Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Jacob with his entire progeny, which is here enumerated, sets out for Egypt. Secondly, at verse 29, Joseph meets and receives him.
Vulgate Text: Genesis 46:1-34
1. "And Israel set out with all that he had, and came to the Well of the Oath, and having slain victims there to the God of his father Isaac, 2. he heard Him calling him through a vision of the night, and saying to him: Jacob, Jacob; and he answered: Here I am. 3. God said to him: I am the most mighty God of your father; do not fear, go down into Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. 4. I will go down with you there, and I will bring you back returning from there: Joseph also will place his hands upon your eyes. 5. And Jacob arose from the Well of the Oath: and his sons took him with their little ones and their wives in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry the old man, 6. and all that he had possessed in the land of Canaan: and he came into Egypt with all his offspring, 7. his sons, and grandsons, daughters and all his progeny together. 8. And these are the names of the children of Israel, who went into Egypt, he himself with his children. The firstborn Reuben. 9. The sons of Reuben: Henoch and Phallu and Hesron and Charmi. 10. The sons of Simeon: Jamuel and Jamin and Ahod, and Jachin and Sohar, and Saul the son of a Canaanite woman. 11. The sons of Levi: Gershon and Kohath and Merari. 12. The sons of Judah: Er and Onan and Shelah and Perez and Zerah. But Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan: and the sons of Perez were born, Hezron and Hamul. 13. The sons of Issachar: Tola and Phua and Job and Shimron. 14. The sons of Zebulun: Sered and Elon and Jahleel. 15. These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore in Mesopotamia of Syria, with Dinah his daughter. All the souls of his sons and daughters, thirty-three. 16. The sons of Gad: Ziphion and Haggi and Shuni and Ezbon and Eri and Arodi and Areli. 17. The sons of Asher: Imnah and Ishuah and Ishui and Beriah, and Sarah their sister. The sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel. 18. These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob, sixteen souls. 19. The sons of Rachel, wife of Jacob: Joseph and Benjamin. 20. And to Joseph were born sons in the land of Egypt, whom Asenath bore to him, the daughter of Potiphera priest of Heliopolis: Manasseh and Ephraim. 21. The sons of Benjamin: Bela and Becher and Ashbel and Gera and Naaman and Ehi and Rosh and Muppim and Huppim and Ard. 22. These are the sons of Rachel whom she bore to Jacob: all the souls, fourteen. 23. The sons of Dan: Hushim. 24. The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel and Guni and Jezer and Shillem. 25. These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob: all the souls, seven. 26. All the souls that went with Jacob into Egypt, and that came out of his body, besides the wives of his sons, sixty-six. 27. And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in the land of Egypt, two souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob, who entered into Egypt, were seventy. 28. And he sent Judah before him to Joseph, that he might report to him, and meet him in Goshen. 29. And when he had arrived there, Joseph having yoked his chariot, went up to meet his father at the same place: and seeing him, he fell upon his neck, and wept among his embraces. 30. And the father said to Joseph: Now I shall die happy, because I have seen your face, and I leave you surviving. 31. But he spoke to his brothers and to all the house of his father: I will go up, and I will report to Pharaoh, and I will say to him: My brothers, and the house of my father, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me: 32. and they are shepherds of sheep, and have charge of feeding flocks: their cattle, and herds, and all that they could have, they have brought with them. 33. And when he shall have called you, and shall have said: What is your occupation? 34. You shall answer: We your servants are shepherds, from our youth until now, both we and our fathers. And this you shall say, so that you may dwell in the land of Goshen: for the Egyptians detest all shepherds of sheep."
Verse 1: The Well of the Oath
"To the Well of the Oath," that is, to Beersheba, as the Hebrew has it; for Beersheba in Hebrew signifies the well of the oath, as I said at chapter 21, verse 31.
Verse 3: Do Not Fear, Go Down into Egypt
"Do not fear." Jacob could have feared the journey into Egypt: First, on account of the hardships of so long a journey, lest he, being an old man, should die on the way before seeing Joseph. Second, lest his own people absorb the vices of the Egyptians. Third, lest his posterity settle in Egypt, to whom the land of Canaan had been promised by God, and thus they would frustrate God's promises and offend God. Hence God removes this fear from him at verse 4. This was therefore the ninth tribulation of Jacob, but one which God, as was His custom, soon dispelled by His apparition and consolation.
