Genesis 46:5

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

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.

Genesis 46:5 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.Ver. 5. And Jacob rose up from Beersheba.] The word "rose up" is emphatical, and imports that his heart was lightened, and his joints oiled and nimbled, as it were, with the heavenly vision. As when he had seen God at Bethel, he "lift up his feet," and went on his way lustily; so here, as fast as his old legs would carry him; as Father Latimer said to Ridley, when they were going to the stake. And as it is recorded of good old Rawlins White, martyr; that whereas before he was wont to go stooping, or rather crooked, through infirmity of age, having a sad countenance and very feeble complexion, and, with it, very soft in speech and gesture; now he went and stretched up himself, not only bolt upright, as he went to the stake, but also bare, with it, a most pleasant and comfortable countenance, not without great courage and audacity, both in speech and behaviour. In like sort, Jacob here, having sought God, and received a gracious promise of his presence and protection, rose up merrily from Beersheba, and doubts not to follow God whithersoever he shall lead him. Act. and Mon. Ibidem, fol. 1415.

5. Beer-sheba] Jacob’s home, as of his fathers, according to E (Genesis 21:31, Genesis 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 Genesis 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 Genesis 12:5; Genesis 31:18; Genesis 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 Numbers 26:5-51 (with the omission of Levi), and in 1 Chronicles 2-8. Moreover in Exodus 6:14-16 we find the same list, so far as relates to Reuben, Simeon, and Levi (Genesis 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 (Genesis 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 (Genesis 46:8-15); (2) the sons of Zilpah (Genesis 46:16-18); (3) the sons of Rachel (Genesis 46:19-22); (4) the sons of Bilhah (Genesis 46:23-25).

5. In the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him — “Instead of transporting them upon camels and asses, as was usual in Palestine.