Genesis 46
BSASBJacob, now an old man, sets out for Egypt to see Joseph, and stops at Beersheba to seek God. God reassures him: He will go down with Jacob, make his family a great nation, and bring them back. The rest of the chapter lists the seventy who went down, then describes the tearful reunion with Joseph and his plan to settle the family in Goshen.
Genesis 46:1
Jacob packs up everything and heads south, but he does not go straight on. At Beersheba, where his father and grandfather had met God, he stops to worship. He will not step out of the Promised Land without seeking the God of his fathers.
BSA: sacrifices (“an act of worship, a religious offering”): Jacob’s first act is worship, so the move to Egypt begins with God and not just with family reunion. Beersheba (“the well of the sevenfold oath”): The name recalls old promises made at this spot, which fits Jacob’s need for fresh assurance.
Hebrew: זְבָחִים (zevachim, H2077) — “slaughter offerings, sacrifices.” This is the word for sacrifices that were often shared as a meal before God. Jacob comes to God as a worshiper and a grateful guest.
See also: Genesis 26:23-25.
Genesis 46:2
God speaks to Jacob in a night vision and calls his name twice, a tender and personal call. Jacob answers at once. After years of silence, God speaks just when Jacob is facing a huge and uncertain step.
BSA: Here I am (“behold, I am present, ready to respond”): Jacob answers as one who is listening and ready, the way Abraham and Moses answered God.
Hebrew: הִנֵּנִי (hinneni, H2009) — “here I am.” It means more than ‘I’m here.’ It says ‘I am present and ready to hear and obey.’.
See also: Genesis 22:11.
Genesis 46:3
God names Himself as the God of Jacob’s father and tells him not to fear. Jacob had reason to be afraid, because Egypt was outside the land God had promised. God says the move is part of His plan: the family will grow into a great nation there.
BSA: afraid (“do not fear or dread”): God speaks straight to Jacob’s unspoken dread about leaving the land of promise.
Hebrew: גּוֹי גָּדוֹל (goy gadol, H1471) — “a great nation.” This is the very phrase of the promise given to Abraham. God is saying that going down to Egypt does not cancel the promise but carries it forward.
See also: Genesis 12:2.
Genesis 46:4
God gives three promises: His own presence on the journey, a return to the land, and a peaceful death with Joseph beside him. The return will be fulfilled in Jacob’s descendants, and Jacob’s body would be carried back for burial. Closing the eyes was a final act of loving care.
BSA: back (“ascend, return to the promised land”): The return is pictured as going up to the land God promised, which keeps Canaan as the family’s real home.
Hebrew: אַעַלְךָ (ha’alcha, H5927) — “I will bring you up.” The word means to lead up, and the Hebrew stresses it with a repeated ‘up.’ God says it twice over, with emphasis, so the promise sounds sure.
See also: Genesis 15:13-16; Genesis 50:24.
Genesis 46:5-7
Jacob leaves Beersheba with sons, grandsons, wives and children, riding in wagons Pharaoh had provided. They bring their livestock and goods too. The whole family travels together. The text stresses that all his offspring went with him, so no one is left behind.
BSA: wagons (“carts, vehicles”): Pharaoh’s carts were a practical sign of welcome that carried an old man and the little ones in comfort. offspring (“seed, descendants, family”): The word ‘seed’ recalls the promise that God would multiply Abraham’s seed.
See also: Genesis 45:19-21.
Genesis 46:8-9
The list begins, as the family order does, with Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and his four sons. The names matter because these were the families that would become tribes. God keeps account of people one by one.
BSA: firstborn (“the premier, the initial”): Reuben stands first by birth, even though his later failures cost him the leading place.
Genesis 46:10
Simeon’s sons are listed, and one is marked as the son of a Canaanite woman. This quietly shows that the chosen family had already mixed with the people of the land. It was a risk to their calling, and later parts of Genesis show how real that risk was.
BSA: Canaanite (“Canaanitess, a woman from the land of Canaan”): Shaul’s mother came from the surrounding peoples, so he was not of purely Hebrew descent.
Genesis 46:11
Levi’s three sons are named: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Their families would later be given the care of the tabernacle. A tribe that will serve God’s house begins here as three names in a refugee caravan.
See also: Numbers 3:17.
Genesis 46:12
Judah’s list includes two sons who had already died in Canaan, and it names Perez and Zerah, whom Tamar bore. Perez’s line leads on to David and eventually to Jesus. God’s plan moves through a family with plenty of shame in it.
BSA: died (“passed away, met their end”): Er and Onan are mentioned only to say they ended in Canaan and did not go down to Egypt.
