Charles Ellicott Commentary Exodus 1:5

"And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: and Joseph was in Egypt already." — Exodus 1:5 (ASV)

All the souls ... were seventy souls. . The number is made up as follows:

• Jacob himself: 1
• His sons: 12
• His daughter, Dinah: 1
• His grandsons: 51
• His granddaughter, Serah: 1
• His great-grandsons: 4
• Total: 70

His daughters (except Dinah) and his sons’ daughters (except Serah), spoken of in Genesis 46:7, are not included.

If his female descendants were, at the time of his descent into Egypt, as numerous as the males, the entire number of those who came out of his loins must have been 132.

To form a calculation of the number of persons who entered Egypt with him, we must add the wives of his sons and grandsons, and the husbands of his daughters and granddaughters. A further liberal allowance must also be made for retainers. (See the comment on Exodus 1:1.)

It is not perhaps surprising that Kurtz, taking all these classes into account, should calculate that those who entered Egypt with Jacob amounted to “several thousands” (History of The Old Covenant, vol. ii. p. 149, E.T.).