And these are the names of the sons of Israel who came into Egypt Jacob and his sons. Jacob's firstborn, Reuben.
The story stops at the border of Egypt for a list of names — Jacob, his sons, and their sons. Why does Scripture give room to a plain roll of names, and what is God doing with these seventy people?
This is not a family's own paperwork. One commentator reads it as a register God Himself keeps.
This is God's register of Jacob and his house: "seventy" souls counting Jacob, and Joseph with his two sons; "sixty-six" without them… The time was near when they would exchange the life of one family — already grown in Genesis into twelve families — for the life of a people… Scripture shows the interest God took in recording what looks small to men. Human nature delights in what it counts great in its own eyes and before the world.
Lists like this one have long been a target for critics. One commentator answers them by asking how a genealogy should be read.
If we truly want to avoid serious mistakes and understand Scripture rightly, we must read the genealogies by their own aim, not by modern ideas. It is plain on the face of them that they contain difficulties. No forger or compiler would have left these; he would have taken every care to avoid them. The writer, though, knew details that we may not. He states plainly what he knows to be true, without stopping to clear the difficulties up.
So what is the aim here? Another writer answers that the chapter sets out the whole household.
On the whole, the purpose of the statement in Genesis 46 is plainly to give Jacob's family. So it mentions some who did not go down to Egypt. Hezron and Hamul are brought into the verse on purpose — not in the list of sons, but as linked with them. The saying, "Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven," takes up the general fact to show the amazing increase.
Three totals attach to this one group: two in the chapter itself, and a third when Stephen retells the story in the book of Acts. One writer asks what each number counts.
The question is not really about truth, but about purpose and way of speaking. The original history itself speaks of 66 (verse 26) and 70 (verse 27). Even in verse 26 the Hebrew strictly means "belong to," not "with Jacob." The 70 are his house, and that takes in more. The old Greek translation, which Stephen quotes, adds five more, though they were born in Egypt. It follows the well known custom of treating parent and children as one.
One short note settles who is counted in the thirty-three:
Dinah is not counted in the thirty-three; Er and Onan are.
The names fall into groups, mother by mother. One writer sees two things at work in that order.
Here again we find the natural order, but arranged by the wives. God has the upper hand in everything that concerns the family of promise. At the same time, Leah and Rachel each reap the fruit of their own self-will.
Why did Jacob's family leave the promised land at all? A famine and a crime lie on the surface. One writer looks beneath them.
The immediate cause of their going down to Egypt was the famine. But by the famine, as by the wickedness of Jacob's sons in selling their brother to the Ishmaelites (Gen. 37:28), God was simply carrying out His own purposes. Long before this He had said to Abram, "Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs… and afterward they shall come out with great possessions." (Gen. 15:13-14.) It fills us with wonder to think that whatever men do, even in wickedness and open rebellion, God bends it to establish His own counsels of grace and love.
Egypt looks like exile. Seen from the end, it is where a household grew into a nation.
Egypt was the nursery God provided for the chosen race while it grew from one great family — the sons and grandsons of one father — into a people meant for their inheritance. God sheltered them in mercy for a time, so that they would grow all the more under hardship when it came.
Egypt would later mean slavery.
Even the slavery they were coming into had already been promised them. What seemed most against them was in fact the working out of promise for them.
- Register. The names are God's own record of Jacob's house — proof of the interest He takes in what looks small to people.
- Aim. Read a genealogy by the purpose it serves. Here the aim is to give Jacob's family, so it names some who did not go down to Egypt.
- Numbers. Sixty-six, seventy and seventy-five are not rival totals but different reckonings of the same household.
- Order. The list groups the sons by their mothers. God keeps the upper hand in the family of promise, and Leah and Rachel reap what their own wills sowed.
- Increase. Famine, a brother's betrayal, even the slavery ahead — all carried out a promise made to Abram. Egypt became the nursery where seventy souls grew into a nation.
And the sons of Reuben Enoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.
