The sons Rachel, Jacob's wife,.... The wife of his affection and choice, his principal wife, yea, his only lawful wife; Zilpah and Bilhah were his concubines, and as for Leah, she was imposed and forced upon him: Joseph and Benjamin; the first was in Egypt already, the other now went down with Jacob.
And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim,.... And therefore not to be reckoned with those that went down with Jacob thither; for which reason the clause, "in the land of Egypt", is inserted, see Genesis 41:50; which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On, bare unto him; here again the Targum of Jonathan makes...
And the sons of Benjamin,.... The second son of Jacob by his wife Rachel; whose sons [were] Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard; in all one hundred and ten. It is a difficulty to account for it, that Benjamin, Jacob's youngest son, often called a lad at this time, and generally supposed to be...
These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob,.... That is, sons and grandsons: all the souls [were] fourteen; two sons, Joseph and Benjamin; twelve grandsons, two of Joseph's, and ten of Benjamin's.
And the sons of Dan, Hushim. He had but one son, wherefore the plural is put for the singular, see Genesis 46:7; Aben Ezra thinks he had two sons, and that one of them was dead, and therefore not mentioned; but the other way best accounts for the expression; though, as Schmidt observes, the plural may be indefinitely put, and the sense be this, as...
These [are] the sons of Bilhah, which Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter,.... To be her maid, when she was married to Jacob: and she bare these unto Jacob, all the souls [were] seven; not that she bare seven sons to Jacob, she bore but two, Dan and Naphtali; but the children of these with them made seven, one of Dan's, and four of Naphtali's, who...
All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt,.... These are in parcels before mentioned, but here they are brought to a sum total; and by this phrase are excluded those that died before, as Er and Onan, and those that were in Egypt before, as Joseph and his two sons; and I should think also all that were born in Egypt afterwards, even while Jacob...
And the sons of Joseph, which were born in Egypt, [were] two souls,.... Ephraim and Manasseh; which is observed to show that they do not come into the above reckoning, but are to be taken into another that follows: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, [were] threescore and ten; here it may be observed, the phrase is varied;...
And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph,.... Who was the more honourable of his sons, and in greater esteem with Jacob than his elder brethren were, Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, who by their conduct had greatly displeased him: moreover, he was a man of a polite address, and had endeared himself to Joseph by his speech to him, in which he discovered...
And Joseph made ready his chariot,.... Or "bound" (y) it, fastened the horses to it, harnessed them, and put them to; this he did not himself, as Jarchi thinks, for the honour of his father; but rather, as Aben Ezra, by ordering his servants to do it: and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen; that being higher than the other part of Egypt,...
And Israel said unto Joseph,.... He broke silence first: now let me die, since I have seen thy face; not that he was impatient to die, and not desirous to live any longer; for it could not but yield pleasure to him, and make the remainder of his life more comfortable to live with such a son, his darling, and now in so much honour and grandeur; but...
And Joseph said unto his brethren, and to his father's house,.... To them and their families, after he had paid his filial respects to his father, in honour, reverence, and affection: I will go up and shew Pharaoh; acquaint him that his father and all his family were come to Egypt; he says, "I will go up"; which same phrase is used of him, Genesis...
And the men [are] shepherds,.... That was their occupation and employment, by which they got their livelihood. Joseph was not ashamed of the business his father and brethren followed, even though mean; and besides, such men were an abomination to the Egyptians: this he thought proper to tell Pharaoh, lest he should think of putting them into some...
And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you,.... Order them to come before him, to see them, and have some conversation with them: and shall say, what [is] your occupation? or your works (c), their business and employment, whether they exercised any manufacture or handicraft, and what it was. (c) מעשיכם "opus vestrum", Pagninus,...
That ye shall say, thy servants' trade hath been about cattle,.... Breeding, feeding, and selling them: from our youth, even until now: this had been their constant employment, they never followed any other: both we, [and] also our fathers; their father, grandfather, and great grandfather, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were all of the same...