Genesis: 1a 1b 1c 1d 2a 2b 2c 2d 3 4a 4b 4c/5 6a 6b 7 8 9 10 11a 11b 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25a 25b 26a 26b 27 28a 28b 29 30a 30b 31a 31b/32a 32b 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44a 44b 45 46 47a 47b 48 49 50
The verse immediately below also appears in the last file; this is because the Christian editors, for reasons best known to themselves, in creating the chapter-based text that is now in common usage, put this verse at the end of chapter 45, when it is perfectly obvious that it belongs here, at the opening of chapter 46. Those studying by Paresha in Yehudit need to find the verse there; those studying by Christian chapter need to find it here, and so TheBibleNet has placed it in both.
45:28 VA YOMER YISRA-EL RAV OD YOSEPH BENI CHAI ELCHAH VE ER'ENU BE TEREM AMUT
וַיֹּאמֶר יִשְׂרָאֵל רַב עוֹד יוֹסֵף בְּנִי חָי אֵלְכָה וְאֶרְאֶנּוּ בְּטֶרֶם אָמוּת
KJ (King James translation): And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.
BN (BibleNet translation): And Yisra-El said, "It is enough. Yoseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die."
Note that he is Yisra-El again.
End of chapter 45
Note that he is Yisra-El again.
End of chapter 45
✡
46:1 VA YISA YISRA-EL VE CHOL ASHER LO VA YAVO BE'ERAH SHAVA VA YIZBACH ZEVACHIM LE ELOHEY AVIV YITSCHAK
וַיִּסַּע יִשְׂרָאֵל וְכָל אֲשֶׁר לוֹ וַיָּבֹא בְּאֵרָה שָּׁבַע וַיִּזְבַּח זְבָחִים לֵאלֹהֵי אָבִיו יִצְחָק
KJ: And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.
BN: And Yisra-El made the journey with everything he had, and came to Be'er Sheva, and offered sacrifices to the god of his father Yitschak.
YIZBACH...YITSCHAK (יצחק...יזבח): Be'er Sheva was the shrine of his father Yitschak's god, whereas Ya'akov's god lives at Beit-El, or possibly Shechem, or perhaps Penu-El; because his god actually isn't the same as Yitschak's, any more than it was the same as Av-Raham's; which is really why we now list all three. But Be'er Sheva was also where Ya'akov grew up, and from where he left for Padan Aram, so this has a strong personal-emotional element as well.
Again this connection between journeys and sacrifices, journeys and covenants; and note that it takes place again at Be'er Sheva, "the well of the oath", which is identified with the god of Yitschak who supposedly built the altar there.
46:2 VA YOMER ELOHIM LE YISRA-EL BE MAR'OT HA LAILAH VA YOMER YA'AKOV YA'AKOV VA YOMER HINENI
וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים לְיִשְׂרָאֵל בְּמַרְאֹת הַלַּיְלָה וַיֹּאמֶר יַעֲקֹב יַעֲקֹב וַיֹּאמֶר הִנֵּנִי
KJ: And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.
BN: And Elohim spoke to Yisra-El by means of a night-vision, and said, "Ya'akov, Ya'akov." And he said, "Here I am."
Ya'akov and Yisra-El in the same sentence! Or is he calling the tribal chieftain (Yisra-El) by his personal name (Ya'akov)?
MAR'OT HALAILAH (מראת הלילה): night visions, dreams; note that some gods speak in this way, others not. Yoseph's god speaks through dreams; some walk with men; Mosheh's appears in various forms etc but can only be seen from behind. Throughout Ya'akov's story, whenever he is about to embark on a change of home, this is the format in which his prayers for well-being are expressed.
The formulation of calling and answering is now familiar to us. HINENI.
46:3 VA YOMER ANOCHI HA EL ELOHEY AVIYCHA AL TIYRA ME REDAH MITSRAYEMAH KI LE GO'I GADOL ASIYMCHA SHAM
וַיֹּאמֶר אָנֹכִי הָאֵל אֱלֹהֵי אָבִיךָ אַל תִּירָא מֵרְדָה מִצְרַיְמָה כִּי לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל אֲשִׂימְךָ שָׁם
KJ: And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:
BN: "And he said, "I am the god... the gods of your father. Do not fear to go down into Mitsrayim, for I will make of you a great nation there...
As ever Ya'akov prays for the start/end of a journey, and for his fear; the usual request gets the usual answer, in covenantal form. However, if the Yoseph invitations were genuine, rather than this being a mere nomadic descent, the invocations would not be needed. Can we then deduce that the descent of the Aramaean shepherds (possibly earliest Hyksos) here is being mixed up chronologically with their supremacy much later?
HA EL ELOHEY AVIYCHA: "The god... the gods of your father" sounds as though the deity has a stammer, as he works out by which name he needs to identify himself.
LE GO'I GADOL is all very well in theory, but what actually happened, at least according to the Torah, was several hundred years of slavery. The "great nation", at least at this time, remains a matter of dispute.
46:4 ANOCHI ERED IM'CHA MITSRAYEMAH VE ANOCHI A'ALCHA GAM ALOH VE YOSEPH YASHIT YADO AL EYNEYCHA
אָנֹכִי אֵרֵד עִמְּךָ מִצְרַיְמָה וְאָנֹכִי אַעַלְךָ גַם עָלֹה וְיוֹסֵף יָשִׁית יָדוֹ עַל עֵינֶיךָ
KJ: I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.
BN: "I will go down with you into Mitsrayim; and I will also surely bring you up again; and Yoseph shall put his hand on your eyes."
YASHIT...EYNEYCHA (עיניך...ישית): the shutting of the eyes of the dead.
And if his god did go down to Egypt with them, where was he over the next four hundred years of slavery? And what about the previous bargain that this god made with Ya'akov? These covenants are all very well, but both parties need to keep them.
We have to learn to read these apparent covenants as mere equivalents to the prayers for safe-keeping on the road, backed by self-assurance that isn't really god-assurance, that we still make (two versions linked here, one Orthodox, the other Reform - an interesting exercise in comparative theology for any middle or high school class).
The method of the story is to presume the positive response rather than offering up the prayer itself. But having now come to understand this, we need to go back to the previous occasions and read them differently: Lech Lecha in particular.
