Verses 1-4 And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac. 2 And God spake 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.
Just a reminder that the name “Beersheba” means “well of the sevenfold oath” and this was the area that Hagar and Ishmael wandered in when they were sent away by Sarah. This is also the place where Abraham made a covenant or agreement with Abimelech and where he planted a grove of trees. It was a place where Abraham dwelt and where he called on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God. (Genesis 21 and 22)
Beersheba was a sacred place to Israel and he halted his journey to Egypt in order to give God a sacrifice. He then received a vision from the LORD encouraging him to not be fearful of the future in Egypt and giving a promise that he would die in the presence of Joseph and be brought out of Egypt again.
Verses 5-7 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 seed brought he with him into Egypt.
The Hebrew word for “seed” is “zera” and in this instance, it means children or descendants.
Verses 8-9 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.
Verse 10 And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman.
Verse 11 And the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
Verse 12 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 the sons of Pharez were Hezron and Hamul.
Verse 13 And the sons of Issachar; Tola, and Phuvah, and Job, and Shimron.
Verses 14-15 And the sons of Zebulun; Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel. 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.
The verses above have been separated by each son of Leah and their sons in order for it to be easier to reference these names later if needed. So the descendants of Jacob and Leah at the time of entry into Egypt totaled 33 people.
Verse 16 And the sons of Gad; Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli.
Verses 17-18 And the sons of Asher; Jimnah, and Ishuah, and Isui, and Beriah, and Serah their sister: and the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel. 18 These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bare unto Jacob, even sixteen souls.
The descendants of Jacob and Zilpah at the time of entry into Egypt totaled 16 people.
Verses 19-20 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.
Verses 21-22 And the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard. 22 These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.
The descendants of Jacob and Rachel, including Joseph and his two sons, at the time of entry into Egypt totaled 14 people.
Verse 23 And the sons of Dan; Hushim.
Verses 24-25 And the sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem. 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.
The descendants of Jacob and Bilhah at the time of entry into Egypt totaled 7 people.
Verses 26-27 All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were threescore and six; 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 threescore and ten.
Some of the things to note here is that the Hebrews were not a large company of people at the time of the emigration to Egypt. Also, no mention is made of any servants accompanying Israel and his sons even though verse one above states that, “Israel took his journey with all that he had.” Perhaps the absence of servants had to do with the famine in that it may have been difficult to pay servants their wages when in the midst of a far reaching famine which would have affected the economic situation of Israel and his family. Finally notice that the total number of people was 70, the number 7 being the number of divine protection.
Verses 28-29 And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. 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.
This writer has a vivid imagination when it comes to interactions between people and/or animals and so, even though Scripture is short and lacking details, use your imagination to picture the reunion of Joseph and his father, Israel, along with all the rest of the family Joseph had not seen in many decades. It must have been a glorious event, full of noise, music, food, and laughter.
Application: If you took the time to imagine the family reunion reported in the verses above, now take the time to imagine what Heaven is like when believers leave their bodies and enter into the presence of Jesus and of all their family members that have gone on before them. Since Joseph is a type of Christ, the family reunion he experienced with all of its joy and celebration is a picture of what believers have to look forward to when exiting this Earth for a place in eternity with the LORD.
Verses 30-34 And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive. 31 And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his father’s house, I will go up, and shew Pharaoh, and say unto him, My brethren, 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 hath 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 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.
Joseph knew the land of Goshen was the best place in Egypt for raising cattle and he rehearsed to his family what he wanted them to say to Pharaoh so that they would be directed to live there. Goshen would provide a separation between the Hebrews and the Egyptians.
Application: Like the children of Israel in the land of Goshen, believers today are to be separated from the rest of the unbelieving public. This does not mean that believers fail to work with or talk to or be around unbelievers. A Christian believer cannot witness to unbelievers without interacting with them. It means that believers, while living physically in this fallen world amongst unbelievers, refrain from participating in the things of this fallen world that unbelievers engage in. 2 Corinthians 6:17 states, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you.” A believer cannot be a witness for the things of the LORD if that believer looks like an unbeliever in regards to behavior and words spoken. Think about it.