have the free use of all their religious customs. This scheme succeeded, and the consequence was the preservation both of their religion and their lives, though some of their posterity did afterwards corrupt themselves; see Ezekiel 20:8; Amos 5:26. As it is well known that the Egyptians had cattle and flocks themselves, and that Pharaoh even requested that some of Joseph's brethren should be made rulers over his cattle, how could it be said, as in Genesis 46:34, Every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians? Three reasons may be assigned for this:

1. Shepherds and feeders of cattle were usually a sort of lawless, free-booting banditti, frequently making inroads on villages, c., carrying off cattle, and whatever spoils they could find. This might probably have been the case formerly, for it is well known it has often been the case since. On this account such persons must have been universally detested.

2. They must have abhorred shepherds if Manetho's account of the hycsos or king-shepherds can be credited. Hordes of marauders under this name, from Arabia, Syria, and Ethiopia, (whose chief occupation, like the Bedouin Arabs of the present day, was to keep flocks,) made a powerful irruption into Egypt, which they subdued and ruled with great tyranny for 259 years. Now, though they had been expelled from that land some considerable time before this, yet their name, and all persons of a similar occupation, were execrated by the Egyptians, on account of the depredations and long-continued ravages they had committed in the country.

3. The last and probably the best reason why the Egyptians abhorred such shepherds as the Israelites were, was, they sacrificed those very animals, the ox particularly, and the SHEEP, which the Egyptians held sacred. Hence the Roman historian Tacitus, speaking of the Jews, says: "Caeso ARIETE velut in contumelia AMMONIS Bos quoque immolatur, quem AEgyptii APIM colunt." "They sacrifice the ram in order to insult Jupiter Ammon, and they sacrifice the ox, which the Egyptians worship under the name of Apis." Though some contend that this idolatry was not as yet established in Egypt, and that the king-shepherds were either after the time of Joseph, or that Manetho by them intends the Israelites themselves; yet, as the arguments by which these conjectures are supported are not sufficient to overthrow those which are brought for the support of the contrary opinions, and as there was evidently an established religion and priesthood in Egypt before Joseph's time, (for we find the priests had a certain portion of the land of Egypt which was held so sacred that Joseph did not attempt to buy it in the time of the famine, when he bought all the land which belonged to the people, Genesis 47:20-22,) and as that established priesthood was in all likelihood idolatrous, and as the worship of Apis under the form of an ox was one of the most ancient forms of worship in Egypt, we may rest tolerably certain that it was chiefly on this account that the shepherds, or those who fed on and sacrificed these objects of their worship, were an abomination to the Egyptians. Calmet has entered into this subject at large, and to his notes I must refer those readers who wish for farther information. Genesis 43:32.

ON the principal subject of this chapter, the going down of Jacob and his family into Egypt, Bishop Warburton, in his Divine Legation of Moses, makes the following judicious refections: "The promise God made to Abraham, to give his posterity the land of Canaan, could not be performed till that family was grown strong enough to take and keep possession of it. In the meantime, therefore, they were necessitated to reside among idolaters, and to reside unmixed; but whoever examines their history will see that the Israelites had ever a violent propensity to join themselves to Gentile nations, and practise their manners. God therefore, in his infinite wisdom, brought them into Egypt, and kept them there during this period, the only place where they could remain for so long a time safe and unconfounded with the natives, the ancient Egyptians being by numerous institutions forbidden all fellowship with strangers, and bearing besides a particular aversion to the profession of the Israelites, who were shepherds. Thus the natural dispositions of the Israelites, which in Egypt occasioned their superstitions, and in consequence the necessity of a burdensome ritual, would in any other country have absorbed them into Gentilism, and confounded them with idolaters. From the Israelites going into Egypt arises a new occasion to adore the footsteps of Eternal Wisdom in his dispensations to his chosen people."