46:5 VA YAKAM YA'AKOV MI BE'ER SHEVA VA YIS'U VENEY YISRA-EL ET YA'AKOV AVIYHEM VE ET TAPAM VE ET NESHEYHEM BA AGALOT ASHER SHALACH PHAR'OH LASET OTO
וַיָּקָם יַעֲקֹב מִבְּאֵר שָׁבַע וַיִּשְׂאוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת יַעֲקֹב אֲבִיהֶם וְאֶת טַפָּם וְאֶת נְשֵׁיהֶם בָּעֲגָלוֹת אֲשֶׁר שָׁלַח פַּרְעֹה לָשֵׂאת אֹתוֹ
KJ: And Jacob rose up from Beersheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
BN: And Ya'akov rose up from Be'er Sheva, and the Beney Yisra-El carried Ya'akov their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
What is being described is yet another mass-migration by an unestablished nomadic people, and tends to subvert the view that the Land of Israel had been covenanted already as an eternal possession.
46:6 VA YIKCHU ET MIKNEYHEM VE ET RECHUSHAM ASHER RACHSHU BE ERETS KENA'AN VA YAVO'U MITSRAYEMAH YA'AKOV VE CHOL ZAR'O ITO
וַיִּקְחוּ אֶת מִקְנֵיהֶם וְאֶת רְכוּשָׁם אֲשֶׁר רָכְשׁוּ בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן וַיָּבֹאוּ מִצְרָיְמָה יַעֲקֹב וְכָל זַרְעוֹ אִתּוֹ
KJ: And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him:
BN: And they took their cattle and their goods, which they had acquired in the land of Kena'an, and went down into Mitsrayim, Ya'akov and the whole of his tribe with him.
The inference is of the Beney Yisra-El still being a nomadic group who were willing to move their temporary home whenever appropriate. They are not yet deeply connected to the land in the way that sedentary town-dwellers become. Although there are covenants relating to the land, there is also this covenant now; their god will go down with them into Mitsrayim (Egypt) and make them a great nation there. The god is not localised but travels with them, presumably not as an abstract concept but in forms of stone or wood or clay; he can also be worshipped at existing shrines, which may well be shrines to other gods and goddesses as well. This helps us understand better the story of Rachel stealing Lavan's teraphim. Was there perhaps even an early version of the Ark?
46:7 BANAV U VENEY VANAV ITO BENOTAV U VENOT BANAV VE CHOL ZAR'O HEVI ITO MITSRAYEMAH
בָּנָיו וּבְנֵי בָנָיו אִתּוֹ בְּנֹתָיו וּבְנוֹת בָּנָיו וְכָל זַרְעוֹ הֵבִיא אִתּוֹ מִצְרָיְמָה
KJ: His sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.
BN: His sons and his sons' sons with him, his daughters and his sons' daughters, he brought his entire tribe with him into Mitsrayim.
This phrasing leaves no doubt that the entire tribe moved, not just some of it. And that children in this tribe belong to the father, not the mother.
46:8 VE ELEH SHEMOT BENEY YISRA-EL HA BA'IM MITSRAYEMAH YA'AKOV U VANAV BECHOR YA'AKOV RE'U-VEN
וְאֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הַבָּאִים מִצְרַיְמָה יַעֲקֹב וּבָנָיו בְּכֹר יַעֲקֹב רְאוּבֵן
KJ: And these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob's firstborn.
BN: And these are the names of the children of Yisra-El, who came into Mitsrayim: Ya'akov and his sons: Re'u-Ven, Ya'akov's first-born.
We can imagine that it would have been a matter of intense tribal pride that every tribe would wish to have gone down into Mitsrayim, in order to have endured the slavery, in order to have taken part in the Exodus, in order to have been present at Sinai, in order to receive their portion of the sharing out of the land by Yehoshu'a (Joshua) and their blessing by Ya'akov as well (Genesis 49). And in order to have equality at all points thereafter. But the historical truth is quite otherwise. The tribes will be discussed in detail elsewhere.
c.f. Numbers 26 and 1 Chronicles 2 (as far as chapter 7) where the lists are not identical.
Note that on this occasion a clear distinction is made between Yisra-El and Ya'akov, the tribe first and the man second. Can we understand this as the precedent for all the other usages in the Tanach?
46:9 U VENEY RE'U-VEN: CHANOCH U PHALU VE CHETSRON VE CHARMI
וּבְנֵי רְאוּבֵן חֲנוֹךְ וּפַלּוּא וְחֶצְרוֹן וְכַרְמִי
KJ: And the sons of Reuben; Hanoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.
BN: And the sons of Re'u-Ven: Chanoch and Phalu and Chetsron and Charmi
Important to check these names against the earlier, and later, genealogy tables.
CHANOCH (חנוך): One of the most distinguished of all Biblical names, the first Chanoch was the eldest son of Kayin (Cain) and the eponymous founder of a city. Genesis 25:4 has a Chanoch son of Midyan and grandson of Av-Raham. For this Chanoch see Exodus 6:14 and Numbers 26:5. The name means "dedicated", which probably refers to the "dedication" of first-born sons, either as Nazirites to the Temple, or as sacrifices to Moloch. There is also an apocryphal prophet named Chanoch, known in English as Enoch, in whose name Joseph Smith founded the Mormon church.
PHALU (פלוא): The name is really PALU, but the Vav prefix (Vav = "and") softens the dagesh, so that Pey becomes Phey. Numbers 26:5 gives PALU'I (פלוי) = "to separate" or "distinguish"; also used to mean "wonders".
CHETSRON (חצרן): See the notes in the link to his name.
CHARMI (כרמי): As with Phalu, the name is actually KARMI. The name means "vine-dresser" whence Mount Karm-El (Carmel). Achan ben Karmi was one of those who disobeyed Yehoshu'a at Yericho (Joshua 7:1).
46:10 U VENEY SHIM'ON YEMU-EL VE YAMIN VE OHAD VE YACHIN VE TSOCHAR VE SHA'UL BEN HA KENA'ANIT
וּבְנֵי שִׁמְעוֹן יְמוּאֵל וְיָמִין וְאֹהַד וְיָכִין וְצֹחַר וְשָׁאוּל בֶּן הַכְּנַעֲנִית
KJ: And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman.
BN: And the sons of Shim'on: Yemu-El, and Yamin, and Ohad, and Yachin, and Tsochar, and Sha'ul the son of the Kena'ani woman
YAMIN (ימין): obvious links to the name Bin-Yamin, especially as Numbers 26:12 gives the tribal name as Yamini (ימיני) Is there some later amalgamation of Ben-Oni and Yamin?
OHAD (אהד): means "to join together".
YACHIN (יכין): for this name as one of the two pillars sentrying the entrance to the Temple in Yeru-Shala'im, see 1 Kings 7:21. 1 Chronicles 4:24 names him YARIV (יריב). YACHIN means "whom Yah strengthens", whereas YARIV = "an adversary". Numbers 26:12 gives his tribe.
