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Génesis 46

VBL · Chapter 46/50

1Así que Israel se fue a Egipto con todo lo que tenía. Cuando llegó a Beerseba ofreció sacrificios al Dios de su padre Isaac.

2Durante la noche Dios habló a Israel en una visión. “¡Jacob! ¡Jacob!” llamó.

3“¡Yo soy Dios, el Dios de tu padre! No temas ir a Egipto, porque te convertiré a ti y a tus descendientes en una gran nación.

4Iré a Egipto contigo, y prometo traerte de vuelta. Y José personalmente cerrará tus ojos cuando mueras”.

5Entonces Jacob dejó Beerseba. Sus hijos lo llevaron a él, a sus hijos y a sus esposas a Egipto usando los carros que el Faraón había enviado.

6También se llevaron todo su ganado y todas las pertenencias personales que habían acumulado en el país de Canaán.

7incluyendo todos sus hijos y nietos, hijas y nietas.

8La siguiente es la genealogía de Israel y sus hijos que fueron a Egipto: Rubén, el primogénito de Jacob.

9Los hijos de Rubén: Janoc, Falú, Jezrón y Carmi.

10Los hijos de Simeón: Jemuel, Jamín, Ohad, Jachín, Zojar y Saúl, hijo de una mujer cananea.

11Los hijos de Leví: Gersón, Coat y Merari.

12Los hijos de Judá: Onán, Selá, Fares y Zera. Sin embargo, Er y Onán murieron en Canaán.

13Los hijos de Isacar: Tola, Fuvá, Job, y Simrón.

14Los hijos de Zabulón: Séred, Elón y Yalel.

15Estos son los hijos que Lea tuvo para Jacob en Padán Harán, así como su hija Dina. El número total de hijos e hijas y nietos fue de treinta y tres.

16Los hijos de Gad: Zefón, Jaguí, Suni, Esbón, Erí, Arodí y Arelí.

17Los hijos de Aser: Imná, Isvá, Isví, Beriá, y su hermana Sera.

18Estos son los hijos que Jacob tuvo con Zilpá, la sierva dada por Labán a su hija Lea. Fue en total dieciséis hijos y nietos.

19Los hijos de la esposa de Jacob, Raquel: José y Benjamín.

20Los hijos que José tuvo en la tierra de Egipto con Asenat, hija de Potifera, sacerdote de On: Manasés y Efraín.

21Los hijos de Benjamín: Bela, Béquer, Asbel, Guerá, Naamán, Ehí, Ros, Mupín, Jupín y Ard.

22Estos son los hijos que Raquel tuvo con Jacob, y fueron en total catorce hijos y nietos.

23El hijo de Dan: Jusín.

24Los hijos de Neftalí: Yasel, Guní, Jéser y Silén.

25Estos son los hijos que Jacob tuvo con Bilhá, la sierva dada por Labán para su hija Raquel. Fue un total de siete hijos y nietos.

26Todos los que formaban parte de la familia de Jacob que vinieron a Egipto (sus parientes de sangre, aparte de las esposas de los hijos de Jacob) sumaban un total de sesenta y seis.

27Incluyendo los dos hijos que José tuvo en Egipto, el número total de la familia de Jacob que se encontraba en Egipto era de setenta.

28Jacob envió a Judá por delante para que se reuniera con José y averiguara el camino a Gosén. Cuando llegaron a Gosén,

29José ordenó que prepararan su carro y fue a encontrarse allí con su padre Israel. Tan pronto como llegó, abrazó a su padre y lloró por mucho tiempo.

30“Ahora puedo morir en paz porque he visto tu rostro de nuevo y sé que sigues vivo”, le dijo Israel a José.

31José dijo a sus hermanos y a la familia de su padre: “Voy a ir a informar al Faraón y a decirle: ‘Mis hermanos y la familia de mi padre han llegado del país de Canaán para unirse a mí.

32Son pastores y tienen ganado. Han traído con ellos sus rebaños y manadas y todas sus posesiones’.

33“Cuando el Faraón los llame y les pregunte: ‘¿Qué trabajo hacen ustedes?’

34díganle: ‘Tus siervos han cuidado ganado desde que éramos niños, tanto nosotros como nuestros padres antes que nosotros’. Así podrán vivir aquí en Gosén, porque los egipcios desprecian a los pastores”.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Jacob sets out for Egypt with his whole family after receiving confirmation from God at Beersheba; the complete genealogy of the seventy family members who went down to Egypt is listed, and Joseph goes to meet his father in Goshen.

Explanation

This chapter marks an important transition in the history of God's people: the family that began with Abraham's individual call now moves, as a group of seventy people, to Egypt — a movement that, though it may seem small at this moment, will be the starting point for the formation of the great nation of Israel, just as promised centuries before. God's reaffirmation to Jacob at Beersheba ('fear not... I will go down with thee into Egypt,' v. 3-4) shows that this move, though it might seem like a departure from the promised land, was part of the divine plan, not a detour from it. The emotional reunion between Jacob and Joseph, described with a long embrace and tears, brings an end to decades of separation and grief, giving Jacob the joy of seeing, before he died, that his most beloved son was alive and prospering. The lesson is that God's plans sometimes involve unexpected paths, but they are always safe under his care.

