THE STORY OF JOSEPH. EPISODE 11 GENESIS CHAPTER 46: JACOB'S JOURNEY

 

Chapter 46: JACOB’S JOURNEY

In this chapter:

Ø  Jacob and all his house/hold set out on a journey down to  Egypt

Ø  Along the way, at Beersheba, he offers sacrifices to God and God speaks to him about the journey

Ø  We are told of the specifics of what and who Jacob brought along on his way to Egypt.

Ø  The names of Jacob’s kin that accompany him are listed for each of Jacob’s four wives.

Ø  Jacob’s family and entourage arrives in Goshen.

Ø  Joseph travels to Goshen to meet the family there

Ø  Joseph goes to Pharaoh to inform him of his kinsmen arrival and negotiate for them the land of Goshen

Ø  Joseph advises the family to inform Pharaoh, when asked by him, that they are shepherds

Ø  This chapter is the beginning of a significant phase of a 400-year period of the history of the nation of Israel, Jacob’s descendants.

We are not told how many days passed between the time Jacob sons brought him the good news about joseph and the day of departure here now in this chapter down to Egypt. However, we can presume that it was hastened, it might have taken Jacob the shortest time possible. When we are called by God into new beginnings in Christ , we must not delay. We must act quickly and with a sense of urgency. God might be calling an unbeliever to begin a new life in Christ (salvation) or a believer into a new way of living that is more Christ-like , for instance, abandoning various addictions, venturing into new areas of ministry or service, among other areas.

Jacob was called into a life of rest down in Egypt by joseph; rest from his decades of tears for thinking that his most beloved son was dead, from the worry of having to provide sustenance for his family in the years of great famine. And Jacob, most likely, did not waste the opportunity in unbelief, he hastened down to Egypt. Although he had been made to believe that his son was dead, and at first doubted the good news, he did not tarry too much in unbelief. Neither did he allow his attachment to and  his possessions in Canaan to hold him back.

This is a sharp contrast with his descendants centuries down the line, when God calls them then out of slavery in Egypt. They hardened their hearts, the Bible says, in rebellion. And they suffered deadly consequences for that. The writer of Hebrews puts it this way warning brethren against such an attitude as was with the children of Israel/Jacob:

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. ¹³ But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. ¹⁴ For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. ¹⁵ As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” ¹⁶ For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? ¹⁷ And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? ¹⁸ And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? ¹⁹ So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.  (Hebrews 3:12-19, ESV)

Brothers and sisters, here is something to think about: what is the Lord Jesus, our greater than Joseph, calling you out of and/or into? Is it to abandon bitterness and anger into forgiveness, is it to desist from sexual immorality  including adultery, fornication, pornography, masturbation? Is it laziness, lying, slander or lack of integrity? What is your response to it? Are you in rebellion to it and what is your reason for rebelling? Could it be that you lack the faith to believe that God can deliver you out of it? Or is it that you’re too attached and comfortable in your sin and bondage? Whatever it is, brethren, hearken unto the voice of the Lord calling you into the new life in Him, pack and leave that state that you are in and find the freedom and rest that you need, only in Christ Jesus.

Our greater-than-Joseph calls us out in  Matthew 11:28-30: Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”(ESV)

So Jacob embarks on his journey and gets to a place named Beersheba, and there “he offered sacrifices to the God of his father, Isaac.” Let us pause for a moment here and talk a little about this place called Beersheba. This what  Easton's Bible Dictionary says about it: “Beersheba; well of the oath, or well of seven, a well dug by Abraham, and so named because he and Abimelech here entered into a compact (Genesis 21:31). On re-opening it, Isaac gave it the same name (Genesis. 26:31-33). It was a favourite place of abode of both of these patriarchs (21:33-22:1, 19; 26:33; 28:10). It is mentioned among the "cities" given to the tribe of Simeon (Joshua 19:2; 1 Chronicles. 4:28). ‘From Dan to Beersheba’, a distance of about 144 miles (Judges 20:1; 1 Chronicles. 21:2; 2 Samuel. 24:2), became the usual way of designating the whole Promised Land, and passed into a proverb.”

Concerning the relevance of this place the site Bibleref.com notes, Beersheba is a significant spot in the land God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants. Abraham had planted a tree there and called on God's name (Genesis 21:33) before settling down and living there (Genesis 22:19). God appeared to Isaac, Jacob's father, at Beersheba, as well, giving him promises of blessing and many offspring (Genesis 26:23–25). Isaac built an altar to the Lord and prayed to God there, as well. Jacob himself had been to Beersheba on his way out of the land of Canaan, when running for his life from his twin brother Esau (Genesis 28:10). Now he returns many years later, again preparing to leave the land of Canaan. This time, he builds an altar and offers animal sacrifices to "the God of his father Isaac."