TSOCHAR (צחר): Numbers 26:13 says his name was ZERACH (זרח), while v12 below makes ZERACH a son of Yehudah instead.
SHA'UL (שאול): one modern commentator (Luzzatto) has suggested the woman in question was Dinah's daughter, and called Kena'ani because Shechem was her father. There is no internal evidence to support this, though it is possible he has come upon a Midrash of which I am unaware. Nonetheless another example of the statement of endogamy.
46:11 U VENEY LEVI GERSHON KEHAT U MERARI
וּבְנֵי לֵוִי גֵּרְשׁוֹן קְהָת וּמְרָרִי
KJ: And the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
BN: And the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kehat, and Merari
GERSHON (גרשון): see link.
46:12 U VENEY YEHUDAH ER VE ONAN VE SHELAH VA PHERETS VA ZARACH VA YAMAT ER VE ONAN BE ERETS KENA'AN VA YEHI'U VENEY PHERETS CHETSRON VE CHAMUL
וּבְנֵי יְהוּדָה עֵר וְאוֹנָן וְשֵׁלָה וָפֶרֶץ וָזָרַח וַיָּמָת עֵר וְאוֹנָן בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן וַיִּהְיוּ בְנֵי פֶרֶץ חֶצְרוֹן וְחָמוּל
KJ: 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.
BN: And the sons of Yehudah: Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharets, and Zerach; but Er and Onan died in the land of Kena'an. And the sons of Pharets were Chetsron and Chamul.
ER (ער): see Genesis 38:3 ff.
PHARETS (פרץ): Perets, Parets, Pherets and now Pharets are all found at different points. Parets is the most grammatically correct, but names do not necessarily follow grammar. The one thing we can say for certain is that Perez, which is how he is usually rendered in English, is definitely incorrect. One of the two sons of Yehudah by Tamar.
ZARACH (זרח): Previously Zerach, which is more likely correct. The other of the two sons of Yehudah by Tamar.
CHETSRON (חצרן): Any connection to Re'u-Ven's Chetsron (see verse 9)? Odd that Shim'on, Re'u-Ven and Yehudah have these overlapping names, but then why shouldn't names run through families? Today we do it deliberately to honour a dead grandparent etc…
CHAMUL (חמול): means "circumcised", surely? Gesenius claims that it means "he who has experienced mercy". This requires more work.
46:13 U VENEY YISASCHAR TOL'A U PUVAH VE YOV VE SHIMRON
וּבְנֵי יִשָׂשכָר תּוֹלָע וּפֻוָּה וְיוֹב וְשִׁמְרוֹן
KJ: And the sons of Issachar; Tola, and Phuvah, and Job, and Shimron.
BN: And the sons of Yisaschar: Tol'a, and Puvah, and Yov and Shimron
TOL'A (תולע): the name means "a worm", but was also used to mean "scarlet", which is significant to the story of Pharets and Zerach (Genesis 38).
YOV (יוב): Not the same as in the Book of Job where it is spelled with an Aleph (אִיּוֹב) and pronounced Iyov - unless we regard one as Aramaic and the other as Yehudit, which is highly likely.
46:14 U VENEY ZEVULUN SERED VE ELON VE YACHLE-EL
וּבְנֵי זְבוּלֻן סֶרֶד וְאֵלוֹן וְיַחְלְאֵל
KJ: And the sons of Zebulun; Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.
BN: And the sons of Zevulun: Sered and Elon and Yachle-El
46:15 ELEH BENEY LE'AH ASHER YALDAH LE YA'AKOV BE PHADAN ARAM VE ET DINAH VITO KOL NEPHESH BANAV U VENOTAV SHELOSHIM VE SHALOSH
אֵלֶּה בְּנֵי לֵאָה אֲשֶׁר יָלְדָה לְיַעֲקֹב בְּפַדַּן אֲרָם וְאֵת דִּינָה בִתּוֹ כָּל נֶפֶשׁ בָּנָיו וּבְנוֹתָיו שְׁלֹשִׁים וְשָׁלֹשׁ
KJ: 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.
BN: These are the sons of Le'ah, whom she bore to Ya'akov in Padan Aram, with his daughter Dinah; all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty-three.
Note that Dinah is included on this occasion. Is there any significance in the number 33? Other than the obscure fact that 33 is written numerically as ל"ג/Lag, and that it also happens to be a key number in the counting of the Omer, which is part of the corn-rites and therefore connected to the famine (the Omer is counted between Passover and the first harvest, at Shavu'ot)?
And can we then deduce the number of daughters by mathematical logic? We can presume that the number is significant, because in fact the numbers listed in verses 9-14 only add up to 32. The Rabbis solve this (seeming error!) by adding the name Yocheved (יוחבד), the daughter of Levi, claiming she was born at the exact moment that they crossed into Mitsrayim (Egypt). Yocheved, of course, became the mother of Mosheh - though the possibility of this does rather depend on the length of time that the Habiru were "slaves" - just one generation according to Exodus 1:7/8, anything up to 430 years, according to Exodus 12:40 - a full and very thorough discussion of the subject can be found here.
And can we then deduce the number of daughters by mathematical logic? We can presume that the number is significant, because in fact the numbers listed in verses 9-14 only add up to 32. The Rabbis solve this (seeming error!) by adding the name Yocheved (יוחבד), the daughter of Levi, claiming she was born at the exact moment that they crossed into Mitsrayim (Egypt). Yocheved, of course, became the mother of Mosheh - though the possibility of this does rather depend on the length of time that the Habiru were "slaves" - just one generation according to Exodus 1:7/8, anything up to 430 years, according to Exodus 12:40 - a full and very thorough discussion of the subject can be found here.
This also emphasises the oddity that none of these were born in Kena'an: all the Le'ah tribes were Aramaean in the strictest sense, who absorbed, conquered, assimilated or subdued the local tribes and peoples in order to establish their amphictyony under David. The same is true of the Bilhah and Zilpah tribes. What makes the Rachel tribes different is threefold. One, Yoseph, who was born in Aram, and has no tribal zone. Two, his sons, who do, were born in Mitsrayim (Egypt). Three, Bin-Yamin, who does, was the only native Yisra-Eli tribe, and it was in his tribal zone (merged with Yehudah after the loss of the Ten Tribes) that Tsi'on etc were established. This may be coincidence, or political pragmatism, or simply a retrospective history told by Yehudah after the loss of the Ephrayimite tribes. Note that the ten are always named Yisra-El or Ephrayim, but Yehudah even when later it includes Bin-Yamin is always Yehudah.
