seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Genesis 46:1 So Israel set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
2 And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, “Jacob! Jacob!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
3 “I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. 4 I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.”
5 Then Jacob left Beersheba, and Israel’s sons took their father Jacob and their children and their wives in the carts that Pharaoh had sent to transport him. 6 So Jacob and all his offspring went to Egypt, taking with them their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in Canaan. 7 Jacob brought with him to Egypt his sons and grandsons and his daughters and granddaughters—all his offspring.
Genesis 46: 26 All those who went to Egypt with Jacob—those who were his direct descendants, not counting his sons’ wives—numbered sixty-six persons. 27 With the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob’s family, which went to Egypt, were seventy in all.
28 Now Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to get directions to Goshen. When they arrived in the region of Goshen, 29 Joseph had his chariot made ready and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel. As soon as Joseph appeared before him, he threw his arms around his father and wept for a long time.
30 Israel said to Joseph, “Now I am ready to die, since I have seen for myself that you are still alive.”
31 Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and speak to Pharaoh and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were living in the land of Canaan, have come to me. 32 The men are shepherds; they tend livestock, and they have brought along their flocks and herds and everything they own.’ 33 When Pharaoh calls you in and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’ 34 you should answer, ‘Your servants have tended livestock from our boyhood on, just as our fathers did.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the region of Goshen, for all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.”
Here's the link to the commentary on this morning's verses. Every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians: The Egyptians were agricultural in the sense of farming crops. They considered sheep unclean, and therefore detested shepherds. God had a place for His people, but it was a different place and a sometimes-despised place.
I hope you do not mind. I left out the census. The Verses 8-25 list and count all the men who went to Egypt with Jacob [Israel]. Check out Verse 26.... the wives were not counted. Women didn't show in the census.
Check out verse 34. It says the sheep, and shepherds, were an abomination to the Egyptians. Egyptians hated sheep. They didn't eat sheep. They didn't wear wool. They considered itchy wool malodorous. The land of Goshen was separated from the cattle and farms in Egypt.
Egyptians didn't eat, wear, or worship sheep. Egyptians were not shepherds. Egyptians were cattlemen and farmers!!!!
Sheep destroy the grazing land, by clipping it too close. The cattle need lots of grazing land.
Do you see the range war starting? Yep, that's a range war just like the ones in Paladine and Rawhide westerns.
But wait... Joseph and Pharaoh thought ahead. Jacob [Israel], all his sons, slaves, livestock, and women were to live in the Land of Goshen. They were set aside by the cattle and farmers. They had their own grazing land.
So right away... the 70 relatives of Jacob [Israel] and the livestock... present a problem for the Egyptians.
Range War?????