Beersheba, we can therefore observe, is a place of refreshment from the water in the well, in fact seven wells in a physical sense. In the spiritual sense it is the place of prayer and devotion as we see from the above quotes. And this is the same thing in the sense that the place of prayer is the place of refreshment. As believers, on our journey to where and what God has called/ is calling us into, we need to always stop at Beersheba, the place of prayer for refreshment. 

As noted, this is the second time Jacob comes to this place enroute from Canaan. This time round he builds an altar there and offered sacrifices to God and by so doing, the LORD appears to him in a vision. God gives Jacob an assurance of his presence and support for the journey down to Egypt. Jacob sought the LORD and found Him. The act of building an altar is a way of showing deliberate effort to seek after the LORD. An altar is a place set aside exclusively for the purpose of offering sacrifices. By Jacob building an altar, he is showing serious commitment in seeking after LORD on his journey; he is seeking God with all his heart.

Seeking God with all the heart is something that the Bible emphasizes. God spoke the Israelites during the Babylonian captivity through prophet Jeremiah and told them: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. ¹² Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:11-13, ESV)

We cannot over-emphasize the need and place of worship and devotion in our Christian walk and journey. Jacob earnestly sought the LORD before exiting the Promised Land. It is important to note that Beersheba is within the Promised Land and indeed the edge of it as noted earlier. This means that Jacob sought God before exiting the promised land. As much as he started the journey before this moment of devotion, the moment of devotion happens before actually leaving the land of promise. We must always seek direction and counsel from God before taking on any journey.

The writer of Proverbs says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. (Proverbs 3:5-7) You will realize here that the statement that Jacob set out for Egypt and the statement that he stopped at Beersheba for a devotion are both in the same verse, verse 1. It should be understood here that the two cannot be separated. Starting on a journey and seeking God’s will over it are inseparable if we are going to find safety and success ahead. This includes starting a day; every morning we must seek God’s leading before starting off any day. Matthew Henry comments, “Whatever low or darksome valley we are called into at any time, we may be confident, if God go down with us into it, that he will surely bring us up again. If he go with us down to death, he will surely bring us up again to glory.”

After this moment of worship and devotion, Jacob left Beersheba and headed all the way down to Egypt. We are told in this chapter, the names and number of the direct descendants of Jacob that went to Egypt, particularly his sons and grandchildren in accordance to the matriarch of each household. From the sons of Leah are 33 persons, from Zilpah, Leah’s maid 16 persons, from Rachel 14 persons and from Bilha, Rachel’s maid, 7 persons. These number sums up to 66 persons and that is stated in verse 26. When you add Jacob himself , Joseph and his two sons born in Egypt the number rises to 70 and that is stated clearly in verse 27. It is important to note here that the names and number of Jacob’s daughters-in-law are not included in this list and tally although they also went down to Egypt.

However, a real challenge arises when the same count is stated Acts 7:14 Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people. Now, there are various theories as to what the discrepancy may be reconciled. I attempt to summarize my understanding from a look of these theories or views here.

A quick summary of my findings would be to state that the difference could be a result of variance in what is termed as manuscript traditions. Manuscript traditions have to do with how scribes and translators approached the work of copying, compiling or translating manuscripts. In this regard two terms, or should I say three, become of key relevance to this discussion. These terms are: The Masoretic Text (MT), the Septuagint (LXX) and the Hebrew Vorlage (base text). We can now define the terms with regard to our discussion on manuscript traditions and in the simplest way as follows:

The MT refers to the authoritative Hebrew text that was preserved by Jewish scholars (Masoretes) in the 7th–10th centuries AD. The text that comes down to us through the MT often serves as the basis for modern translations of the Hebrew Bible.

The LXX is a Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, produced between the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. It is based on older Hebrew texts that may not be exactly identical to the MT. This is the main version of the Hebrew Bible that was widely in circulation during the time of Jesus ministry on earth in the First Century AD era. The translation was derived from manuscripts referred as Vorlage.

Vorlage simply means the base text, or the original-language manuscripts, in this case the original Hebrew manuscripts available at that time of making the LXX. This means that the LXX was translated from Hebrew manuscripts (Vorlage) that were available before the ‘official’/authoritative Hebrew Scriptures (MT) were compiled by Hebrew scholars. Now you can see why the LXX carries some significant weight in terms of its reliability, as much as it is a translation rather than an original language text.

