And the sons of Gad; Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli.
The seven sons of Gad are named as part of the detailed family list of those who went down to Egypt with Jacob. The number counted in that list is men, with wives and daughters in addition to that number. The list records Jacob's sons and grandsons, not every person in the company that accompanied him. It belongs to the historical account of the origin of Israel's twelve tribes and their sojourn in Egypt.
As part of the history of Joseph, it shows that God can lead a person by a circuitous path and still bring that person safely to the purpose God intends. The family record belongs to the account of God preserving Israel's family as the ancestors of the promised Seed. The record shows that God's providence directed Israel in going into Egypt, though no Scripture says directly in those words that God sent them. The going into Egypt had a twofold purpose, that God's own people might be preserved from famine and tried, and that Egypt might have constantly before them representatives of the truth of God.
The seven sons of Gad are named as part of the detailed family list of those who went down to Egypt with Jacob. The number counted in that list is men, with wives and daughters in addition to that number. The list records Jacob's sons and grandsons, not every person in the company that accompanied him. It belongs to the historical account of the origin of Israel's twelve tribes and their sojourn in Egypt.
As part of the history of Joseph, it shows that God can lead a person by a circuitous path and still bring that person safely to the purpose God intends. The family record belongs to the account of God preserving Israel's family as the ancestors of the promised Seed. The record shows that God's providence directed Israel in going into Egypt, though no Scripture says directly in those words that God sent them. The going into Egypt had a twofold purpose, that God's own people might be preserved from famine and tried, and that Egypt might have constantly before them representatives of the truth of God.