Charles Ellicott Commentary Genesis 46:28

"And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to show the way before him unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen." — Genesis 46:28 (ASV)

ARRIVAL OF JACOB IN EGYPT.

To direct his face unto Goshen. —Joseph does not bring his brothers into the narrow and populous Nile Valley, which formed Egypt proper, because they could not have maintained an isolated mode of life there. But this was indispensable for them if they were to multiply into a nation fit to be the guardians and depositories of a growing revelation, until the fullness of time should come, when the world would be ready to receive the perfect knowledge of God’s will. As the Egyptians were an agricultural people, and hated sheep and shepherds (Genesis 46:34), the Israelites would run no danger of being absorbed by them as long as they continued to devote themselves to their old pursuits. As Goshen was admirably suited for a pastoral life, they would remain there, as distinct and separate from the rest of mankind as they had been in Canaan.