Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 46:5

And Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba: 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.

5. Beer-sheba ] Jacob’s home, as of his fathers, according to E (Gen 21:31, Gen 22:19).

the sons of Israel Jacob their father ] It is not often that the two names are found in such close collocation in the same clause; see note on Gen 46:2. In all probability it betokens the work of editing and compiling the parallel narratives, of which J uses “Israel,” and E and P prefer “Jacob.”

6, 7 (P). P’s summarized account of the descent into Egypt. Observe the characteristic words “their goods which they had gotten”; “his seed”; “sons’ sons” and “sons’ daughters”; and the marked redundancy in style, similar to what is found in Gen 12:5; Gen 31:18; Gen 36:6; which are all from the P narrative.

8 27 (P). We have here a list of “the names of the children of Israel which came into Egypt.”

( a) With certain variations and expansions, the list appears also in Num 26:5-51 (with the omission of Levi), and in 1 Chronicles 2-8. Moreover in Exo 6:14-16 we find the same list, so far as relates to Reuben, Simeon, and Levi ( Gen 46:9-11).

( b) It cannot accurately be described either as a list of Jacob’s descendants, for it includes Jacob himself: or as a list of those who went down into Egypt, for it includes the names of Joseph and his sons, and the names of Benjamin’s sons.

( c) There is an element of artificiality in the computation of the list. Thus the names of Er and Onan are only mentioned to be excluded from the total ( Gen 46:12). Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, is included in the list of thirty and three “souls of his sons and his daughters,” her name being the only female name up to that point. And Jacob himself is reckoned in the thirty-three.

( d) It should be noted, in the same connexion, that Leah’s sons are 32, and Zilpah’s 16; Rachel’s are 14, and Bilhah’s 7. Each concubine thus is credited with just half the number of sons that the real wife has. This arrangement is probably designed to assist the memory.

( e) The order which is followed in the list is that of the wives: (1) the sons of Leah ( Gen 46:8-15); (2) the sons of Zilpah ( Gen 46:16-18); (3) the sons of Rachel ( Gen 46:19-22); (4) the sons of Bilhah ( Gen 46:23-25).

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

5. And Jacob rose up fromBeer-shebato cross the border and settle in Egypt. Howeverrefreshed and invigorated in spirit by the religious services atBeer-sheba, he was now borne down by the infirmities of advanced age;and, therefore, his sons undertook all the trouble and toil of thearrangements, while the enfeebled old patriarch, with the wives andchildren, was conveyed by slow and leisurely stages in the Egyptianvehicles sent for their accommodation.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And Jacob rose up from Beersheba,…. In high spirits, and proceeded on in his journey, being encouraged and animated by the promises of God now made unto him:

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; it may be wondered at that Joseph did not send his chariot to fetch his father; it could not be for want of due respect and honour to him, but it may be such a carriage was not fit for so long a journey, and especially to travel in, in some parts of the road through which they went: no mention being made of Jacob’s wives, it may be presumed they were all now dead; it is certain Rachel was, see Ge 35:19; and it is more than probable that Leah died before this time, since Jacob says he buried her himself in Machpelah in Canaan, Ge 49:31; and it is very likely also that his two concubine wives Bilhah and Zilpah were also dead, since no notice is taken of them.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

      5 And Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba: 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.   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.   10 And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman.   11 And the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.   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.   13 And the sons of Issachar; Tola, and Phuvah, and Job, and Shimron.   14 And the sons of Zebulun; Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.   15 These be the sons of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob in Padan-aram, with his daughter Dinah: all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty and three.   16 And the sons of Gad; Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli.   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.   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 Poti-pherah priest of On bare unto him.   21 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.   23 And the sons of Dan; Hushim.   24 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.   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 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.