The verse gives four names and nothing else: the sons Reuben brought with him into Egypt. Why does Scripture stop to record them? And why does Reuben, who lost his birthright, still head the family list?
One writer reads the whole list as an official record, and notes what God thought worth keeping:
It is God's register of Jacob and his house, "seventy" souls including Jacob, and Joseph with his two sons, "sixty-six" without these... The time was near when they would stop being one family and become a people. In Genesis that family had already grown into twelve families. Their growth is one of the opening facts of Exodus. Scripture reveals the interest God took in recording things little in man's eyes. Nature revels in what it counts great in its own eyes and before the world.
Another writer draws the same lesson from the names, and shows how the number seventy is reached:
Now we are told the names of everyone in Jacob's household who came with him. This shows that our great God is interested in people one by one, not only in nations or large groups. The total was 66 persons (v. 26), plus Joseph and his two sons. Jacob himself is the seventieth.
Reuben's sons open the list because Reuben was the eldest. But that honour did not stay with him:
As the firstborn of Israel he had a prominent place. The firstborn, or the one who stands in that place, comes before the whole family. The main family line usually runs through him. But Reuben is set aside, and the high place that came with the birthright only sank him the lower when he lost it. When did the natural order ever hold up under God's righteous government? The order of nature is not God's order, and nothing can meet nature's waywardness except the sovereign mercy of God.
That reversal runs through the whole book:
Hence the firstborns in the book of Genesis lose the place of blessing. Cain, what is he? Ishmael gives place to Isaac; Esau to Jacob; Reuben to Joseph. "That which is first is natural, and afterwards that which is spiritual."
Exodus repeats this family list. There too Reuben comes first and gets only one verse. One writer explains why:
Coming in at this point is a partial genealogy of the first three sons of Jacob. Reuben and Simeon each get only one verse... For Reuben speaks of the strength of the flesh (Gen. 49:3) which can have no place in the true service of God.
One writer takes the four names one by one, and weighs what each can mean:
We have also looked briefly at his four sons in Ex. 6:14. Enoch means "dedicated," Phallu "separated," Hetzron "enclosed," Carmi "vine-dresser." All these can carry a good meaning, although all of them may be without fruit. They remain as permanent heads of families in the account before us...
The names do not vanish. The eldest son founded a family line that carried his name:
Eldest son of Reuben, and founder of the HANOCHITES. Gen. 46:9; Ex. 6:14; Num. 26:5; 1 Chr. 5:3.
The verse calls him Hanoch; some translations spell it "Enoch." The second son also appears under two spellings:
Second son of Reuben, and his descendants. Ex. 6:14; Num. 26:5, 8; 1 Chr. 5:3. He is called PHALLU in Gen. 46:9.
Why record so small a group? The number seventy becomes the measure for what God does later:
On the whole the purpose of the statement in Genesis 46 is to give Jacob's family... Then there is the saying, "Your fathers went down into Egypt with seventy persons, and now the LORD your God has made you as the stars of heaven for multitude." It takes up the general fact to show the marvellous increase.
- Named. God keeps a register of one household. He cares about people one by one, and about things the world counts too small to record.
- First. Reuben's sons head the list by birth order. But Reuben lost his birthright, and his high place only sank him lower.
- Pattern. In Genesis the firstborn keeps losing the place of blessing. What comes first is natural; what comes after is spiritual.
- Fruit. All four names carry a good meaning — dedicated, separated, enclosed, vine-dresser — yet all of them may be without fruit.
- Increase. These four men become lasting family heads. The seventy who went down become a multitude like the stars.
-- And the sons of Simeon Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Saul the son of a Canaanitish woman.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
-- And the sons of Levi Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
Genesis 46 is God's register of everyone who went down into Egypt with Jacob, name by name, family by family. Three of those names are the sons of Levi. Their father had already earned a sentence of scattering. Yet their families would end up carrying the tabernacle — the tent where Israel worshipped God.
