Genesis 46:17, commentary and pictures

Genesis 46:17 belongs to Genesis's continuous historical narrative of the origin of the twelve tribes and their sojourn in Egypt. It is part of the account of Israel's journey to Egypt, recording Jacob's family going down into Egypt with Joseph. The verse names Asher's children and grandchildren, his sons Jimnah, Ishuah, and Isui, and Beriah, with his daughter Serah their sister, and Beriah's two sons Heber and Malchiel, as those who went to Egypt with Jacob's family. This going was Israel journeying with his descendants and all that he had for presentation to Pharaoh and settlement in Goshen.

The larger list in Genesis 46:8-27 gives in detail the seventy persons who went down to Egypt, counting sixty-eight men with two women named, namely Jacob's sons and grandsons. Wives and daughters were additional to that number, and the list does not include all who traveled with Jacob, such as his daughters, granddaughters, and some descendants' children. That fuller company is a fact to consider when accounting for Israel's later increase.

Their inclusion in the record reflects God's care in preserving the family line from which the promised Seed would come, showing His care for the Seed and His providence in its preservation. God in His providence directed Israel in sending His children into Egypt, and the going had a twofold purpose, that His own people might be preserved from famine and tried, and that Egypt might constantly have before them representatives of the truth of God. The history of Joseph's family going to Egypt shows that God can guide people by a roundabout path and still bring them to the right end.