Abraham’s Family · c. 1876–1805 BC
Chapter 15
Israel in Egypt
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to save many people alive, as is happening today.
For parents
Jacob’s last words to his sons include hard lines: Reuben slept with his father’s concubine (Genesis 35:22), and Simeon and Levi killed men in their anger (49:5–7). During the famine, the Egyptians sell their land and then themselves to Pharaoh for food (47:13–26). All of it is told plainly, without detail.
set out with everything he had. When he reached , he made sacrifices there to the God of his father .
God spoke to Israel in a vision at night. “, Jacob!” he said.
“Here I am,” Jacob answered.
“I am God, the God of your father,” God said. “Don’t be afraid to go down to . There I will make you a great nation. I will go down there with you, and I will be sure to bring you back again. And when you die, Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.”
Then Jacob left Beersheba. His sons carried him in the wagons had sent for him, and they carried their wives and little ones in them too. They took their animals and all the goods they had gotten in the land of , and they went on into Egypt. Jacob brought his whole family with him: his sons and grandsons, his daughters and granddaughters. All his descendants came with him to Egypt.
These are the names of Israel’s family who came to Egypt: Jacob and his sons. was Jacob’s firstborn. Leah’s sons were Reuben, , , , and , and each had sons of his own. Judah’s sons Er and Onan had died in Canaan, but his son had two sons, Hezron and Hamul. These were the sons had with Jacob in , together with his daughter . Leah’s sons and their sons, with Dinah, numbered thirty-three in all.
, the servant had given to his daughter Leah, was the mother of and . Gad and Asher, their sons, Asher’s daughter Serah and two of Asher’s grandsons numbered sixteen in all.
The sons of Jacob’s wife were and . In Egypt, Joseph’s wife had given birth to his sons and . Asenath was the daughter of , priest of . Benjamin had ten sons. These were Rachel’s descendants, fourteen in all.
, the servant Laban had given to his daughter Rachel, was the mother of and . Dan and Naphtali and their sons numbered seven in all.
Not counting the wives of Jacob’s sons, sixty-six of Jacob’s own descendants came to Egypt with him. With Joseph’s two sons, who were born to him in Egypt, the whole family of Jacob that came to Egypt numbered seventy.
Jacob sent Judah on ahead to Joseph, to show the way to . Then they arrived in the land of Goshen.
Joseph got his chariot ready and drove up to Goshen to meet his father Israel. When he reached his father, Joseph threw his arms around him and wept on his shoulder for a long time.
“I can die now,” Israel said to Joseph. “I have seen your face, and I know you are still alive.”
Then Joseph spoke to his brothers and his father’s household. “I am going up to tell Pharaoh, ‘My brothers and my father’s household have come to me from the land of Canaan, where they were living. These men are shepherds. They have always kept livestock. They have brought their flocks and herds with them, and everything else they have.’ When Pharaoh calls for you and asks what work you do, you must tell him, ‘All our lives we have kept livestock, just as our ancestors did.’ Then you will be allowed to live in the land of Goshen, because Egyptians hate all shepherds.”
Joseph went in to Pharaoh. “My father and my brothers have come from the land of Canaan,” he told him, “with their flocks and herds and everything they own. They are in the land of Goshen now.” He had chosen five of his brothers, and he presented them to Pharaoh.
Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What is your work?”
“We are shepherds,” they answered Pharaoh, “just as our ancestors were.”
They also said to Pharaoh, “We have come to stay in your country as foreigners for a while. There is no grass left for our flocks, because the famine in the land of Canaan is so bad. So please let us live in the land of Goshen.”
“Your father and your brothers have come to you,” Pharaoh said to Joseph. “The whole land of Egypt is open to you. Give your father and your brothers the best of the land to live in. Let them settle in Goshen. If you know any capable men among them, let them take charge of my livestock.”
Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in to meet Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
Pharaoh asked Jacob, “How old are you?”
Jacob said to Pharaoh, “I have been a wanderer for a hundred and thirty years. My years have been few and hard. I have not lived as long as my ancestors did in their years of wandering.” Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and left.
So Joseph gave his father and his brothers a home in Egypt. As Pharaoh had ordered, he gave them land of their own in the best part of the country, in the region of . Joseph also gave food to his father, his brothers and everyone in his father’s household. Each family got food to match its size.
There was no food anywhere in the land, because the famine was so severe. The people of Egypt and of Canaan were worn out by hunger. Joseph collected all the money in Egypt and in Canaan in payment for the grain they bought, and he brought the money to Pharaoh’s palace.
When the money in Egypt and Canaan had all been spent, the Egyptians all came to Joseph. “Give us food!” they said. “Why should we die right in front of you? We have no money left.”
“Then bring me your livestock,” Joseph said. “If your money is gone, I will trade you food for your animals.” So the people brought their animals to Joseph. In return for their horses, their flocks and herds, and their donkeys, he gave them food. All through that year, he kept them fed in exchange for all their livestock.