Shim'on and Re'u-Ven were the other southern zones, and both disappeared pretty quickly. The Aramaean tribes held the northern areas of Yisra-El only. All of this needs further thought.
46:16 U VENEY GAD TSIPHYON VE CHAGI SHUNI VE ETSBON ERI VA ARODI VE ARELI
KJ: And the sons of Gad; Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli.
BN: And the sons of Gad: Tsiphyon and Chagi, Shuni and Etsvon, Eri and Arodi, and Areli
TSIPHYON (צפיון): see link.
CHAGI (חגי): see link.
SHUNI (שוני): see link.
ETSBON (אצבן): see link.
ERI (ערי): any link to Er, Yehudah's son and Tamar's husband, in verse 12 above?
ARODI (ארודי): These names with final Yud sound like the tribe not the man.
AR'ELI (אראלי): see link.
46:17 U VENEY ASHER YIMNAH VE YISHVAH VE YISHVI U VERI'AH VE SERACH ACHOTAM U VENEY VERI'AH CHEVER U MALKI-EL
KJ: And the sons of Asher; Jimnah, and Ishuah, and Isui, and Beriah, and Serah their sister: and the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel.
BN: And the sons of Asher: Yimnah and Yishvah and Yishvi and Veri'ah and Serach their sister; and the sons of Veri'ah: Chever and Malki-El.
YIMNAH (ימנה): once again making a connection with Yamin and Bin-Yamin.
YISHVAH (ישוה): see link; probably Yishvah is the man, Yishvi the clan.
YISHVI (ישוי): One problem for the Redactor may have been that he himself didn't know how to read these "ancient" names (as we would have problems with the Anglo-Saxon); or perhaps simply didn't know the meanings.
VERI'AH (בריעה):Or probably Beri'ah, the dagesh dropped as with Palu and Karmi in verse 9.
SERACH (שרח): see link
CHEVER (חבר): Links to Chevron?
MALKI-EL (מלכיאל): see link
46:18 ELEH BENEY ZILPAH ASHER NATAN LAVAN LE LE'AH VITO VA TELED ET ELEH LE YA'AKOV SHESH ESREY NAPHESH
KJ: These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bare unto Jacob, even sixteen souls.
BN: These are the sons of Zilpah whom Lavan gave to Le'ah his daughter, and these she bore to Ya'akov, sixteen souls.
46:19 BENEY RACHEL ESHET YA'AKOV YOSEPH U VIN-YAMIN
KJ: The sons of Rachel Jacob's wife; Joseph, and Benjamin.
BN: The sons of Rachel Ya'akov's wife: Yoseph and Bin-Yamin
46:20 VA YIVALED LE YOSEPH BE ERETS MITSRAYIM ASHER YALDAH LO ASNAT BAT POTI-PHERA KOHEN ON ET MENASHEH VE ET EPHRAYIM
KJ: 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.
BN: And to Yoseph in the land of Mitsrayim were born Menasheh and Ephrayim, whom Asnat the daughter of Poti-Phera the priest of On bore to him.
What is never pointed out, of course, is that neither Menasheh nor Ephrayim were halachically Beney Yisra-El, their mother being an Egyptian priest's daughter. Yet both would have full status as tribes, and both in central territories of Yisra-El, for the next several hundred years.
46:21 U VENEY VIN-YAMIN BELAH VA VECHER VE ASHBEL GERA VE NA'AMAN ECHI VA ROSH MUPIM VE CHUPIM VA ARD
KJ: And the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard.
BN: And the sons of Bin-Yamin: Bela, and Vecher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Na'aman, Echi and Rosh, Mupim and Chupim and Ard.
A good few of these are known tribes; however this is meant to be a list of those who went down into Egypt, and Bin-Yamin can't possibly have had this many sons, if indeed he could have had any, given that he is presented as a young man still, unmarried, his father's pride... isn't he? Genesis 44:20 has him as the "little one", and Ya'akov's attitude clearly suggests that he is still young. Read as a chronological historical narrative, he must in fact be in his mid-thirties by now, so of course he could have done. And we are supposed to read this in that manner.
Many of Bin-Yamin's sons are presented here in pairs, as though they were twins; residue of the epoch of Gemini, perhaps?
BELA (בלע): see link.
VECHER (בכר): Becher in fact, but once again the Bet at the beginning is softened by the Vav prefix. This ought to be the first-born son, since that is what his name means; can we assume they didn't know the meaning of the name, or that Becher applies to one of the other mentioned sons? There is also a linguistic connection between this Becher, as a person's name, and the Kiddush cup that Bin-Yamin allegedly stole - called a "gevi'a" in the text (Genesis 44:2), and meaning a "devining cup"; the Yehudit-Ivrit word for the kiddush-cup is Becher.
ASHBEL (אשבל): is this a corruption of Ish-Ba'al (איש בעל) = "man of Ba'al"; the name appears as the king-name of one of the sons of Sha'ul in 2 Samuel 8?
GERA (גרא): see link.
NA'AMAN (נעמן): Numbers 26:40 makes him a grandson, not a son.
ECHI (אחי): is this, like Becher, an error - in this case for brother - Achi?
ROSH (ראש): see link.
MUPIM (מפים): again the tribal name, or more likely residents of the city of Moph in Egypt - the correct Egyptian name for what we would call Memphis. If Bin-Yamin had all these sons before the descent into Egypt, the age problem is exacerbated, but more interesting: how are names like these chosen?
CHUPIM (חפים): see link.
ARD (ארד): not to be confused with Arodi in v16 above, or indeed with Arvad in Genesis 10:18.
Yes, but who was/were the mother/s? It is very unusual for us not to be told who the wife of a tribal patriarch was; or probably wives, and concubines.
46:22 ELEH BENEY RACHEL ASHER YULAD LE YA'AKOV KOL NEPHESH ARBA'AH ASAR
KJ: These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.
BN: These are the sons of Rachel who were born to Ya'akov: all the souls were fourteen.
46:23 U VENEY-DAN CHUSHIM
KJ: And the sons of Dan; Hushim.
BN: And the sons of Dan: Chushim.
Because of course Dan wasn't really a Ben Yisra-El at all, if by that we mean a single family, born of an identifiable and historical father, rather than a later amalgamation of many tribal groups into an artificial national identity; more likely Phoenician or even Philistine if those two names do not denote a single people too.
Why is VENEY-DAN hyphenated but other sons aren't? (Usually TheBibleNet removes all hyphens as a matter of course, using them only to enable an accurate phonetic transliteration of a name; it is left in on this occasion because of the anomaly).
CHUSHIM (חשים): see notes.