The list is not filler. One writer treats it as an official roll, and draws attention to what God chooses to preserve:
It is God's register of Jacob and his house, "seventy" souls including Jacob, and Joseph with his two sons, "sixty-six" without these… The time was near when they would exchange the life of a family — already grown in Genesis into twelve families — for the life of a people. Scripture reveals the interest God took in recording things little in man's eyes. Nature revels in what it counts great in its own eyes and before the world.
Levi himself had a dark record. His first recorded act, shared with his brother Simeon, hangs over the whole family:
The first action of Levi recorded in the Scriptures is an act of cruelty. Levi was one of Jacob's twelve sons. Excessive anger drove that act, and he carried it out by deceit (read the account in Genesis 34): "Simeon and Levi … took their swords, came upon the city boldly, and killed all the males." … This is why the blessing of the tribe of Levi later turned into a curse: "Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will … scatter them."
That word of scattering hung over Gershon, Kohath and Merari from birth. What God did with it is the point commentators return to:
Levi was scattered in Israel as a punishment for that terrible sin, committed centuries before at Shechem. But now, for our encouragement, see the grace of God. The very punishment, the scattering in Israel, becomes an unspeakable blessing. God chooses this tribe to come near to Him. He scatters them in Israel, and the result is that through them the knowledge of God and His Word is spread just as widely across Israel.
Later these three names become three working groups around the tabernacle. Each group had its own load to carry:
Levi had three sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari (Num. 3:17). Their respective families and descendants formed three different groups, each with different tasks. The Gershonites looked after the tabernacle, the tent and the coverings (v.25). The Kohathites were entrusted with the holy vessels of the sanctuary (v.32). The Merarites had the care of the boards, the bars, the pillars and sockets of the tabernacle (v. 37).
Some writers read the names as pictures of the service each family gave. Gershon means "exile":
A true exile is someone who feels his exile, even if it lasts only a while, from the home of his heart. And this sense of being a stranger is what gives power for purity and freedom from defilement.
The last of the three names carries a harder note, and it touches the cost of the work:
Last of Levi's three sons we find Merari, "bitter," with his two sons, Mahli, "sick," and Mushi, "yielding." … These families have charge of the boards of the tabernacle and its bars, its pillars and sockets… who has ever done this work without finding the bitterness that Merari's name expresses? Anyone who could not feel it would be poorly fitted for ministry.
Kohath, the middle name here, begins the line that leads to Moses. That line also answers a question people ask about Israel's time in Egypt: how long was it?
How long were the Israelites in Egypt? In Gen. 15:13 and Acts 7:6, the period seems to be stated as four hundred years… Gen. 15:16 implies a much shorter period. It says of Israel in Egypt that "in the fourth generation they shall come back here again." If we turn to Ex. 6:16-20 we find exactly four generations: Jacob's son Levi. Levi's son Kohath. Kohath's son Amram. Amram's son Moses.
- Recorded — this verse sits inside God's own register of a family on its way to becoming a nation. He records what people count too small to write down.
- Ruined — Levi's own story starts with cruelty at Shechem. His father's curse of scattering fell on the tribe these three sons began.
- Reversed — grace turned the punishment into the blessing. God brought this tribe near to Himself, and their scattering spread the knowledge of His Word across Israel.
- Ranked — the three names become three families with three separate charges: the coverings, the holy vessels, and the framework.
- Reaching — Levi, Kohath, Amram, Moses: four generations. The man who would lead Israel out of Egypt was already in this list of names going in.
-- And the sons of Judah Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pherez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Pherez were Hezron and Hamul.
Jacob's family is moving from Canaan to Egypt, and the list of names stops at Judah. It names two sons who had already died and two grandsons who take their place — so why list men who never made the journey?
The chapter sets out Jacob's family, so it names people a travel list would leave out.
