Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 46:12

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.

12. As Num 26:20 f.

Er Onan ] See Gen 38:3-10. The note, in this verse, on their death is probably a later insertion for the purpose of harmonizing the numerical computation in Gen 46:15.

Shelah ] See Gen 38:5.

Perez Zerah ] See Gen 38:29-30.

Hezron ] See note on Gen 46:9.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Verse 12. The sons of Pharez were Hezron and Hamul.] It is not likely that Pharez was more than ten years of age when he came into Egypt, and if so he could not have had children; therefore it is necessary to consider Hezron and Hamul as being born during the seventeen years that Jacob sojourned in Egypt, See Clarke on Ge 46:8: and it appears necessary, for several reasons, to take these seventeen years into the account, as it is very probable that what is called the going down into Egypt includes the seventeen years which Jacob spent there.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan, and therefore are not contained in the following number, Gen 46:15.

Hezron and Hamul, though they seem to have been born in Egypt, yet are here set down amongst those who came into Egypt, because they came thither in their fathers loins, as Levi is said to pay tithes in Abraham, Heb 7:9. And the children may as well be said to come thither in their parents, as their father Jacob is said to return from thence, Gen 46:4, in his children.

Object. If this be the sense, why should these two be mentioned rather than the grandchildren of the other brethren, who came into Egypt in the same manner?

Answ. This may be done either,

1. From some special excellency or eminency in them above the rest, as Hezron was eminent for being the progenitor of the Messiah, and Hamul might be so for some other cause, though unknown to us. Or,

2. Because they were the first grandchildren that were born in Egypt, and it may be all that were born whilst Jacob lived there, and therefore are not unfitly named with Jacob, and allotted to him; as Josephs two eldest sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, were by Jacob appropriated to himself, and reckoned as his immediate sons, when all the rest of Josephs sons were excluded from that privilege, Gen 48:5,6. And the like may be said of the other two grandchildren mentioned Gen 46:17.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

And the sons of Judah, Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharez,

and Zarah,…. Five of them:

but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan; and so did not go with Jacob into Egypt; and which is observed that they might not be reckoned among them, though it was proper to take notice of them in the genealogy:

and the sons of Pharez were Hezron and Hamul; some think that these could not be born in Canaan, but in Egypt; and that they are mentioned among those that went down to Egypt, because they went there in the loins of their father, and to supply the places of Er and Onan, who died before, and have the honour to be here named, because they might be the first of Jacob’s great grandchildren born there; though others suppose that Pharez was at this time fourteen years of age, and instances are given of some, who before that age have been fathers of children; the difficulty is not easily solved: the Targum of Jonathan expressly says,

“Shelah and Zarah did not beget children in Canaan, but there were two sons of Pharez who went down into Egypt, Hezron and Hamul.”

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(12) Judan has five sons, of whom Er and Onan die prematurely. The names of the other three are Shelah. Pharez, and Zarah (spelt correctly Zerah in Num. 26:20; 1Ch. 2:4). So also the right spelling is Pherez, and not Pharez. In 1Ch. 4:1 Judah has five sons: Pharez, Hezron, Carini, Hur, and Shobal, and Shelah is also mentioned there in Gen. 46:21, but see Note there.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

12. Hezron and Hamul The probable reason for reckoning these among the seventy (Gen 46:27) was, that they were adopted by Judah in place of the deceased Er and Onan, who died in the land of Canaan. This appears from the fact that in the later registers (Numbers xxvi and 1 Chronicles ii) they appear as permanent heads of families in Judah. Heber and Malchiel, grandsons of Asher, (Gen 46:17,) are also reckoned among the seventy, and probably for the reason that they were born before the migration into Egypt. They also appear in the later lists as heads of families in Israel.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Gen 46:12. The sons of Pharez were Hezron, &c. As Pharez could not be above ten years old when Jacob went into AEgypt, I approve of St. Augustine’s interpretation of the words came into AEgypt, Gen 46:8 which he supposes to include the whole time that Jacob lived in AEgypt, which was seventeen years; during which time Pharez may well be supposed to have had these two sons.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Gen 46:12 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.

Ver. 12. And the sons of Pharez were Hezron. ] Hezron and Hamul, not yet born, are reckoned instead of Er and Onan, who were dead before the descent into Egypt. See Funccius’s Chronolog. Comment., A.M. 2273.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)