Genesis 46 · The Lantern

Jacob’s Journey to Egypt

And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

And God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.

And he said, I am God, the God of your father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of you a great nation:

I will go down with you into Egypt; and I will also surely bring you up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon your eyes.

But I think a still greater mystery lies hidden in this passage. For this statement disturbs me: "I will make a great nation of you, and I will go down with you into Egypt, and I will recall you from there in the end." Who is it who is made "into a great nation" in Egypt and is recalled "in the end"?

Our God himself also exhorts that people with his own prophecy and promises them advancement in the faith, the fruit of his gift, for he says to them, "Joseph shall put his hand on your eyes." It was not that the holy patriarch was troubled as to who should close his eyes, although in the clear understanding of it a natural love is also being expressed.

See how whatever the good man longed for the Lord promises him, and in fact much more. That is to say, in his generosity he exceeds our requests out of fidelity to his characteristic love. "Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt," he says.

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.

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:

Those Who Went to Egypt

His sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters, and all his seed he brought with him into Egypt.

The Children of Leah

And these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.

And the sons of Reuben; Hanoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.

And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman.

And the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

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.

And the sons of Issachar; Tola, and Phuvah, and Job, and Shimron.

And the sons of Zebulun; Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.

These be the sons of Leah, which she bore to Jacob in Padan-aram, with his daughter Dinah: all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty-three.

The Children of Zilpah

And the sons of Gad; Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli.

And the sons of Asher; Jimnah, and Ishuah, and Isui, and Beriah, and Serah their sister: and the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel.

These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob, even sixteen souls.

The Children of Rachel

The sons of Rachel Jacob’s wife; Joseph, and Benjamin.

And to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah priest of On bore to him.

And the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard.

These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.

The Children of Bilhah

And the sons of Dan; Hushim.

And the sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.

These are the sons of Bilhah, which Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and she bore these to Jacob: all the souls were seven.

All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were sixty and six;

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 seventy.

Therefore seventy-five souls go down into Egypt, just as it is written, and this in the mystical sense is the number of forgiveness. For after such great hardness, after such great sins, they would be considered unworthy unless there were granted them the forgiveness of sins. Judah—that is, the confession of sin—goes to meet Joseph.

Why did sacred Scripture indicate the number to us precisely? So that we might be in a position to know how God's prediction took effect that said, "I will make you into a great nation there." You see, from those seventy-five persons the people of Israel grew into six hundred thousand.

Therefore Jacob went down to Egypt together with seventy-five people, and his son Joseph came to meet him. After seeing him Jacob said, "I see you, son, now I can die willingly." When Simeon, that venerable old man, called a father because of his age and not because he could father children, saw Christ because of whom he was still kept in this world as in Egypt, even though he…

Jacob Arrives in Egypt

And he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to direct his face to Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.

And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself to him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.

And Israel said to Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen your face, because you are yet alive.

And Joseph said to his brothers, and to his father’s house, I will go up, and show Pharaoh, and say to him, My brothers, and my father’s house, which were in the land of Canaan, have come to me;

And the men are shepherds, for their trade has been to feed cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.

And it shall happen, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation?

That you shall say, Your servants’ trade has been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.