Genesis 46 is simply a record of the immediate descendants of Jacob who were with him in Egypt, giving his family. This twelfth verse is plainly genealogy. It does not say that everyone named in it went down into Egypt. Er and Onan are named because they are sons, though the text states plainly that they did not go down at all.
The line about Hezron and Hamul is built differently from the rest, and the difference matters.
In verse 12 the word "were" is emphatic, and the phrase, I take it, is clearly meant to be supplementary. The verse does not run, "Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Perez, and Zerah, and the sons of Perez, Hezron and Hamul." That is how it would read if they had all been among those going down into Egypt. The historian stops at Zerah and adds extra information. Er and Onan were on the list of sons, but they did not go down, for they had died before. And Perez's sons were Hezron and Hamul. They are seen as filling up the gap.
The same reading settles the chapter's arithmetic and shows why these two grandsons appear at all.
This table counts 32 from Leah, 16 from Zilpah, 11 from Rachel and 7 from Bilhah, making 66. But the head also goes with his house, so Jacob himself is counted in with Leah's children. That is why 33 are credited to her, though only 32 are named, counting Dinah and leaving out Er and Onan, who died in Canaan. Objectors have failed to notice the peculiar way verse 12 mentions Hezron and Hamul. The text says only — and says it of them alone — that the sons of Perez "were" Hezron and Hamul. It does not say they were born in Canaan, where the men they replaced had died. There was a weighty reason for picking out these two grandsons of Judah, when no other great-grandson of Jacob appears in the list. They alone stood in the place of others, as the verse itself implies, and one of them, Hezron, stands in the direct line of the Messiah.
Er and Onan died under God's hand, in events told earlier in Judah's story.
Three sons were born to Shuah, the first one killed by the Lord because of wickedness. The second, Onan, agreed to take the widow of Er as his wife to have a child that would officially be his brother's. But he did not carry out his agreement honourably, and the Lord considered this serious enough to kill him also. The reason was his complete selfishness, for the child would not officially be his, though in fact it would. These two cases illustrate the degrading history of the tribe of Judah. Shelah, the youngest son, may mean "sprout," and points to at least a preserved remnant that promises a miraculous revival for the nation Israel.
The two dead sons are mentioned precisely so the count cannot be misread.
If we turn to Genesis 46, we find a complete list of those who made up the sixty-six and went with Jacob into Egypt. The account is so accurate that two who had died are named only to show that they were not in the list.
Such careful bookkeeping says something about the One keeping the books.
It is God's register of Jacob and his house — "seventy" souls including Jacob, and Joseph with his two sons, "sixty-six" without them... Scripture reveals the interest God took in recording things that are little in man's eyes. Nature revels in what it counts great in its own eyes and before the world.
The line of Judah runs on through Tamar's twin sons.
Shelah is fruitful, but Tamar's seed much more so. From that seed comes Perez, the "breaker forth," who breaks out into abundant fruit that fills all the later history of Judah. From this line come Judah's kings, and her great King. Twin with Perez comes Zerah, or the sunrise, and from him come singers and warriors later on, stout defenders of the throne.
Long afterwards, Israel's elders wished that same house on Boaz as the pattern of blessing.
Is it not remarkable that this record should begin with Perez? That the elders and the people should take the house of Perez as a pattern of blessing for the house of Boaz? "May your house be like the house of Perez." Who was Perez? Let Genesis 38 answer. Why not begin with his father, Judah?... God led His line of promise through the base things of the world, and took up those whom man would spurn. This was to magnify His grace and exalt His name.
- Genealogy — the verse gives Judah's family, not just his travel companions. That is why two dead sons appear here.
- Judgment — Er and Onan left a gap in the family. God struck both down in Canaan for wickedness.
- "Were" — one word marks the repair. Perez's sons "were" Hezron and Hamul: two grandsons filling the gap, not two more travellers.
- Register — God counts one small household name by name. He records what men count small.
- Grace — Perez, born of Judah's shame, fills the gap and carries the promise: Judah's kings, her great King, and through Hezron the line of the Messiah.