Genesis 46:27

“And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two persons. All the persons of the house of Jacob who came to Egypt were seventy.”
Genesis 46:27 · direct translation from the Hebrew

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With the Hebrew beneath

And the sonsוּבְנֵיof Josephיוֹסֵףwhoאֲשֶׁרwere bornיֻלַּדto himלוֹin Egyptבְמִצְרַיִםwere twoשְׁנָיִםpersons.נֶפֶשׁAllכָּלthe personsהַנֶּפֶשׁof the houseלְבֵיתof Jacobיַעֲקֹבwho cameהַבָּאָהto Egyptמִצְרַיְמָהwere seventy.שִׁבְעִים

Allusion · Acts 7:14

Go to Acts 7:14

Acts 7:14 counts seventy-five persons, like the Septuagint of Genesis 46:27 (also of Exodus 1:5); the Hebrew says seventy.

They share words that are rare in the original, without a quotation.

Words of the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the OT (Genesis 46:27 in the Septuagint numbering; Swete's text, CC BY-SA 4.0):

Genesis 46:27, word by word

And the sonsבְנֵיvene

son

The male born of a father and mother; in the plural, also sons and daughters.

Where else “vene” appears

of Josephיוֹסֵףyosef

Joseph

Joseph, a name borne by several Israelites, above all the son of Jacob and Rachel, sold into Egypt, who became ruler there and saved his family; his sons Ephraim and Manasseh became tribes. The name means "may he add".

Where else “yosef” appears

were bornיֻלַּדyulad

be born

To come into the world, to begin to live.

Where else “yulad” appears

in Egyptמִצְרַיִםmitsrayim

Egypt, Mizraim

See it on the map Where else “mitsrayim” appears

were twoשְׁנָיִםshenayim

two

A pair, a quantity of two.

Where else “shenayim” appears

personsנֶפֶשׁnefesh

person

Someone as a whole; "my soul" can simply mean me.

Where else “nefesh” appears

of the houseבֵיתvet

dynasty

Someone's descendants: "the house of David".

Where else “vet” appears

of Jacobיַעֲקֹבyaakov

Jacob

Jacob, the younger son of Isaac and Rebekah, twin brother of Esau and father of the twelve tribes. In Hebrew "Yaakov" sounds like "heel" and "supplant" (Genesis 25:26; 27:36). God later gave him the name Israel; the name also stands for his descendants, the people of Israel.

Where else “yaakov” appears

who cameבָּאָהbaa

enter

To go into a place.

Where else “baa” appears

were seventyשִׁבְעִיםshivim

seventy

Seventy.

Where else “shivim” appears

Translation note

The sum of 46:15, 18, 22 and 25 is seventy; 46:26 gives sixty-six without counting Joseph, his two sons and Jacob. Stephen speaks of seventy-five (Acts 7:14).

Places in this verse

Approximate location. A “?” means it is not known for sure where it was.

Egypt
Today: Egypt (Nile Valley)
A country in northeast Africa along the Nile River, southwest of Israel.
Joseph was sold into it, and his family went down to live there (Gen 37:28; 46:6). God brought Israel out of it with a mighty hand (Exod 12:41). The child Jesus fled there with his parents (Matt 2:14).
Genesis 12:10 Genesis 37:28 Exodus 12:41 Matthew 2:14

The context

26All the persons who came with Jacob to Egypt, who came out of his thigh, not counting the wives of Jacob’s sons, all the persons were sixty-six.

27 · This verse (above)

28He sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to show the way before him to Goshen; and they came to the land of Goshen.

Read all of Genesis 46

To study Genesis 46 in a group

1. What it says
What did Elohim say to Israel at Beersheba, and what happened when he met Joseph (vv. 2-4, 29)?
2. What it means
Why does Elohim say to him, “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt” (v. 3)?
3. How I live it
What change that frightens you can you place in Elohim’s hands today?

How to use it