46:24 U VENEY NAPHTALI YACHTSE-EL VE GUNI VE YETSER VE SHILEM
KJ: And the sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.
BN: And the sons of Naphtali: Yachtse-El and Guni and Yetser and Shilem.
YACHTSE-EL (יחצאל): see link.
GUNI (גוני): see link.
YETSER (יצר): see link.
SHILEM (שלם): another of those innumerable SALM names.
46:25 ELEH VENEY VILHAH ASHER NATAN LAVAN LE RACHEL BITO VA TELED ET ELEH LE YA'AKOV KOL NEPHESH SHIV'AH
KJ: These are the sons of Bilhah, which Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter, and she bare these unto Jacob: all the souls were seven.
BN: These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Lavan gave to Rachel his daughter, and these she bore to Ya'akov; all the souls were seven.
Any significance in that particular number!? Probably not on this occasion, but the numbers so often are significant that we have to keep asking. And the same but more so in the very next verse.
46:26 KOL HA NEPHESH HA BA'AH LE YA'AKOV MITSRAYEMAH YOTS'E YERECHO MILVAD NESHEY VENEY YA'AKOV KOL NEPHESH SHISHIM VE SHESH
KJ: 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;
BN: All the souls belonging to Ya'akov who went down to Mitsrayim, that came out of his loins, besides Ya'akov's sons' wives, all the souls were sixty-six.
YERECHO (ירכו): here obviously means "loins", though in fact we know that YERECH is the thigh, so it is being used slightly coyly; but it is also the key word from the wrestling match at Penu-El (Genesis 32:26), "And when he saw that he could not prevail against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Ya'akov's thigh was strained, as he wrestled with him - the key phrase there being KAPH YERECH (כַּף יֶרֶךְ)". For a full explanation of the significance of the YERECH, both as a thigh and in its connections to the moon and to the city of Yericho (Jericho), go to the notes to Genesis 32.
66: which means Le'ah constitutes exactly half on her own; if, that is, the numbers really add up to 66, which in fact they don't! But it's a significant number; or at least, it's a necessary number, if the total in Egypt is to reach the more significant 70 (see next verse). Leah 33, Zilpah 16, Rachel 14 and Bilhah 7. See v 15 above for clarification of this total.
And again, note that not all of these did go down to Egypt – a few were born there, a few had already died before they got there.
46:27 U VENEY YOSEPH ASHER YULAD LO VE MITSRAYIM NEPHESH SHENAYIM KOL HA NEPHESH LE VEIT YA'AKOV HA BA'AH MITSRAYEMAH SHIVIM
KJ: And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten.
BN: And the sons of Yoseph, who were born to him in Mitsrayim, were two souls; all the souls of the house of Ya'akov, that went down into Egypt, were seventy.
Stated with the sort of flourish that seems to say - there, I did it, I managed to work it out in such a way as to reach seventy, which is of course a very significant number - a Septuagint, if I may borrow that term. (Except that three of these did not "come into Egypt"; they were born there - the four being Yoseph himself, the two boys, and Asnat, the mother, who is now counted as part of the tribe because patrilocal marriage is apparently in effect here, even without formal conversion!)
And doesn't Ya'akov count too? In which case the number should be either 68 or 71 (and acually, in the world of Egyptian mythology, 72 would be even better).
How many were they then? The last section said 70 in total, but all the previous Ya'akov stories have suggested a wealthy tribal sheikh; if they are just 70, then in fact we are speaking of a minor and insignificant Bedou, not the sort to be able to massacre Shechem as he did earlier. So what do we believe? Perhaps the 70 is just the immediate family, the clan rather than the full tribe. Or perhaps, dare I suggest, the entire tale is mythological, and what we are counting are the rings of the Round Table of Stonehenge or Gil-Gal, a single stone in the very centre, a circle of seven, a circle of twelve, a circle of thirty, a circle of seventy (in Babylon) or of seventy-two (in Egypt). As Ya'akov's epic began with him seeing the ladder of the angels, the full Milky Way, so now, as king of that Cosmos, he has brought the entire ladder with him, and will very shortly give us his full account of it.
Samech break.
End of fifth fragment.
46:28 VE ET YEHUDAH SHALACH LEPHANAV EL YOSEPH LEHOROT LEPHANAV GOSHNAH VA YAVO'U ARTSAH GOSHEN
KJ: And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.
BN: And he sent Yehudah before him to Yoseph, to show the way him the way to Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.
46:16 U VENEY GAD TSIPHYON VE CHAGI SHUNI VE ETSBON ERI VA ARODI VE ARELI
וּבְנֵי גָד צִפְיוֹן וְחַגִּי שׁוּנִי וְאֶצְבֹּן עֵרִי וַאֲרוֹדִי וְאַרְאֵלִי
KJ: And the sons of Gad; Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli.
BN: And the sons of Gad: Tsiphyon and Chagi, Shuni and Etsvon, Eri and Arodi, and Areli
TSIPHYON (צפיון): see link.
CHAGI (חגי): see link.
SHUNI (שוני): see link.
ETSBON (אצבן): see link.
ERI (ערי): any link to Er, Yehudah's son and Tamar's husband, in verse 12 above?
ARODI (ארודי): These names with final Yud sound like the tribe not the man.
AR'ELI (אראלי): see link.
46:17 U VENEY ASHER YIMNAH VE YISHVAH VE YISHVI U VERI'AH VE SERACH ACHOTAM U VENEY VERI'AH CHEVER U MALKI-EL
וּבְנֵי אָשֵׁר יִמְנָה וְיִשְׁוָה וְיִשְׁוִי וּבְרִיעָה וְשֶׂרַח אֲחֹתָם וּבְנֵי בְרִיעָה חֶבֶר וּמַלְכִּיאֵל
KJ: And the sons of Asher; Jimnah, and Ishuah, and Isui, and Beriah, and Serah their sister: and the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel.
BN: And the sons of Asher: Yimnah and Yishvah and Yishvi and Veri'ah and Serach their sister; and the sons of Veri'ah: Chever and Malki-El.
YIMNAH (ימנה): once again making a connection with Yamin and Bin-Yamin.
YISHVAH (ישוה): see link; probably Yishvah is the man, Yishvi the clan.
YISHVI (ישוי): One problem for the Redactor may have been that he himself didn't know how to read these "ancient" names (as we would have problems with the Anglo-Saxon); or perhaps simply didn't know the meanings.
VERI'AH (בריעה):Or probably Beri'ah, the dagesh dropped as with Palu and Karmi in verse 9.
SERACH (שרח): see link
CHEVER (חבר): Links to Chevron?
