Genesis 46:27
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. 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.
The two sons born to Joseph in Egypt bring the household of Jacob that came into Egypt to seventy souls, meaning seventy persons of every age. The sixty-six counted just before leaves out Joseph's two sons and the sons' wives, and the seventy is a partial reckoning of family heads and men, listing sons and grandsons with two women but not daughters, granddaughters and others who came along, while those who count seventy-five include Joseph's whole family after him. God's providence directed the move to Egypt and led Joseph by a roundabout path to preserve his kindred alive in famine, to try His people, and to keep His truth before Egypt. That tiny household of seventy was watched over and fostered until under affliction and oppression it grew into a mighty nation, about three million coming out at the exodus to be organized as God's visible kingdom.
Words, Count and Setting
The word souls here means persons, men and women of every age, not disembodied beings living apart from their bodies. Joseph had two sons born to him in Egypt, and all the souls of the house of Jacob that came into Egypt were seventy. The two born in Egypt are counted among the seventy persons of Jacob's household who came into Egypt.
The preceding count of sixty-six excludes Joseph's two sons born in Egypt and the wives of Jacob's sons. The seventy is a partial count, reckoned as a selective listing of family heads and men rather than every woman and daughter. Sixty-eight of those listed were men, with the women and daughters additional, the list naming sons and grandsons and two women but not Jacob's daughters, his granddaughters, children of his grandsons, and others who traveled with him.
The Greek Septuagint reads seventy-five, stating that Joseph had nine descendants and including all of Joseph's family, who are counted among those who went into Egypt because they belonged to Jacob's family even though they were already in Egypt. Acts gives seventy-five by a count that includes Joseph and his family, so the figures differ in whom they include. The different figures reflect a different Hebrew textual copy and a partial count on the one hand and a fuller inclusion of Jacob's and Joseph's descendants on the other.
Genesis 46 belongs to the closing chapters of Genesis, the Book of Beginnings, completing the story of Joseph and his brothers. It is one link in the continuous history of Abraham and the twelve tribes, part of the historical account of Jacob's family going down to Egypt. Together with chapters 47 to 50 it records Israel's journey to Egypt during famine, their reception by Joseph and Pharaoh, Jacob's prophetic blessing upon Joseph's sons and upon his own sons, and Jacob's death and burial, showing God's care for the preservation of the progenitors of the Seed.
Providence and Growth to Nation
God's providence directed Israel's move into Egypt, working through Joseph to preserve the lives of his relatives from famine. Joseph was guided to the place he was meant to reach even by a roundabout path, and the numbering of Jacob's household including Joseph's two sons belongs to that history of divine guidance. The removal was for preservation from famine and for the trying of His people, while representatives of God's truth were kept continually before Egypt.
Jacob's family went down into Egypt as a mere tiny household of seventy souls. There under God's watchful eye and fostering care, and notwithstanding all afflictions, they grew into a great company, a mighty nation. With that nation God was then able to organize a theocracy in the world and to set among the nations a visible kingdom of His own to maintain His name and truth before the people of all lands.
The small company of the house of Jacob that came into Egypt, counted as threescore and fifteen, multiplied and grew despite hardships and oppressions until about three million departed at the exodus. Jacob went down with his family 215 years after the call of Abraham in 1922 B.C. as a little company of sixty-six souls, and 215 years afterward his descendants came out numbering about three millions after enduring a century of slavery. All the souls of the house of Jacob that came into Egypt to sojourn in the northern part of Africa were seventy, a small company contrasted with the host looked for when God's people get ready for the final march to the heavenly Canaan.