When that year was over, they came to Joseph again the next year. “My lord, we can’t hide it from you,” they said. “Our money is all gone, and our herds of animals belong to you. All we have left to give you is our bodies and our land. Why should we die right in front of you, and our land with us? Buy us and our land for food. Then we will be Pharaoh’s servants, and our land will be his. Give us seed to plant so we can live and not die, and so the land won’t become a desert.”
So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. Every Egyptian sold his field, because the famine was so hard on them, and the land became Pharaoh’s. Joseph moved the people into the cities, from one end of Egypt to the other. He did not buy the priests’ land, because the priests received a regular share of food from Pharaoh and lived on it. That is why they did not sell their land.
Then Joseph told the people, “Look, I have bought you and your land for Pharaoh today. Here is seed, so you can plant the fields. When you bring in the harvest, give one part out of every five to Pharaoh. You can keep the other four parts as seed for your fields and as food for yourselves, your households and your little ones.”
“You have saved our lives,” they said. “If it pleases you, my lord, we will be Pharaoh’s servants.”
So Joseph made it a law in Egypt that a fifth of the harvest belongs to Pharaoh, and it is still the law to this day. Only the priests’ land did not become Pharaoh’s.
So Israel’s family lived in Egypt, in the land of Goshen. They gained property there. They had many children, and their numbers grew very large. Jacob lived in Egypt for seventeen years, and he lived to be a hundred and forty-seven.
When Israel’s time to die drew close, he sent for his son Joseph. “If you are pleased with me,” he said, “please put your . Promise to be kind and faithful to me. Please don’t bury me in Egypt. When I die, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where my ancestors are buried.”
“I will do as you say,” Joseph said.
“Swear it to me,” said Israel. So Joseph swore it to him, and Israel bowed down at the head of his bed.
After this, someone told Joseph, “Your father is sick.” So Joseph took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, with him.
Someone told Jacob, “Look, your son Joseph has come to see you.” So Israel gathered his strength and sat up in bed.
Jacob said to Joseph, “Back in the land of Canaan, appeared to me at and blessed me. He told me, ‘I will give you many children and make your numbers grow. I will make you into a whole community of peoples, and I will give this land to your descendants after you. It will be theirs forever.’
“Your two sons were born to you here in Egypt before I came to you. Now they are mine. Ephraim and Manasseh will belong to me, as much as Reuben and Simeon do. Any children you have after them will be yours. What they inherit will come to them under the names of their brothers.
“As for me, when I was coming back from Paddan, Rachel died beside me on the way, in the land of Canaan. We were still some distance from Ephrath. I buried her there, beside the road to Ephrath, which is also called .”
Israel saw Joseph’s sons and said, “Who are these?”
“These are my sons,” Joseph told his father. “God has given them to me here.”
“Please bring them to me,” Israel said, “so that I can bless them.”
Israel’s eyes had grown dim with age, so he couldn’t see well. Joseph brought the boys near to him, and Israel kissed them and hugged them. He said to Joseph, “I didn’t think I would ever see your face again. And look, God has let me see your children as well.”
Then Joseph took the boys from between his father’s knees, and he bowed low with his face to the ground. With his right hand, Joseph led Ephraim toward Israel’s left side. With his left hand, he led Manasseh toward Israel’s right side. So he brought them both close to his father.
But Israel reached out with his right hand and placed it on the head of Ephraim, the younger boy. He put his left hand on Manasseh’s head. He knew what he was doing when he crossed his hands. Manasseh was the firstborn.
Then he blessed Joseph and said:
“May God, before whom my ancestors and Isaac lived their lives,the God who has fed me all my life, up to this day,the angel who has saved me from all harm,bless these boys.May my name live on in them,and the names of my ancestors Abraham and Isaac.May they grow into a great crowd of people on the earth.”
Joseph didn’t like it when he saw his father’s right hand on Ephraim’s head. He took his father’s hand and tried to move it off Ephraim’s head and onto Manasseh’s. “No, my father,” Joseph said. “This is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”
But his father refused to do it. “I know, my son, I know,” he said. “This one will also become a people, and he will also be great. But his younger brother will be greater than he is, and his descendants will become a great many nations.”
That day he blessed them. “The people of Israel will bless each other with your names,” he said. “‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh,’ they will say.” And so he put Ephraim first, ahead of Manasseh.
Israel said to Joseph, “Look, I am dying. But God will be with you, and he will bring you back to the land of your ancestors. I have also given you one share more than your brothers. I took it from the with my sword and my bow.”
Jacob called his sons to him and said, “Gather together, so I can tell you what is going to happen to you in the days ahead.”
“Come together and hear, you sons of Jacob.Listen to Israel, your father.”
To Reuben, who had slept with Bilhah, his father’s , he said:
“Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength,the first sign of my power,first in honor and first in strength.But you are wild as rushing water, and you will not be first,because you went up onto your father’s bedand dishonored it. He went up onto my bed!”
To Simeon and Levi:
“Simeon and Levi are brothers.Their swords are weapons of violence.May I never join their secret plans,never be part of their gatherings,because in their anger they killed men,and just because they wanted to, they crippled oxen.A curse on their anger, because it was fierce,and their fury, because it was cruel.I will split them up among Jacob’s peopleand scatter them throughout Israel.”
