Genesis 46:8-27

Genesis 46:8-27

[8] And these are the names  of the children  of Israel,  which came  into Egypt,  Jacob  and his sons:  Reuben,  Jacob's  firstborn.  [9] And the sons  of Reuben;  Hanoch,  and Phallu,  and Hezron,  and Carmi.  [10] And the sons  of Simeon;  Jemuel,  and Jamin,  and Ohad,  and Jachin,  and Zohar,  and Shaul  the son  of a Canaanitish  [11] And the sons  of Levi;  Gershon,  Kohath,  and Merari.  [12] 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.  [13] And the sons  of Issachar;  Tola,  and Phuvah,  and Job,  and Shimron.  [14] And the sons  of Zebulun;  Sered,  and Elon,  and Jahleel.  [15] These 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.  [16] And the sons  of Gad;  Ziphion,  and Haggi,  Shuni,  and Ezbon,  Eri,  and Arodi,  and Areli.  [17] And the sons  of Asher;  Jimnah,  and Ishuah,  and Isui,  and Beriah,  and Serah  their sister:  and the sons  of Beriah;  Heber,  and Malchiel.  [18] These are the sons  of Zilpah,  whom Laban  gave  to Leah  his daughter,  and these she bare  unto Jacob,  even sixteen  souls.  [19] The sons  of Rachel  Jacob's  wife;  Joseph,  and Benjamin.  [20] And unto Joseph  in the land  of Egypt  were born  Manasseh  and Ephraim,  which Asenath  the daughter  of Potipherah  priest  of On  bare  unto him. [21] And the sons  of Benjamin  were Belah,  and Becher,  and Ashbel,  Gera,  and Naaman,  Ehi,  and Rosh,  Muppim,  and Huppim,  and Ard.  [22] These are the sons  of Rachel,  which were born  to Jacob:  all the souls  were fourteen.  [23] And the sons  of Dan;  Hushim.  [24] And the sons  of Naphtali;  Jahzeel,  and Guni,  and Jezer,  and Shillem.  [25] These are the sons  of Bilhah,  which Laban  gave  unto Rachel  his daughter,  and she bare  these unto Jacob:  all the souls  were seven.  [26] All 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;  [27] And the sons  of Joseph,  which were born  him in Egypt,  were two  souls:  of the house  of Jacob,  which came  into Egypt,  were threescore and ten. 

What does Genesis 46:8-27 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

This section contains a list of the individuals in Jacob"s family about the time he moved to Egypt. As in chapter31 , when he left Paddan-aram, this move was also difficult for Jacob. Moses recorded a total of70 persons ( Genesis 46:27; cf. Exodus 1:5). The66 referred to in Genesis 46:26 excluded Jacob, Joseph, Ephraim, and Prayer of Manasseh , or perhaps Er and Onan ( Genesis 46:12) and Ephraim and Manasseh. Stephen said there were75 , but he must have added Joseph"s three grandsons and two great-grandsons ( Acts 7:14). These five were born later, as were some or all of Benjamin"s10 sons ( Genesis 46:21), in all probability.
". . . according to a view which we frequently meet with in the Old Testament, though strange to our modes of thought, [1] came into Egypt in lumbus patrum [2]." [3]
"It [4] means: shortly after the children of Israel had come to Egypt there were to be found those seventy fathers from whom were derived the seventy clans that were the prevailing clans throughout Israel"s early history." [5]
This was the humble beginning of the great nation of Israel.
"It can hardly go without notice that the number of nations in Genesis 10 is also "seventy." Just as the "seventy nations" represent all the descendants of Adam, so now the "seventy sons" represent all the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob-the children of Israel. Here in narrative form is a demonstration of the theme in Deuteronomy 32:8 that God apportioned the boundaries of the nations ( Genesis 10) according to the number of the children of Israel. Thus the writer has gone to great lengths to portray the new nation of Israel as a new humanity and Abraham as a second Adam. The blessing that is to come through Abraham and his seed is a restoration of the original blessing of Adam, a blessing which was lost in the Fall." [6]