Hebrew: פֶּרֶץ (peretz, H6557) — “breach, breaking through.” The name means a breaking forth. It recalls his surprising birth, and the line of Judah goes on through him.
See also: Genesis 38:29; Matthew 1:3.
Genesis 46:13-14
Issachar and Zebulun, two more of Leah’s sons, are listed with their sons. These names read like a plain family register. They show that the promise of a nation was growing through ordinary households, one child at a time.
Genesis 46:15
Leah’s household is summed up as thirty-three, including her daughter Dinah. This is a total of Leah’s line, and it is counted in different ways. The point is that Jacob’s family was large and was counted carefully.
See also: Genesis 29:31-35.
Genesis 46:16-18
Gad’s and Asher’s families come next, along with Asher’s daughter Serah, one of the few women named. Together they are credited to Zilpah, the maid Laban gave Leah, and number sixteen. Zilpah’s sons stand among the tribes of Israel.
Genesis 46:19-22
Rachel’s line is listed: Joseph and Benjamin, then Joseph’s two sons born in Egypt, and Benjamin’s many sons. Joseph’s wife Asenath was the daughter of a priest of On, an Egyptian sun-worship center, yet her sons became tribes of Israel. The total is fourteen.
BSA: On (“a city in Egypt where the sun was worshipped”): Joseph’s sons were born into a household tied to pagan priesthood, yet God counted them among His people.
See also: Genesis 41:45; Genesis 48:5.
Genesis 46:23-25
The list ends with Dan and Naphtali, sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maid. Dan has one son named, Naphtali has four. The total for Bilhah’s line is seven. No branch of the family is left out, whether born of wife or servant.
Genesis 46:26
The number sixty-six counts Jacob’s own direct descendants who made the journey, leaving out the wives of his sons. It also leaves out Joseph and his two sons, who were already in Egypt. The text counts people, not property.
BSA: persons (“souls, living beings, individuals”): Each one is counted as a living soul, not as a head of cattle or a servant.
Hebrew: נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, H5315) — “soul, living person.” The word looks at the whole living being, not just a body. Each of the seventy counts as a person.
Genesis 46:27
Add Joseph and his two sons to the sixty-six, then Jacob himself, and the family comes to seventy. That number stands for a complete family heading into Egypt. Other counts, such as the one in Acts 7:14, follow other ways of reckoning and give different totals.
See also: Exodus 1:5; Acts 7:14.
Genesis 46:28
Jacob sends Judah ahead to find out the way to Goshen. Judah had earlier offered himself in place of Benjamin, so it fits that he now leads the way. Goshen was the fertile pasture land on the eastern side of the Nile delta.
BSA: directions (“the way, a path”): Judah is sent to show the way, and he steps forward as the family’s guide.
Hebrew: לְהוֹרֹת (lehorot, H3384) — “to point the way, to instruct.” This word comes from the same root as Torah, which means teaching. Judah is sent to point the way.
See also: Genesis 44:18-34.
Genesis 46:29
Joseph, the powerful ruler, hurries in his chariot to meet his father. He throws his arms around him and weeps for a long time. The great official is still a son. Years of loss are poured out in the embrace.
BSA: embraced (“threw his arms around”): The picture is of a son who cannot let go and holds his father tightly.
Hebrew: צַוָּארָיו (tsavvaraiv, H6677) — “his neck.” The Hebrew says Joseph fell on his father’s neck and wept on it. The picture is a physical, wholehearted embrace.
Genesis 46:30
Jacob says he is now ready to die, because he has seen Joseph’s face and knows he is alive. For years he thought his son was dead. Seeing him is enough. Jacob in fact lived many more years in Egypt.
Hebrew: אָמוּתָה (amutah, H4191) — “let me die.” The form carries a sense of settled readiness: ‘I can die now.’ The father’s longing is met and he is at peace.
See also: Luke 2:29-30.
Genesis 46:31-32
Joseph tells his family how he will present them to Pharaoh. He will say plainly that they are shepherds with their flocks and herds. He is arranging a safe home for them, and he is open about who they are.
BSA: household (“family, clan”): Joseph speaks for the whole clan, not just his brothers, and takes responsibility for all of them.
Genesis 46:33-34
Joseph tells them to answer Pharaoh honestly that they have always tended livestock. Shepherds were looked down on by the Egyptians, which would keep the family apart in Goshen. That separation protected their faith and their identity as God’s people.
BSA: detestable (“an abomination, unclean”): The Egyptians held shepherds in strong disgust, and that very scorn made a place apart for Israel.
Hebrew: תּוֹעֲבָה (to’evah, H8441) — “something detestable, abhorrent.” This is a strong word for what is deeply offensive. The text does not say why the Egyptians felt it, only that they did.