To Judah:
“Judah, your brothers will praise you.Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies,and your father’s sons will bow down to you.Judah is a lion’s cub.My son, you have come back up from the kill.He crouches and lies down like a lion,like a lioness. Who dares to wake him?The will not leave Judah,nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,until he comes to whom it belongs,and the peoples will obey him.He ties his young donkey to the vine,his donkey’s colt to the best vine.He has washed his clothes in wine,his robes in the red juice of grapes.His eyes will be red with wine,his teeth white with milk.”
To Zebulun and Issachar:
“Zebulun will live by the seashore.He will be a harbor for ships,and his border will reach toward .Issachar is a strong donkey,lying down between its saddlebags.He saw that the place to rest was goodand the land was pleasant.He bends his shoulder to the loadand becomes a servant doing forced labor.”
To Dan:
“Dan will judge his peopleas one of the tribes of Israel.Dan will be a snake on the trail,a deadly snake in the path,that bites the horse’s heelsso its rider falls off backward.I have waited for your rescue, Lord.”
To Gad, Asher and Naphtali:
“Raiders will attack Gad,but he will attack them at their heels.Asher’s food will be rich.He will produce fine food fit for kings.Naphtali is a deer set free,who has beautiful fawns.”
To Joseph:
“Joseph is a fruitful vine,a fruitful vine by a spring,whose branches climb over the wall.Archers attacked him bitterly;they shot at him and chased him.But his bow stayed steady,and his arms were made strongby the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,(from there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel),and by the God of your father, who will help you,and by the Almighty, who will bless youwith blessings from the sky above,blessings from the deep waters below,blessings of children and of mothers’ milk.The blessings of your father are greaterthan the blessings of my ancestors,higher than the boundaries of the ancient hills.They will be on the head of Joseph,on the top of the head of the one separated from his brothers.”
To Benjamin:
“Benjamin is a wolf, hungry for prey.In the morning he will devour what he catches,and in the evening he will divide up the plunder.”
All these are the twelve of Israel. These are the words their father spoke to them as he blessed them. He blessed each son with the blessing meant for him.
Then Jacob gave them his instructions. “I am about to join my ancestors,” he said. “Bury me with them in the cave that is in the field of the . That cave is in the field of , which is near in the land of Canaan. Abraham bought it from Ephron the Hittite, along with the field, to be a burial place. There they buried Abraham and his wife . There they buried Isaac and his wife , and there I buried Leah. The field and its cave were bought from the Hittites.”
When Jacob had finished giving his sons their instructions, he pulled his feet up onto the bed, took his last breath, and joined his ancestors.
Joseph threw himself on his father, wept over him and kissed him. Then Joseph ordered the doctors who served him to his father, and the doctors embalmed Israel. It took forty days, because that is how long embalming takes. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.
When the days of mourning were past, Joseph spoke to Pharaoh’s officials. “If you are pleased with me,” he said, “please speak to Pharaoh for me. Tell him that my father made me swear to him. My father said, ‘I am dying. Bury me in the grave I dug for myself in the land of Canaan.’ Ask Pharaoh to please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come back.”
Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, just as he made you swear.”
So Joseph went up to bury his father. All of Pharaoh’s officials went with him: the leaders of his court and all the leaders of Egypt. So did Joseph’s whole household, his brothers and his father’s household. They left only their little ones and their flocks and herds behind in Goshen. Chariots and horsemen also went up with Joseph. It was a very large crowd.
They came to the of Atad, on the far side of the . There they mourned with loud and bitter weeping, and Joseph mourned for his father for seven days. The Canaanites who lived in that land saw them mourning at the threshing floor of Atad. “The Egyptians are in deep mourning,” they said. That is why that place on the far side of the Jordan is called .
Jacob’s sons did for him just what he had told them to do. They carried his body into the land of Canaan and buried him there, in the cave in the field at Machpelah, near Mamre. Abraham had bought that field from Ephron the Hittite, to be a burial place.
After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt. His brothers went back with him, along with everyone else who had come with him to bury his father.
When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “Maybe Joseph will hate us now, and pay us back in full for all the evil we did to him.”
So they sent a message to Joseph. “Before your father died, he gave an order,” the message said. “He said you were to be told, ‘Please forgive your brothers for the wrong they did, and for the sin of treating you so badly.’ So now, please forgive us, the servants of your father’s God, for the wrong we did.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.
His brothers also came and threw themselves down in front of him. “We are your servants,” they said.
But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in God’s place? You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to save many people’s lives, as is happening today. So don’t be afraid. I will look after you and your little ones.” He comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with his father’s family. He lived a hundred and ten years. He lived to see Ephraim’s family down to the third generation. The children of Manasseh’s son Machir were also placed on Joseph’s knees when they were born.
Joseph said to his brothers, “I am dying. But God will surely come and help you. He will bring you up out of this land and into the land he swore to give Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”
Joseph also made the sons of Israel swear an oath. “God will surely come to help you,” he said, “and when he does, you must carry my bones up from here.” Joseph was a hundred and ten years old when he died. They embalmed his body, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.