βAnd Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.β
The well of the oath. Bersabee.
βAnd he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:β
Fear not. He might be apprehensive, lest his children should be depraved, living among idolaters, or prefer Egypt before the promised land. He was also afraid to undertake this journey without consulting God. (Menochius)
βI will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.β
Thence; in thy posterity. Septuagint add at last, or after a long time. Jacobβs bones were brought back and buried in Chanaan. (Calmet) β Eyes, as he is the most dear to thee. Parents closed the eyes of their children in death. The Romans opened them again when the corpse was upon the funeral pile; thinking it a mark of disrespect for the eyes to be shut to heaven; βut neque ab homine supremum eos spectari fas sit, & cΕlo non ostendi, nefas.β (Pliny, xi. 37.)
βHis sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.β
Daughters. Dina, and grand-daughter Sara, (ver. 17,) and his sonsβ wives, &c. (Calmet) β We may observe, that all here mentioned were not born at the time when Jacob went down into Egypt, but they were before he or Joseph died; that is, during the space of 17 or 71 years. See St. Augustine, q. 151, 173. (Menochius) β The names of the Hebrew and Septuagint vary some little from the Vulgate, which may be attributed to the difference of pronunciation, or to the same person having many names. The number is also different in the Septuagint as the authors of that version have, perhaps, inserted some names taken from other parts of Scripture, to remove any apparent contradiction. The genealogies of Juda, Joseph, and Benjamin, are carried farther than the rest, as those families were of greater consequence.
βAnd the sons of Reuben; Hanoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.β
Hesron and Charmi, were probably born in Egypt, as Ruben had only two sons, chap. xlii. 37. (Philo.)
βAnd the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman. Jemuel: or, Nemuel Jachin: or, Jarib Zohar: or, Zerahβ
Jamuel. Numbers xxvi. 12, he is called Namuel. β Jachin is Jarid[Jarib?], 1 Paralipomenon iv. 24. (Calmet)
βAnd 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.β
Were born, afterwards. (Menochius)
βThese be the sons of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob in Padanaram, with his daughter Dinah: all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty and three.β
Syria. This must be restrained to her seven children. β Thirty-three, comprising Lia or Jacob; but without Her and Onan, who were dead. (Calmet)
βAnd unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him. priest: or, princeβ
Ephraim. The Septuagint take in here the children of both, Numbers xxvi. 29, 35.
βAnd the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard. Ehi: or, Ahiram Muppim: or, Shupham or, Shuppim Huppim: or, Huphamβ
Benjamin. Ten in number; though the Septuagint have only nine, and suppose that some of them were his grand-children. He was 33 (or 24, Menochius) years old. (Calmet) β Grotius thinks three names have been made out of two; Echi, Ros, and Mophim, out of Ahiram and Supham, as we read, Numbers xxvi. 38.
βAnd the sons of Dan; Hushim. Hushim: or, Shuhamβ
Sons. The Arabic has son. Husim is Suham, (Numbers xxvi. 42,) by change and transposition of letters. (Kennicott)
βAll 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; loins: Heb. thighβ
Sixty-six; not including Jacob, Joseph, and his two children, who make up 70, ver. 27. (Deuteronomy x. 22.) The Septuagint taking in Josephβs grand-children, read 75; in which they are followed by St. Stephen, Acts vii. 14. See St. Jerome q. Heb. (Calmet) β St. Augustine cannot account for these grand-children and great grand-children of Joseph being mentioned as coming with Jacob into Egypt, since some of them were not born during his life-time. He suspects some hidden mystery. (Worthington) See ver. 7. β Some think St. Stephen excludes Jacob, Joseph, and his sons; and includes the 64 men, with 11 wives. (Du Hamel)
βThat ye shall say, Thy servants' trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.β
Abomination. See chap. xliii. 32. The source of this hatred against foreign shepherds, was probably because, about 100 years before Abraham, the shepherd-kings, Hycussos, had got possession of a great part of Egypt, and were at last expelled by the kings of Thebais. See Manetho ap. Eusebius, PrΔp. x. 13. Another reason why they hated foreigners was, because they slew and eat sheep, &c., which they themselves adored. The Egyptians kept sheep for this purpose, and for the benefits to be derived from their wool, &c., chap. xlvii. 17. (Calmet) β Joseph took advantage of this disposition of the inhabitants, to keep his brethren at a distance from them, that they might not be perverted. He does not introduce them at court, that no jealousy might be excited. He shews that he is not ashamed of his extraction. (Menochius)