      Old Jacob is here flitting. Little did he think of ever leaving Canaan; he expected, no doubt, to die in his nest, and to leave his seed in actual possession of the promised land: but Providence orders it otherwise. Note, Those that think themselves well settled may yet be unsettled in a little time. Even old people, who think of no other removal than that to the grave (which Jacob had much upon his heart, Gen 37:35; Gen 42:38), sometimes live to see great changes in their family. It is good to be ready, not only for the grave, but for whatever may happen betwixt us and the grave. Observe, 1. How Jacob was conveyed; not in a chariot, though chariots were then used, but in a waggon, v. 5. Jacob had the character of a plain man, who did not affect any thing stately or magnificent; his son rode in a chariot (ch. xli. 43), but a waggon would serve him. 2. The removal of what he had with him. (1.) His effects (v. 6), cattle and goods; these he took with him that he might not wholly be beholden to Pharaoh for a livelihood, and that it might not afterwards be said of them, “that they came beggars to Egypt.” (2.) His family, all his seed, v. 7. It is probable that they had continued to live together in common with their father; and therefore when he went they all went, which perhaps they were the more willing to do, because, though they had heard that the land of Canaan was promised them, yet, to this day, they had none of it in possession. We have here a particular account of the names of Jacob’s family, his sons’ sons, most of whom are afterwards mentioned as heads of houses in the several tribes. See Num. xxvi. 5, c. Bishop Patrick observes that Issachar called his eldest son Tola, which signifies a worm, probably because when he was born he was a very little weak child, a worm, and no man, not likely to live and yet there sprang from him a very numerous offspring, 1 Chron. vii. 2. Note, Living and dying do not go by probability. The whole number that went down into Egypt was sixty-six (v. 26), to which add Joseph and his two sons, who were there before, and Jacob himself, the head of the family, and you have the number of seventy, v. 27. The LXX. makes them seventy-five, and Stephen follows them (Acts vii. 14), the reason of which we leave to the conjecture of the critics; but let us observe, [1.] Masters of families ought to take care of all under their charge, and to provide for those of their own house food convenient both for body and soul. When Jacob himself removed to a land of plenty, he would not leave any of his children behind him to starve in a barren land. [2.] Though the accomplishment of promises is always sure, yet it is often slow. It was now 215 years since God had promised Abraham to make of him a great nation (ch. xii. 2); and yet that branch of his seed on which the promise was entailed had increased only to seventy, of which this particular account is kept, that the power of God in multiplying these seventy to so vast a multitude, even in Egypt, may appear the more illustrious. When God pleases, a little one shall become a thousand, Isa. lx. 22.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

5. And Jacob rose up. By using the words “rose up,” Moses seems to denote that Jacob received new vigor from the vision. For although the former promises were not forgotten, yet the addition of the recent memorial came most opportunely, in order that he, bearing the land of Canaan in his heart, might endure his absence from it with equanimity. When it is said that he took with him all that he had acquired, or possessed in the land of Canaan, it is probable that his servants and handmaids came together with his cattle. (178) But, on his departure, no mention is made of them: nay, a little afterwards, when Moses enumerates the separate heads of each tribe, he says that only seventy souls came with him. Should any one say that Jacob had been compelled to liberate his slaves, on account of the famine, or that he lost them through some misfortune to us unknown, the conjecture is unsatisfactory; for it is most incredible that he, who had been an industrious master of a family, and had abounded in the earthly blessings of God, should have become so entirely destitute, that not even one little servant remained to him. It is more probable that, when the children of Israel were themselves employed in servile works, they were then deprived of their servants in Egypt; or, at least, a sufficient number was not left them, to inspire them with confidence in any enterprise. And although, in the account of their deliverance, Moses is silent respecting their servants, yet it may be easily gathered from other passages, that they did not depart without servants.

(178) “A remarkable parallel to the description of the arrival of Jacob’s family in Egypt, is furnished by a scene in a tomb at Beni Hassan, representing strangers who arrive in Egypt. They carry their goods with them upon asses. The first figure is an Egyptian scribe, who presents an account of their arrival to a person in a sitting posture, one of the principal officers of the reigning Pharaoh — (compare the phrase, princes of Pharaoh, ver. 15.) The next, likewise an Egyptian, ushers them into his presence, and two of the strangers advance, bringing presents, the wild goat and the gazelle, probably as production of their country. Four men with bows and clubs follow, leading an ass, on which are two children in panniers, accompanied by a boy and four women. Last, another ass laden and two men, one of whom carries a bow and club, and the other a lyre, on which he plays with the plectrum. All the men have beards, contrary to the custom of the Egyptians,” etc. — Egypt and the Books of Moses, p. 40. It is supposed by some that this sculpture was intended to represent the arrival of Jacob and his family, recorded in this chapter. — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

5. In the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him “Instead of transporting them upon camels and asses, as was usual in Palestine . The use of the Egyptian wagons, and the fact that they were sent by Pharaoh himself, evidently made a deep impression, and is emphasized by the writer . See note on Genesis 14:27 . On the direct route from Hebron to Beer-sheba the hills are too steep and sharp, and the surface is too rocky, to allow of travel on wheeled vehicles . Artificial wagon roads have never been constructed through that country. But wheels could pass from Beer-sheba east of the direct route, through the great Wady el-Khulil, and thence through the valleys to Hebron. (Robinson, 1:215.)” Newhall.

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