Fun facts

  • The number of seventy people who went down to Egypt with Jacob (v. 27) is explicitly picked up again at the beginning of the book of Exodus (Exodus 1:5), serving as a narrative bridge between the two books and marking the starting point for Israel's population growth in Egypt.
  • Joseph's instruction that his brothers identify themselves as 'men whose trade hath been about cattle' before Pharaoh (v. 34) was a deliberate strategy to ensure the family would settle apart in Goshen, since the Egyptians considered shepherding a despised occupation — which, ironically, would help preserve the separate identity of the Hebrew people.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Génesis 46:1Before leaving Canaan for good, Jacob stops at Beersheba, the same place loaded with family history since Abraham, and offers sacrifices to the God of Isaac — a gesture of seeking divine approval before such a major step.
  2. Génesis 46:2God calls Jacob’s name twice in a row in a night vision — a pattern of urgent calling that appears at other important moments in the Bible.
  3. Génesis 46:3God reassures Jacob specifically about the fear of going down to Egypt, promising that there his family will become a great nation — the same promise made to Abraham, now applied to the move to a foreign land.
  4. Génesis 46:4The promise that Joseph will put his hand on Jacob’s eyes is an old way of saying Joseph would be at his father’s side at the moment of death, closing his eyes — a farewell gesture only a child or very close relative performed. God is assuring Jacob he won’t die alone, far from his family.
  5. Génesis 46:5Jacob leaves Beersheba, and his sons arrange to carry their father, the children, and the women in the wagons Pharaoh had sent specifically for this trip.
  6. Génesis 46:6The family also takes along all the livestock and possessions gained during the years lived in Canaan — they don’t go to Egypt empty-handed.
  7. Génesis 46:7All of Jacob’s descendants go down with him: sons, grandsons, daughters, and granddaughters — the whole family moves at once.
  8. Génesis 46:8Here begins the full list of those who went down to Egypt, organized by mother — opening with Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.
  9. Génesis 46:9The list continues with Reuben’s four sons, the second generation already born within Israel’s line.
  10. Génesis 46:10Among Simeon’s sons is Shaul, son of a Canaanite woman — a detail showing that even within Jacob’s own family there was already mixing with neighboring peoples.
  11. Génesis 46:11Levi’s three sons — Gershon, Kohath, and Merari — will later give rise to the three great clans responsible for service at the tabernacle.
  12. Génesis 46:12The list of Judah’s sons notes that Er and Onan had already died in Canaan, as told in chapter 38, and includes the grandsons born of Perez.
  13. Génesis 46:13Next come Issachar’s four sons, another branch of Leah’s line.
  14. Génesis 46:14Zebulun’s three sons close out this part of the list tied to Leah.
  15. Génesis 46:15The summary closes the count of Leah’s children, including her daughter Dinah: in all, thirty-three people from this line went down to Egypt.
  16. Génesis 46:16The list moves on to Gad’s seven sons, son of Zilpah, Leah’s maid.
  17. Génesis 46:17Asher’s sons include their sister, Serah, a rare case of a named woman within these genealogical lists.
  18. Génesis 46:18The summary confirms: the children of Zilpah, the maid Laban had given to his own daughter Leah, total sixteen people.
  19. Génesis 46:19The list moves to the sons of Rachel, Jacob’s most beloved wife: Joseph and Benjamin.
  20. Génesis 46:20Joseph already had two sons born in Egypt before the family’s arrival: Manasseh and Ephraim, from his marriage to Asenath.
  21. Génesis 46:21Next comes the list of Benjamin’s ten sons, the youngest brother who nearly didn’t return from his last trip to Egypt in the previous chapter.
  22. Génesis 46:22The summary closes Rachel’s line: fourteen people in all, counting Joseph, his two sons, Benjamin, and his ten sons.
  23. Génesis 46:23Dan appears here with a single son, Hushim — unlike the other tribes in the list, which usually have several sons named in this census of the seventy who went down to Egypt with Jacob.
  24. Génesis 46:24These four sons of Naphtali reappear, with the same names, in the census in the book of Numbers, taken decades later in the wilderness — showing the line of families descending from each of them.
  25. Génesis 46:25The summary closes Bilhah’s line, the maid Laban had given to Rachel: seven people in all.
  26. Génesis 46:26The expression “out of his loins” is a Hebrew way of saying they are his descendants, since the loins were associated with the ability to father children. The text is counting how many people of Jacob’s family went down to Egypt, not including the daughters-in-law.
  27. Génesis 46:27The number seventy souls closes the symbolic count of Jacob’s whole family that entered Egypt. The names listed in the previous verses serve to justify this final sum, used as a marker of how many people would later become an entire nation.
  28. Génesis 46:28Jacob sends Judah ahead of the group to notify Joseph and be guided to the region of Goshen — Judah takes on a leadership role that had already been growing since chapter 44.
  29. Génesis 46:29Joseph personally prepares his own chariot and goes up to meet his father, embracing him and weeping for a long time — the reunion that closes the twenty-year cycle of separation.
  30. Génesis 46:30Jacob says he can now die in peace, since he has seen with his own eyes that the son he had given up for dead is still alive.
  31. Génesis 46:31Joseph tells his brothers he will formally announce the family’s arrival to Pharaoh, setting up the conversation that follows in chapter 47.
  32. Génesis 46:32Before the meeting with Pharaoh, Joseph explains to his brothers that they should identify themselves as shepherds, since they brought their own flocks and possessions with them.
  33. Génesis 46:33Joseph anticipates the question Pharaoh will likely ask about the family’s occupation — preparing his brothers to answer the right way.
  34. Génesis 46:34Just as they avoided eating with Hebrews, the Egyptians also despised the shepherd’s trade — probably because they were a people more tied to settled agriculture, while shepherds like Jacob’s family lived on the move. Joseph tells his brothers to admit the trade right up front, which, even so, helps them get the isolated land of Goshen.

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