Day 93 – Genesis 46:8-27
Every Name Counted
Scripture Reading – Genesis 46:8-27
And these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.
Genesis 46:8 KJV
And the sons of Reuben; Hanoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.
Genesis 46:9 KJV
And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman.
Genesis 46:10 KJV
And the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
Genesis 46:11 KJV
And the sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharez, and Zarah: but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Pharez were Hezron and Hamul.
Genesis 46:12 KJV
And the sons of Issachar; Tola, and Phuvah, and Job, and Shimron.
Genesis 46:13 KJV
And the sons of Zebulun; Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.
Genesis 46:14 KJV
These be the sons of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob in Padanaram, with his daughter Dinah: all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty and three.
Genesis 46:15 KJV
And the sons of Gad; Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli.
Genesis 46:16 KJV
And the sons of Asher; Jimnah, and Ishuah, and Isui, and Beriah, and Serah their sister: and the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel.
Genesis 46:17 KJV
These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bare unto Jacob, even sixteen souls.
Genesis 46:18 KJV
The sons of Rachel Jacob’s wife; Joseph, and Benjamin.
Genesis 46:19 KJV
And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.
Genesis 46:20 KJV
And the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard.
Genesis 46:21 KJV
These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.
Genesis 46:22 KJV
And the sons of Dan; Hushim.
Genesis 46:23 KJV
And the sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.
Genesis 46:24 KJV
These are the sons of Bilhah, which Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter, and she bare these unto Jacob: all the souls were seven.
Genesis 46:25 KJV
All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were threescore and six;
Genesis 46:26 KJV
And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten.
Genesis 46:27 KJV
Scripture Review
Genesis records the names of Jacob’s household who came into Egypt. The list moves through sons, daughters, grandchildren, and family branches. Verse 26 counts sixty-six who came from Jacob’s body, apart from his sons’ wives; verse 27 counts Jacob himself together with Joseph and Joseph’s two sons already in Egypt, giving the household total as seventy. The numbers are not competing totals. They count the group from different stated points.
A genealogy can feel slower than a dramatic reunion, but God counts people, not just movements. The great nation promised to Abraham and reaffirmed to Jacob is still a family of identifiable names. No one becomes an anonymous piece of the plan. Some names receive no later scene in Joseph’s story, yet Scripture preserves their place in the household that God brought down.
The family meant to travel as clans and households, each person belonging to a particular branch of Jacob’s growing house.
God meant to preserve every member, establish an exact witness to the family entering Egypt, and multiply these seventy into a nation.
What this asks of me
I should not measure God’s work only by prominent names. A plan, church, family, or ministry is made of people He knows individually. Careful records can honor that truth when they serve people rather than reduce them to numbers. The Lord who governs nations still sees each name in the list.
Consider
- Whose quiet place in God’s work have I overlooked because that person is not prominent?
- Do the records or responsibilities I keep help me care for people as names rather than statistics?