MALKI-EL (מלכיאל): see link
46:18 ELEH BENEY ZILPAH ASHER NATAN LAVAN LE LE'AH VITO VA TELED ET ELEH LE YA'AKOV SHESH ESREY NAPHESH
אֵלֶּה בְּנֵי זִלְפָּה אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לָבָן לְלֵאָה בִתּוֹ וַתֵּלֶד אֶת אֵלֶּה לְיַעֲקֹב שֵׁשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה נָפֶשׁ
KJ: These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bare unto Jacob, even sixteen souls.
BN: These are the sons of Zilpah whom Lavan gave to Le'ah his daughter, and these she bore to Ya'akov, sixteen souls.
46:19 BENEY RACHEL ESHET YA'AKOV YOSEPH U VIN-YAMIN
בְּנֵי רָחֵל אֵשֶׁת יַעֲקֹב יוֹסֵף וּבִנְיָמִן
KJ: The sons of Rachel Jacob's wife; Joseph, and Benjamin.
BN: The sons of Rachel Ya'akov's wife: Yoseph and Bin-Yamin
46:20 VA YIVALED LE YOSEPH BE ERETS MITSRAYIM ASHER YALDAH LO ASNAT BAT POTI-PHERA KOHEN ON ET MENASHEH VE ET EPHRAYIM
וַיִּוָּלֵד לְיוֹסֵף בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם אֲשֶׁר יָלְדָה לּוֹ אָסְנַת בַּת פּוֹטִי פֶרַע כֹּהֵן אֹן אֶת מְנַשֶּׁה וְאֶת אֶפְרָיִם
KJ: 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.
BN: And to Yoseph in the land of Mitsrayim were born Menasheh and Ephrayim, whom Asnat the daughter of Poti-Phera the priest of On bore to him.
What is never pointed out, of course, is that neither Menasheh nor Ephrayim were halachically Beney Yisra-El, their mother being an Egyptian priest's daughter. Yet both would have full status as tribes, and both in central territories of Yisra-El, for the next several hundred years.
46:21 U VENEY VIN-YAMIN BELAH VA VECHER VE ASHBEL GERA VE NA'AMAN ECHI VA ROSH MUPIM VE CHUPIM VA ARD
וּבְנֵי בִנְיָמִן בֶּלַע וָבֶכֶר וְאַשְׁבֵּל גֵּרָא וְנַעֲמָן אֵחִי וָרֹאשׁ מֻפִּים וְחֻפִּים וָאָרְדְּ
KJ: And the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard.
BN: And the sons of Bin-Yamin: Bela, and Vecher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Na'aman, Echi and Rosh, Mupim and Chupim and Ard.
A good few of these are known tribes; however this is meant to be a list of those who went down into Egypt, and Bin-Yamin can't possibly have had this many sons, if indeed he could have had any, given that he is presented as a young man still, unmarried, his father's pride... isn't he? Genesis 44:20 has him as the "little one", and Ya'akov's attitude clearly suggests that he is still young. Read as a chronological historical narrative, he must in fact be in his mid-thirties by now, so of course he could have done. And we are supposed to read this in that manner.
Many of Bin-Yamin's sons are presented here in pairs, as though they were twins; residue of the epoch of Gemini, perhaps?
BELA (בלע): see link.
VECHER (בכר): Becher in fact, but once again the Bet at the beginning is softened by the Vav prefix. This ought to be the first-born son, since that is what his name means; can we assume they didn't know the meaning of the name, or that Becher applies to one of the other mentioned sons? There is also a linguistic connection between this Becher, as a person's name, and the Kiddush cup that Bin-Yamin allegedly stole - called a "gevi'a" in the text (Genesis 44:2), and meaning a "devining cup"; the Yehudit-Ivrit word for the kiddush-cup is Becher.
ASHBEL (אשבל): is this a corruption of Ish-Ba'al (איש בעל) = "man of Ba'al"; the name appears as the king-name of one of the sons of Sha'ul in 2 Samuel 8?
GERA (גרא): see link.
NA'AMAN (נעמן): Numbers 26:40 makes him a grandson, not a son.
ECHI (אחי): is this, like Becher, an error - in this case for brother - Achi?
ROSH (ראש): see link.
MUPIM (מפים): again the tribal name, or more likely residents of the city of Moph in Egypt - the correct Egyptian name for what we would call Memphis. If Bin-Yamin had all these sons before the descent into Egypt, the age problem is exacerbated, but more interesting: how are names like these chosen?
CHUPIM (חפים): see link.
ARD (ארד): not to be confused with Arodi in v16 above, or indeed with Arvad in Genesis 10:18.
Yes, but who was/were the mother/s? It is very unusual for us not to be told who the wife of a tribal patriarch was; or probably wives, and concubines.
46:22 ELEH BENEY RACHEL ASHER YULAD LE YA'AKOV KOL NEPHESH ARBA'AH ASAR
אֵלֶּה בְּנֵי רָחֵל אֲשֶׁר יֻלַּד לְיַעֲקֹב כָּל נֶפֶשׁ אַרְבָּעָה עָשָׂר
KJ: These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.
BN: These are the sons of Rachel who were born to Ya'akov: all the souls were fourteen.
46:23 U VENEY-DAN CHUSHIM
וּבְנֵי-דָן חֻשִׁים
KJ: And the sons of Dan; Hushim.
BN: And the sons of Dan: Chushim.
Because of course Dan wasn't really a Ben Yisra-El at all, if by that we mean a single family, born of an identifiable and historical father, rather than a later amalgamation of many tribal groups into an artificial national identity; more likely Phoenician or even Philistine if those two names do not denote a single people too.
Why is VENEY-DAN hyphenated but other sons aren't? (Usually TheBibleNet removes all hyphens as a matter of course, using them only to enable an accurate phonetic transliteration of a name; it is left in on this occasion because of the anomaly).
CHUSHIM (חשים): see notes.
46:24 U VENEY NAPHTALI YACHTSE-EL VE GUNI VE YETSER VE SHILEM
וּבְנֵי נַפְתָּלִי יַחְצְאֵל וְגוּנִי וְיֵצֶר וְשִׁלֵּם
KJ: And the sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.
BN: And the sons of Naphtali: Yachtse-El and Guni and Yetser and Shilem.
YACHTSE-EL (יחצאל): see link.
GUNI (גוני): see link.
YETSER (יצר): see link.
SHILEM (שלם): another of those innumerable SALM names.