Now, with the above definitions in mind, let’s go back to the elephant in the room: Why do we have the discrepancy between the figure quoted in Genesis 46:27 and that in Acts 7:14 in our English and modern translations with regard to the number of direct descendants of Jacob that went down to Egypt? The most likely and simplest answer that is largely agreed upon scholars and commentators is that while the Genesis figure is directly lifted from the MT version of the Old Testament (which is the basis of our modern translations of the Old Testament-OT), the figure in the book of Acts is derived from the LXX version of the of the Old Testament. To understand what is being said here, we need to refresh ourselves on the three terms discussed shortly earlier: the MT, the LXX and the Vorlage.

What is being said is that when you read the passage in Genesis 46:27 in the MT, the number is quoted as 70 but when you read the same text in the LXX the number is quoted as 75. Now, remember that the text in Acts 7:14 is part of a speech made by Stephen, in the first century AD. Remember also that the version of the OT that was largely in use at that time is the LXX and so Stephen is most likely quoting the LXX in narrating the story of Joseph.

 Without a doubt, the above explanation to the problem at hand is the easier part. The more difficult part to explain is why then the two versions of OT differ and how that affects the concept of inerrancy and reliability of the text of Scriptures we have today. However, the explanation becomes much easier with a good understanding of the issue of manuscript traditions also mentioned slightly earlier.

It is important to note that in the process of translating and transmitting or copying the text of scripture, scribes and translators applied varying techniques and philosophies that might end up affecting the outcome of the translation or the product copy. These techniques and philosophies are the ones we termed earlier as manuscript traditions. This traditions and techniques are also applied in the making of even the modern, say English, translations. For instance, the KJV translation adopts a word-for-word translation technique while the NIV takes the form of thought-for-thought translation technique.

In a nutshell the former technique basically translates each of the words/phrases in the text in the order they appear without much emphasis on clarity but rather accuracy of vocabulary. The latter technique looks at the message being communicated in the text and brings out the same using different word order/phrasing or even different vocabulary as long the original message is transmitted clearly and truly. This latter technique may introduce expansions or interpretative elements, more like the AMP version of the English Bible.

The above is the same kind of dynamics that came into play in the LXX and MT versions of the OT. And how does this play out in the problem we are trying to solve here? First, it could be that the LXX takes a more thought-for-thought approach in the genealogies in Genesis 46 where by the scribes  take liberty to make interpretive additions for clarity or for important details.

It is important to understand that both the LXX base text (Vorlage) and the MT have a bit of different background as highlighted above. The two versions are coming from different textual translation philosophy and traditions. For instance, in some cases, LXX translators may have adopted a midrashic approach, adding interpretive expansions that clarify or elaborate on the text, including specific names to make implied details explicit. This could then mean that the discrepancy is primarily a result of textual traditions, with the Masoretic Text preserving a more concise genealogy and the Septuagint expanding it.

A very simple example of how this works is as follows: Assume I have/eat 3 apples and 3 mangoes. If someone who saw me eat the fruits says “Jeff had 2 fruits" and another one says “Jeff had 6 fruits” both the interpretations of having had either 2 or 6 fruits would be correct in a sense. The person who reports 2 fruits is more concise and considers the fruits in terms of their categories while the one who reports 6 is more detailed and interpretive.

The above is just one way of explaining the discrepancy and I found most plausible. However, there are several other good explanations to the issue. Another explanation would be that it was a simple copyist error on the base text of the Hebrew text which the LXX scholars relied on. There is evidence that there were several variants Hebrew manuscripts that existed at the time of the making of the LXX as evidenced in the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. This means that the makers of LXX simply copied on an erroneous figure from an old Hebrew manuscript that had a copying error itself.

And how could the copyist error occur so easily, one might wonder. Well, it is a little bit more complicated than one might think. The Hebrew language is quite a complex language and such errors can be expected. For instance, numbers were often represented by letters in Hebrew, making them easier to misinterpret. There are a few instances in OT text where different passages quote different figures of what ought to be the same number and this is usually explainable by the complex nature of Hebrew language as stated earlier. Another thing to say here would be that genealogies were complex, and scribes might inadvertently skip or add name.

Another important question that might arise, is if the discrepancy affects the concept of inerrancy of scripture. In simple terms Inerrancy means that the Bible, in its original autographs, is without error in all it affirms—whether that relates to historical facts, theology, morality, or details. Clearly, from the definition of inerrancy provided, the discrepancy discussed do not get possibly relate to the original autographs (the actual primary authored documents by say Moses himself in the case of Genesis) but rather later copies and translations.

