John Gill Commentary Genesis 46

And Israel took his journey with all that he had
Set forward in it immediately, as soon as possible after he has resolved to take it. With him he took all his children and grandchildren, and all his cattle and goods; which shows that he took his journey not only to see his son Joseph, but to continue in Egypt, at least during the years of famine, as his son desired he would, otherwise there would have been no occasion of taking all along with him.

and came to Beersheba :
where he and his ancestors Abraham and Isaac has formerly lived; a place where sacrifices had often been offered up, and the worship of God performed, and much communion enjoyed with him. This is said to be sixteen miles from Hebron ^F14 , where Jacob dwelt, and according to Musculus was six German miles from it:

and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac ;
which were attended with prayer and praise; with praise for hearing that his son Joseph was alive, and with prayer that he might have a good, safe, and prosperous journey.

FOOTNOTES:

• F14: Bunting's Travels, p. 72.

And God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night

He appeared to Jacob as he lay upon his bed in the night season, and with an articulate voice spoke to him as follows: and said, Jacob, Jacob :

not "Israel", the more honourable name he had given him, but Jacob, putting him in mind of his former low estate; and doubling this name, either out of love and affection to him, as Jarchi intimates; or rather in order to awake him, at least to stir up his attention to what he was about to say to him: and he said, here [am] I ;

signifying his readiness to hearken to him in what he should say to him, and to obey him in whatsoever he should command him.

And he said, I [am] God, the God of your father
His father Isaac, who was now dead, and who is the rather mentioned, because in him Abraham's seed was to be called, and in his line the promise both of the land of Canaan, and of the Messiah, ran, and from him Jacob received the blessing; and this might be a confirmation of it to him, in that Jehovah calls himself his God; he first declares himself to be his God, and so able to perform whatever he should promise him, and his father's God, who would show him favour, as he had to him.

Fear not to go down into Egypt ;
Jacob might have many fears arise in your mind about this journey, as interpreters generally observe; as lest it should not be agreeable to the will of God, since his father Isaac was forbidden to go into Egypt, when in like circumstances with him, (Genesis 26:1Genesis 26:2) ; as well as he might fear it would be too great a journey for him in his old age, some evil would befall him, or he die by the way and not see your son; or lest going with his family thither, and there continuing for some time, they might be tempted with the pleasantness and fruitfulness of the land, and settle there, and forget and neglect the promised land of Canaan; and especially lest they should be drawn into the idolatry of the Egyptians, and forsake the worship of the true God; and very probably he might call to mind the prophecy delivered to Abraham, of his seed being strangers and servants, and afflicted in a land not theirs for the space of four hundred years, (Genesis 15:13) ; and Jacob might fear this step he was now taking would bring on, as indeed it did, the completion of this prediction, by which your offspring would be oppressed and diminished. The Targum of Jonathan makes this to be Jacob's principal fear;^F1

To remove which fears the following is said, for I will there make of you a great nation :
as he did; for though in process of time his seed were greatly afflicted here, yet the more they were afflicted, the more they multiplied; and their increase in Egypt was vastly greater than it had been in a like space of time before; for in the space of two hundred fifteen years before their descent into Egypt, they were become no more than seventy persons, whereas in the like number of years in Egypt, they became 600,000, besides children; see (Genesis 46:27) (Exodus 12:37) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F1: ``fear not to go down into Egypt, because of the business of the servitude decreed with Abraham;'' as also he might fear his going thither might seem to be a giving up his title to, and expectation of the promised land:

I will go down with you into Egypt
Which was enough to silence all his fears; for if the presence of God went with him to protect and defend hide, to bless and prosper him, and to direct, support, and comfort, he had nothing to fear from any quarter:

and I will also surely bring you up [again] :
Jarchi takes this to be a promise that he should be buried in the land of Canaan, which has its fulfilment, when his corpse was carried out of Egypt to Machpelah, and there interred; but rather this refers to the bringing up of his posterity from thence in due time, for which Jacob might be most solicitous, and so the Targum of Jonathan, ``and I will bring up your children from thence:''

and Joseph shall put his hand upon your eyes :
and so close them when he was dead; this, as Aben Ezra says, was a custom of the living to the dead, and it used to be done by the nearest relations and friends, though now commonly by strangers or those not related to us: this was a custom among the Greeks and Romans, as appears from Homer, Virgil ^F16 , Ovid ^F17 , and other writers ^F18 ; and so, among the Jews, Tobias is said to shut the eyes of his wife's father and mother, and to bury them honourably. The Vulgate Latin version of Tobit 14:13 states: ``Where he became old with honour, and he buried his father and mother in law honourably, and he inherited their substance, and his father Tobit's.'' Maimonides ^F19 reckons this closing of the eyes of the dead among the rites used towards them, as does the Talmud ^F20 : By this expression, Jacob was assured that Joseph was alive, that he should live to see him, and that Joseph would outlive him and do this last office for him. As Ben Melech observes, by this he had the good news that Joseph would remain behind him to sustain and support his sons and his sons' sons all the years that he should live after him.

FOOTNOTES:

• F16: Aeneid. l. 9.
• F17: Trist. l. 1. Eleg. 2.
• F18: Vid. Kirchman, de Funer. Rom. l. 1. c. 6. & Kipping. Rom. Antiqu. l. 4. c. 6.
• F19: Hilchot Ebel, l. 4. sect. 1.
• F20: T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 151. 2.

And Jacob rose up from Beersheba
In high spirits, and proceeded on in his journey, being encouraged and animated by the promises of God now made unto him: 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 ;

it may be wondered at that Joseph did not send his chariot to fetch his father; it could not be for want of due respect and honour to him, but it may be such a carriage was not fit for so long a journey, and especially to travel in, in some parts of the road through which they went:

no mention being made of Jacob's wives, it may be presumed they were all now dead; it is certain Rachel was, see (Genesis 35:19) ; and it is more than probable that Leah died before this time, since Jacob says he buried her himself in Machpelah in Canaan, (Genesis 49:31) ; and it is very likely also that his two concubine wives Bilhah and Zilpah were also dead, since no notice is taken of them.