The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.
Genesis 46:16 sits inside the roll call of Jacob's household as it left Canaan for Egypt. It names the seven sons of Gad. Why would God keep such a record? And what became of these seven names?
God's Register of a Family
This list is not stray family paperwork. What God chose to write down tells us what He values:
William KellyThis is God's register of Jacob and his house: "seventy" souls counting Jacob, and Joseph with his two sons; "sixty-six" without them… Scripture shows the interest God took in recording things that are small in man's eyes. Human nature delights in what it counts great in its own eyes and before the world.
These seven men do nothing else in the Bible. God names them anyway:
L. M. GrantNow we learn the names of everyone in Jacob's household who came with him. This shows that our great God is interested in each person, not only in nations or great companies.
Who Gad Was
Gad's own record in Scripture is thin, and this verse is a large part of it:
Morrish Bible DictionaryThe seventh son of Jacob, and the first of Zilpah, Leah's maid. Very little is recorded of Gad, except that he had seven sons.
His name also shapes a prophecy about him:
L. M. GrantHis name means "a troop." The prophecy uses that same word: a troop (armies of enemy nations) would trample Gad (representing Israel) underfoot… but Gad will in the end overcome the troop.
Seven Names, Seven Families
These sons became the heads of clans. Israel's later count names those clans again:
William Kelly…they are listed here as the heads of future families. The list in Numbers 26 confirms this. It names the separate families of the tribes of Israel on the day when Moses and Eleazar received the order to count the whole assembly of Israel's sons from twenty years old and upward… So the huge increase during their stay in Egypt stands out all the more, in spite of the cruel and murderous oppression that marked its later part.
The list also marks a turning point. A household was about to become a nation:
William KellyThe time was near when they would leave the life of a family — already grown in Genesis into twelve families — for the life of a people. Their growth is one of the opening facts of Exodus.
When the Lists Differ
Anyone comparing this verse with Numbers 26 will notice the names do not match exactly. One of Gad's sons appears there under another name:
Morrish Bible DictionarySon of Gad and his descendants. Num. 26:16. Called EZBON in Gen. 46:16.
Such differences are normal in these records, not mistakes:
H. L. RossierThere are cases, common among the Jews, where a person had more than one name (see, for example, these well-known names: Benjamin and Benoni, Reuel and Jethro, Solomon and Jedidiah, etc.).
How to Read a Genealogy
The rough edges in these lists are a mark of honesty. Someone inventing a family tree would have smoothed them out:
William KellyIf we truly want to avoid serious mistakes and understand Scripture rightly, we must read the genealogies by their own aim, not by modern ideas. And anyone can see that they contain difficulties. No forger or compiler would have left them there; he would have taken great care to avoid them. The writer, on the other hand, knows details that we may not, and he simply states what he knows to be true.
The aim here is the family as a whole, not a birth-by-birth census:
J. N. DarbyOn the whole, the purpose of the statement in Genesis 46 is clearly to give Jacob's family. So it mentions some who did not go down to Egypt… 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.
Kelly explains why one ancient version gives a different total:
William KellyThe Greek version quoted by Stephen speaks of seventy-five, because it adds Manasseh's son Machir and grandson Gilead, and Ephraim's two sons, Shuthelah and Tahan, with Shuthelah's son, Eran or Edom.
Summary
- Register. The list is God's own record of Jacob's house, and He takes interest in what people count as small.
- Individual. God names men who are otherwise unknown, showing His concern for persons and not only for nations.
- Gad. Seventh son of Jacob, first son of Zilpah, and known mainly for these seven sons; his name means "a troop."
- Families. The seven names stand as heads of future clans, and their reappearance in Numbers 26 measures the growth from a household to a people.
- Honest. Ezbon is called Ozni later, because double names were normal. No forger would have left such difficulties standing.