Verse 4: I Will Go Down with You; Joseph Will Close Your Eyes
"I will go down with you," I will be the companion of your journey, indeed your guide; I will lead you and yours into Egypt; and from there in due time I will bring you back, you dead, but your posterity alive. Piously St. Ambrose, in Book 2 of On Jacob, chapter 9, says: "What therefore was lacking to him, to whom God was present? Who was so powerful in his own home, as this man in a foreign one? Who was so abundant in prosperity, as this man in famine? Who was so strong in youth, as this man in old age (for in him, as the same author says in chapter 8, the untiring energy of youth and the tranquility of old age contended)? Who was so active in business, as this man in leisure? Who was so swift on the race-course, as this man on his bed? Who was so happy in the flower of adolescence, as this man on the threshold of death? Who was so rich in a kingdom, as this man in a foreign place? In short, he blessed kings. And who would call him poor, whose company the world was not worthy of? And therefore his manner of life was in heaven." And: "What is more blessed than to have God Himself as a companion of the journey?" says St. Chrysostom, Homily 65.
"Joseph also will place his hands upon your eyes," as if to say: Joseph will close your eyes as you die, and consequently you will leave Joseph alive there. From this is evident the ancient custom of the Hebrews, by which the dearest ones closed the eyes of their dearest who were dying. The Greeks and Romans afterwards imitated the same practice. Hence the mother of Euryalus asks in Virgil, Aeneid 11: "Nor did I, your mother, attend your funeral, or press your eyes closed, or wash your wounds."
Penelope also asks the gods for this same thing, writing to Ulysses, that Telemachus their son might close the eyes of each parent; for thus she says in Ovid: "Gods, I pray, command this, that as the fates proceed in order, he may close my eyes, and he yours."
Verse 7: Daughters
"Daughters." Jacob had only one daughter, Dinah; therefore he here calls "daughters" both Dinah and his daughters-in-law, that is, the wives of his sons.
Verse 8: The Names of Those Who Entered Egypt
"Who entered into Egypt." Either on their own feet, or in the bodies of their parents, in whom they were still hidden. For by the name of this entry is contained the entire time that elapsed from the entry of Jacob until the death of Joseph, as will now become clear.
"He himself (namely Jacob) with his children." Supply: descended into Egypt. So the Hebrew.
Verse 12: Hezron and Hamul
"Hezron and Hamul." These were born later in Egypt, as is evident from what was said at chapter 38. They are nevertheless said to have descended with Jacob into Egypt, not in their own person, but in the loins of Perez their father, in whom they were still hidden. For, as St. Augustine rightly noted, this descent and entry of Jacob into Egypt also encompasses the 17 years of his life in Egypt; indeed even the remaining years of Joseph's life, namely 71, because it was at Joseph's call and arrangement that Jacob descended into Egypt.
Note: Before the sons of Zerah are numbered here the sons of Perez, because from Perez and Hezron descended the kings of Judah, and Christ the Lord.
"All the souls of his sons." "Souls," that is, those born, begotten, namely sons and grandsons: for Hezron and Hamul were grandsons, not sons of Jacob; it is a synecdoche.
Verse 15: Thirty-Three Souls
"Thirty-three," counting Leah herself as well; or rather Jacob himself with his sons and daughter Dinah. For Leah does not appear to have entered Egypt, but to have died before that: for she was buried in Hebron, as is evident from chapter 49, verse 31. From this number Er and Onan are excluded, as being dead.
Verse 21: The Sons of Benjamin
"The sons of Benjamin." Ten sons of Benjamin are numbered here, of whom he himself begot some later in Egypt. For at the time when he descended into Egypt, Benjamin was only 24 years old; hence he could not have begotten so many sons. Again, not all of these were sons, but some were grandsons of Benjamin: for the Septuagint expressly has: And Gera begot Ard. Ard therefore was not a son, but a grandson of Benjamin, through his son Gera.
"Rosh." Theodoret and Procopius think that the Romans descend from and are named after Rosh; but they err: for the Romans received their name and origin from Romulus.
"Ard." From him descend the Aradians, says Procopius. But it is more true that the Aradians descend from Aradius, the son of Canaan, as I said at chapter 10, verse 18; for the Aradians were Canaanites, not Jews, just as the Sidonians, Tyrians, Byblians, and others neighboring the Aradians.
Verse 26: Sixty-Six Souls
"All the souls," that is, all the people, all the offspring; it is a synecdoche. Thus we call base men base souls: on the contrary, Lucan calls brave souls the valiant men slain in war, when he says: "You also who brave souls, and slain in war."
Note this, lest anyone from this passage conclude that the souls of men, just like those of brutes, are born by propagation, that is, from the seed and soul of the parents, since the faith teaches that the soul of man is created by God alone and infused into man; and therefore it is immortal, as I said at chapter 37, verse 35.
