Genesis 46:27

Genesis 46:27, in plain English

When you add Joseph's two sons, who were born in Egypt before Jacob arrived, the total number of people in Jacob's family who went to Egypt—or more precisely, who are considered part of this covenant family—reaches seventy. That's a complete family.

Why it's here

This is where the counting becomes meaningful. Joseph's two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, are being counted as part of Jacob's household and as heirs to the covenant promises. They were born in Egypt to an Egyptian mother, but they're fully part of God's covenant family. By including them in this count, the narrator is showing you that God's promises extend even to the next generation, even to children born outside the Promised Land.

Who's speaking

The narrator is completing the family count.

Where it sits in the story

This seventy becomes the seed of the seventy nations that Genesis 10 describes. Just as God's family will eventually fill the earth, it starts here with this intentional, counted group. The significance of the number seventy will echo through Scripture.

The scholarly reading

The narrative clarifies that Joseph's two Egyptian-born sons are added to the household count, bringing the total to seventy persons—a number with deep theological resonance throughout Scripture.

Language and setting

The inclusion of Manasseh and Ephraim (mentioned in 41:50-52), born to Joseph in Egypt prior to Jacob's arrival, is theologically crucial: Joseph's integration into Egyptian life and his offspring are explicitly incorporated into the Israelite covenant community. The final count of seventy (שִׁבְעִים נֶפֶשׁ, šibʿīm nefesh) carries symbolic weight—in Jewish tradition, this number represents the totality of human nations enumerated in Genesis 10, suggesting that Israel (as represented by Jacob's household of seventy) encompasses representative humanity. The LXX, interestingly, counts seventy-five, including additional extended family—a textual variant that reflects different manuscript traditions' understanding of household boundaries.

Voice

The narrator, providing clarification necessary for the total count.

Significance

The seventy souls entering Egypt foreshadow the seventy elders of Exodus 24:1 and the eschatological seventy nations of later tradition. This numerical symbolism transforms the census from mere demographic record into theological statement: Israel's expansion encompasses not just biological multiplication but the incorporation of those born outside the covenant community (Joseph's sons by an Egyptian mother) into the promise structure itself.

26All those belonging to Jacob who came to Egypt—his direct descendants, besides the wives of Jacob’s sons—numbered sixty-six persons.

27And with the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob’s family who went to Egypt were seventy in all.

28Now Jacob had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to get directions to Goshen. When Jacob’s family arrived in the land of Goshen,

29Joseph prepared his chariot and went there to meet his father Israel. Joseph presented himself to him, embraced him, and wept profusely.

Read all of Genesis 46 — Jacob takes the whole family to Egypt. A temporary stay that will last four hundred years.