One final and probably the more important concern emerging from the discrepancy would be how then the text of scripture that we have today is reliable or otherwise in relation to transmitting the truths, facts and details of the inspired word of God. To answer this question, we introduce the concept of Textual Criticism. Textual Criticism has been defined as the scholarly discipline that focuses on the study of ancient manuscripts and texts to determine their original wording and to understand the transmission history of those texts. In the context of the Bible, it involves analyzing the various manuscripts, translations, and versions of biblical texts in order to reconstruct the most accurate version of the original writings.

Understanding this concept by its definition should answer the concern raised. What is being said here is that through the science and art of Textual Criticism, the transmission of the text of Scripture from the original autographs to the version we have today (at least most of them) has carefully and meticulously preserved the original meaning, facts and figures in the most reliable way. For instance, and as previously highlighted, most modern versions of the OT translation are derived from the Masoretic Text(MT) which is a careful compilation and preservation of the Hebrew text of Scripture by Jewish Scholars (Masoretes) through this technique of Textual Criticism.

It means that while we cannot completely claim the text we have today is 100 percent exact replica as the original autographs, we can confidently say that we have a meticulous transmission of the same in the most reliable and accurate way possibly beyond any other antiquity texts in all of history. This fact can be defended by considering the number of manuscripts available for the Bible and their remarkable similarity in the details and contents despite having been the result of the work of possibly thousands of distinct scribes over hundreds of years. A good example of this is the Dead Sea Scrolls that were discovered somewhere mid-20^th Century yet they are almost word-for-word identical for some of the Books compared to the oldest available manuscripts. For instance, The Great Isaiah Scroll is approximately 95% identical to the Masoretic Text. This remarkable consistency underscores the accuracy and reliability of the Hebrew Bible's transmission over centuries.

I would like to state one final thought on this issue: From a historical perspective, it has been argued that it’s important to recognize that ancient texts, especially those from antiquity, can exhibit variations due to different textual traditions, scribal errors, or interpretive decisions. Again, the concern of the discrepancy between 70 and 75 persons in number is anon-theological issue and therefore does not affect the core message of the Bible: God’s redemption story, the story of salvation. However, explaining this discrepancy to a reasonable conclusion helps re-assure believers that the text of Scripture we have today is trustworthy and reliable as the true inspired word of God handed down to us from millennia past.

with this concern now behind us, we go back to the rest of the story.  Jacob finally lands in Egypt where his son joseph is the ruler/governor of the land. Verse 28 says that Judah had been sent ahead of the pack to meet up with joseph and get directions to the region of Goshen. (NLT) This is an interesting thing to note because it is not the only time that Judah the tribe is asked to take the lead on important mission for the nation of Israel. Another instance is recorded in Judges 20. In that passage, 11 tribes of Israel are going to war with their brethren the Benjamites. They decide to seek God’s counsel on which tribe should be the first to face off with the adversary on the battlelines. The bible says this: The people of Israel arose and went up to Bethel and inquired of God, “Who shall go up first for us to fight against the people of Benjamin?” And the Lord said, “Judah shall go up first.” (Judges 20:18, ESV).

While the most straightforward reason why Judah would have been the first up is that they were more in number than other tribes, there could be another perspective about the two instances highlighted here putting Judah ahead of the pack. First, we know that Judah literally means “praise!” So, in effect here, it is not too far fetched to say that the Word of God is hinting to us that our praise to God should lead the way all the time. Whether we are entering into a new land of plenty and prosperity or going into the battlefield, Judah, literally praise, leads the way. And then we see the Psalmist declaring: Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. (Psalms 100:4, NLT) Praise makes the way for success and victory.

Finally, when they reach Egypt, joseph shows tremendous honor for his father despite his eminence and seniority in Egypt. Children must never lose their respect for their parents just because they are grown up, or have a high status in society. The act of joseph inviting his father to come under his care is also a great lesson for children to take care of their elderly parents.

Joseph advises the family to make it clear to Pharaoh, when asked, that they are shepherds or keepers of livestock. Joseph knew that that would effectively make Pharaoh to allot to them land away from the dwellings of Egyptians as the Egyptians viewed shepherds as an abomination. Some commentators say that it was so because the Egyptians while they reared animals for milk and other products, they would never stand the slaughter of animals for meat. Whichever the reason for this hatred, the whole notion would ensure that the family of Jacob would be settled separate from the Egyptians. God calls his people to be separate from the people and patterns of this world. The children of Jacob are in Egypt but are not to conform to the patterns of Egypt; they are now in Egypt but Egypt must never be in them! The Apostle Paul teaches, Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2, ESV)