"Came out of his body" [literally: thigh], namely from the genitals, which are between the thighs; it is a metonymy. Secondly, properly "from the thigh," because, as Francis Valesius says in Sacred Philosophy, chapter 3, there are truly in the thigh three seminal veins, which, arising from the veins of the loins, before they descend into the legs, return in men through the thighs into the scrotum, and in women into the uterus, and supply the more fertile part of the seed; and hence in Numbers 5:21, in the curse upon the adulteress it is said: "May your thigh rot when your womb swells," as if to say: May you be punished in the thigh which you misused, so that the thigh in which you reveled may rot, and may you be smitten with barrenness and corruption, you who sought children from adultery.
"Sixty-six," in this number Jacob is not included, as being the parent of all, nor Joseph and his sons, as being already in Egypt.
Verse 27: Seventy Souls
"Seventy." Here you must count Jacob himself and Joseph with his two sons: for thus you will find seventy.
You will say: How then do the Septuagint and from them St. Luke, Acts 7:14, count 75? I answer, they add and count to Joseph's line Machir the son of Manasseh, and his grandson Gilead. Again, the sons of Ephraim, Shuthelah and Jaam, and the grandson Edem, who was the son of Shuthelah; for by adding these the number reaches 75. And these are added because they were born while Joseph their grandfather was still living, as is evident from Genesis chapter 50, verse 22. For this descent and entry of Jacob into Egypt extends to the death of Jacob and Joseph, as I said at verse 8. So St. Augustine, Book 16 of The City of God, chapter 40.
You will ask why the grandsons of Joseph rather than those of other brothers are numbered in this catalog? St. Augustine responds first, because Joseph was the cause of Jacob's and his brothers' descent into Egypt. Second, just as Moses counts the grandsons of Judah, so the Septuagint counts the grandsons of Joseph, because these two succeeded to the birthright of Reuben; hence their posterity obtained the kingdom of Judah and the kingdom of Israel. For from Joseph, namely from Ephraim, arose the kings of Israel, and from Judah the kings of Judah. Third, because Joseph was the prince of his brothers, indeed the prince of Egypt. Fourth, because Jacob adopted the sons of Joseph as his own sons, as we shall see in chapter 48.
Furthermore, he here numbers the line of Jacob, to show how it grew in Egypt, and how the promise of God was fulfilled: "I will make you into a great nation there," verse 3. For into Egypt entered only 70 with Jacob, but there went out with Moses nearly six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children and women, Exodus 12:37. So says St. Chrysostom.
Verse 34: We Are Shepherds
"We are shepherds." Note Joseph's modesty, prudence, and simplicity. His modesty, because in the court of Pharaoh he wishes it known that he is the brother of shepherds. His prudence, because he does not strive to have his brothers at court, lest they be corrupted by courtly manners. His simplicity, because he does not elevate his brothers to high positions, but keeps them in the pastoral art which they knew well. Far differently do people act today, who though they are of the most humble birth, nevertheless want to appear noble, and who, having been raised to positions, equally raise their own, though incompetent, to the harm, disgrace, and peril of themselves, their family, and the commonwealth.
Joseph therefore wished his brothers to dwell only in Goshen: both so that they would be separated from the commerce and vices of the Egyptians; and so that from there they might more easily depart from Egypt and return to Canaan under the leadership of Moses.
Similar to Joseph in this respect was Phocion, who when he refused the gifts of a large sum of money from King Philip, and the ambassadors urged him to accept, at least so that he might provide for his children, for whom it would be difficult to maintain their father's glory in extreme poverty, he responded: "If they will be like me, this same little field will nourish them, which brought me to this dignity: but if they are going to be unlike me, I do not want their luxury to be nourished and increased at my expense," as Probus narrates in his Life. The same man, when Menyllus the prefect of Antipater offered him a gift, responded: "I have refused the gifts of the Great; Antipater is not greater than Alexander." When Menyllus pressed him to at least accept them for his son Phocus, he replied: "If Phocus changes his life and returns to virtue, his inheritance will suffice; for, as he now conducts himself, nothing is enough for him." More similar and more illustrious was the Emperor Theodosius, who when he came to the school and saw Arcadius and Honorius his sons sitting magnificently while Arsenius their tutor was standing, stripped them of their princely insignia, and added that if they conducted themselves so as to conform their ways to learning and the laws of God, he would be inclined to hand over the empire to them for the good of the republic; but if not, he said it was more advantageous for them to live as private citizens than to rule without learning and with danger; as Nicephorus attests, Book XI of his History, chapter 23.
"The Egyptians detested all shepherds of sheep," because shepherds were accustomed to kill and eat the flesh of their sheep and cattle, which the Egyptians worshipped as gods, as is evident from Exodus 8:26. The Egyptians nevertheless raised sheep and cattle, as is evident in the following chapter, verse 17, not for eating, but first, for wool and milk; second, for their own pleasure; third, for the fertilization of fields; fourth, so that they might sell them to other nations.