46:25 ELEH VENEY VILHAH ASHER NATAN LAVAN LE RACHEL BITO VA TELED ET ELEH LE YA'AKOV KOL NEPHESH SHIV'AH
אֵלֶּה בְּנֵי בִלְהָה אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לָבָן לְרָחֵל בִּתּוֹ וַתֵּלֶד אֶת אֵלֶּה לְיַעֲקֹב כָּל נֶפֶשׁ שִׁבְעָה
BN: These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Lavan gave to Rachel his daughter, and these she bore to Ya'akov; all the souls were seven.
Any significance in that particular number!? Probably not on this occasion, but the numbers so often are significant that we have to keep asking. And the same but more so in the very next verse.
46:26 KOL HA NEPHESH HA BA'AH LE YA'AKOV MITSRAYEMAH YOTS'E YERECHO MILVAD NESHEY VENEY YA'AKOV KOL NEPHESH SHISHIM VE SHESH
כָּל הַנֶּפֶשׁ הַבָּאָה לְיַעֲקֹב מִצְרַיְמָה יֹצְאֵי יְרֵכוֹ מִלְּבַד נְשֵׁי בְנֵי יַעֲקֹב כָּל נֶפֶשׁ שִׁשִּׁים וָשֵׁשׁ
KJ: 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;
BN: All the souls belonging to Ya'akov who went down to Mitsrayim, that came out of his loins, besides Ya'akov's sons' wives, all the souls were sixty-six.
YERECHO (ירכו): here obviously means "loins", though in fact we know that YERECH is the thigh, so it is being used slightly coyly; but it is also the key word from the wrestling match at Penu-El (Genesis 32:26), "And when he saw that he could not prevail against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Ya'akov's thigh was strained, as he wrestled with him - the key phrase there being KAPH YERECH (כַּף יֶרֶךְ)". For a full explanation of the significance of the YERECH, both as a thigh and in its connections to the moon and to the city of Yericho (Jericho), go to the notes to Genesis 32.
66: which means Le'ah constitutes exactly half on her own; if, that is, the numbers really add up to 66, which in fact they don't! But it's a significant number; or at least, it's a necessary number, if the total in Egypt is to reach the more significant 70 (see next verse). Leah 33, Zilpah 16, Rachel 14 and Bilhah 7. See v 15 above for clarification of this total.
And again, note that not all of these did go down to Egypt – a few were born there, a few had already died before they got there.
46:27 U VENEY YOSEPH ASHER YULAD LO VE MITSRAYIM NEPHESH SHENAYIM KOL HA NEPHESH LE VEIT YA'AKOV HA BA'AH MITSRAYEMAH SHIVIM
וּבְנֵי יוֹסֵף אֲשֶׁר יֻלַּד לוֹ בְמִצְרַיִם נֶפֶשׁ שְׁנָיִם כָּל הַנֶּפֶשׁ לְבֵית יַעֲקֹב הַבָּאָה מִצְרַיְמָה שִׁבְעִים
KJ: And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten.
BN: And the sons of Yoseph, who were born to him in Mitsrayim, were two souls; all the souls of the house of Ya'akov, that went down into Egypt, were seventy.
Stated with the sort of flourish that seems to say - there, I did it, I managed to work it out in such a way as to reach seventy, which is of course a very significant number - a Septuagint, if I may borrow that term. (Except that three of these did not "come into Egypt"; they were born there - the four being Yoseph himself, the two boys, and Asnat, the mother, who is now counted as part of the tribe because patrilocal marriage is apparently in effect here, even without formal conversion!)
And doesn't Ya'akov count too? In which case the number should be either 68 or 71 (and acually, in the world of Egyptian mythology, 72 would be even better).
How many were they then? The last section said 70 in total, but all the previous Ya'akov stories have suggested a wealthy tribal sheikh; if they are just 70, then in fact we are speaking of a minor and insignificant Bedou, not the sort to be able to massacre Shechem as he did earlier. So what do we believe? Perhaps the 70 is just the immediate family, the clan rather than the full tribe. Or perhaps, dare I suggest, the entire tale is mythological, and what we are counting are the rings of the Round Table of Stonehenge or Gil-Gal, a single stone in the very centre, a circle of seven, a circle of twelve, a circle of thirty, a circle of seventy (in Babylon) or of seventy-two (in Egypt). As Ya'akov's epic began with him seeing the ladder of the angels, the full Milky Way, so now, as king of that Cosmos, he has brought the entire ladder with him, and will very shortly give us his full account of it.
Samech break.
End of fifth fragment.
46:28 VE ET YEHUDAH SHALACH LEPHANAV EL YOSEPH LEHOROT LEPHANAV GOSHNAH VA YAVO'U ARTSAH GOSHEN
וְאֶת יְהוּדָה שָׁלַח לְפָנָיו אֶל יוֹסֵף לְהוֹרֹת לְפָנָיו גֹּשְׁנָה וַיָּבֹאוּ אַרְצָה גֹּשֶׁן
KJ: And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.
BN: And he sent Yehudah before him to Yoseph, to show the way him the way to Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.
Why Yehudah (and how many times have we now asked that question)? Because he did the speaking before? Because this is a tale being written a thousand years later, and Yehudah is the predominant of the surviving tribes? Why not Re'u-Ven his firstborn? We have witnessed the discrediting of each of the first three sons, Re'u-Ven for his affair with Bilhah, Shim'on and Levi for the massacre at Shechem, but discredited is not the same as disowned.In order to get to Mitsrayim from Kena'an, they would have had to pass through Goshen, so they would have known where it was. The inference is not providing tour-guidance but a fairly major triumphal entry taking place, a pageant of arrival and occupation led by the Pharaoh's top man, and then a return to the land where they were settling – perhaps Yehudah was sent ahead to plan the arrangements.
And of course this is the obvious route for Mosheh to take later on - it is completely illogical, irrational and implausible that he took the Beney Yisra-El south-eastwards towards the Red Sea, rather than north-eastwards, across the Reed Sea, as the Fertile Delta was known.
46:29 VA YE'ESOR YOSEPH MERKAVTO VA YA'AL LIKRAT YISRA-EL AVIV GOSHNAH VA YERA ELAV VA YIPOL AL TSAVA'RAV VA YEVCH AL TSAVA'RAV OD
וַיֶּאְסֹר יוֹסֵף מֶרְכַּבְתּוֹ וַיַּעַל לִקְרַאת יִשְׂרָאֵל אָבִיו גֹּשְׁנָה וַיֵּרָא אֵלָי וַיִּפֹּל עַל צַוָּארָיו וַיֵּבְךְּ עַל צַוָּארָיו עוֹד
KJ: And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.
BN: And Yoseph made ready his chariot, and went up to Goshen to meet Yisra-El his father; and he presented himself to him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.
The triumphal entry in the event is not Yoseph's, but Ya'akov's.
The chariot is interesting; we know they have them from the story of Mosheh at the Sea of Reeds. When were chariots first invented? Answer: as far as the archaeologists can determine from current evidence, they were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos. So this really helps us date the tale, and the significance of Ya'akov's arrival, with the coat of many colours confirming the priestly training, endorsing the view that Ya'akov's arrival from Padan Aram was in fact the arrival of the Hyksos (and therefore we can conclude that there are probably two different Ya'akovs, the Tanist twin of the Edomite legends and the Hyksos Yisra-El of the Labanite legends).
And note that Ya'akov has become Yisra-El again, as if to confirm still more this hypothesis.
VA YE'ESOR: The verb chosen to open this verse is worth mentioning, because this is not the verb we would expect for making ready a chariot, but it is also a homophone (identical spelling, different meaning) of the word used in Genesis 39:20, for the prison where Yoseph was bound, and again in 42:19 when Shim'on is bound and imprisoned. At a pinch we could suggest that the verb is correct for the chariot, in that it would involve "binding" a horse or horses to it in order to "make it ready".
46:30 VA YOMER YISRA-EL EL YOSEPH AMUTAH HA PA'AM ACHAREY RE'OTI ET PANEYCHA KI ODECHA CHAI
וַיֹּאמֶר יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל יוֹסֵף אָמוּתָה הַפָּעַם אַחֲרֵי רְאוֹתִי אֶת פָּנֶיךָ כִּי עוֹדְךָ חָי
KJ: And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.
BN: And Yisra-El said to Yoseph, "Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive."
Isn't that what Simon said about Jesus?
This has to be regarded as a hyperbolic statement of sentiment and not a genuine wish! Now that he has seen Yoseph alive, and has years to catch up on, he should be saying, "Now let me live an extra twenty years, so I can shlep some real nachas from having my favourite son back - and look how well he's done!" Once again we can see where the other boys' jealousy came from - it wasn't just that Yoseph dreamed arrogant dreams, but also that dad made quite plain who he loved the most.
46:31 VA YOMER YOSEPH EL ECHAV VE EL BEIT AVIV E'ELEH VE AGIYDAH LE PHAR'OH VE OMRAH ELAV ACHAI U VEIT AVI ASHER BE ERETZ KENA'AN BA'U ELAI
וַיֹּאמֶר יוֹסֵף אֶל אֶחָיו וְאֶל בֵּית אָבִיו אֶעֱלֶה וְאַגִּידָה לְפַרְעֹה וְאֹמְרָה אֵלָיו אַחַי וּבֵית אָבִי אֲשֶׁר בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן בָּאוּ אֵלָי
KJ: And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his father's house, I will go up, and shew Pharaoh, and say unto him, My brethren, and my father's house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me;
BN: And Yoseph said to his brothers, and to his father's house, "I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and say to him, 'My brothers and my father's house, who were in the land of Kena'an, have come to me...
As if Pharaoh doesn't already know this; this is what is known in the mythology of the Literature symposium as "story-telling technique" - though not, on this occasion, a very good one.
46:32 VE HA ANASHIM RO'EY TSON KI ANSHEY MIKNEH HAYU VE TSO'NAM U VEKARAM VE CHOL ASHER LAHEM HEVIY'U
וְהָאֲנָשִׁים רֹעֵי צֹאן כִּי אַנְשֵׁי מִקְנֶה הָיוּ וְצֹאנָם וּבְקָרָם וְכָל אֲשֶׁר לָהֶם הֵבִיאוּ
KJ: And the men are shepherds, for their trade hath been to feed cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.
BN: And the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have...
The memory being recorded is very much that of the arrival of the Hyksos – the "shepherd-kings" – in Mitsrayim (Egypt). If we start Ya'akov's story in Padan Aram, he is himself quite clearly the "shepherd-king" (look at the tricks he performs on Lavan, which may well be a folk-tale about the amazing techniques of husbandry developed by the Hyksos, and from which they derived their sobriquet); he moves into Kena'an, and then on into Mitsrayim, just as we know historically the Hyksos did.
U VEKARAM: And their herds: This is really why Yoseph is going to tell Pharaoh that they have arrived. The Egyptians had, apparently, a hatred of shepherds (see verse 34); and the Beney Yisra-El are shepherds, not cattle herders, though cattle have occasionally been mentioned, usually as single dairy cows, and very much questionable when it was more than that. The herds are a necessary invention - and quite probably a pragmatic purchase en route as well, to back up the pretense. And if this sounds fanciful, read the next verses.
46:33 VE HAYAH KI YIKRA LACHEM PAR'OH VE AMAR MAH MA'ASEYCHEM
וְהָיָה כִּי יִקְרָא לָכֶם פַּרְעֹה וְאָמַר מַה מַּעֲשֵׂיכֶם
KJ: And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation?
BN: And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, "What is your occupation?..
46:34 VA AMARTEM ANSHEY MIKNEH HAYU AVADEYCHA MEY NE'UREYNU VE AD ATAH GAM ANACHNU GAM AVOTEYNU BA AVUR TESHVU BE ERETS GOSHEN KI TO'AVAT MITSRAYIM KOL RO'EH TSON
וַאֲמַרְתֶּם אַנְשֵׁי מִקְנֶה הָיוּ עֲבָדֶיךָ מִנְּעוּרֵינוּ וְעַד עַתָּה גַּם אֲנַחְנוּ גַּם אֲבֹתֵינוּ בַּעֲבוּר תֵּשְׁבוּ בְּאֶרֶץ גֹּשֶׁן כִּי תוֹעֲבַת מִצְרַיִם כָּל רֹעֵה צֹאן
KJ: That ye shall say, Thy servants' trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.
BN: That you shall say, "Your servants have been keepers of cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and our fathers", that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians."
ANSHEY MIKNEH HAYU: This may help explain why there are so many references to them being cattle-breeders in the tales of Genesis before this, even though we knew that they were not.
TO'AVAT MITSRAYIM: The clearest evidence anywhere in the text that the Beney Yisra-El were indeed the Hyksos - "the shepherd kings" - and that we are therefore, in the Yoseph story, dealing with the pre-Hyksos age; this allows us to read Mosheh as Ach-Mousa or Achmose. However, even with this, the matter remains in conflict because we now seem to have textual evidence for all three possibilities: pre-Hyksos, Hyksos and post-Hyksos. The truth probably is that the text is all three, because it gathered so many versions together 1000 years after the events, and did not know enough to be more precise.
End of chapter 46.
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