• Torah (T): Bereshiyt (Genesis) 46:1-34
• Prophets (P): Nehemiah 5:1-12
• Apostolic (A): Matthew 2:1-23
• Additional (ADD): Jubilees 45:1-12

RELATED SCRIPTURES

• Luke 2:25-33 (T)
• Exodus 8:25-26 (T)
• Nehemiah 5:1-12 (T)
• Exodus 22:25, Leviticus 25:35-38, Deuteronomy 23:19-20, Luke 6:30-38 (T)
• Leviticus 25:23-34 (T)
• Leviticus 5:14-16; Leviticus 27:14-15; Leviticus 27:16-21; Numbers 5:5-7 (T)
• Hebrews 11:21 LXX (T)
• Genesis 50:1-14 (T)
• Genesis 28:12-19; 35:6-15 (ADD)

RELATED ADDITIONAL READINGS

• Genesis 46:28 – 47:31 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)
• Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus 2.7.5-7 (T)

Note: (T) means the verse relates to that week’s Torah portion. (P) means the verse relates to that week’s Prophets portion. (A) means the verse relates to that week’s Apostolic portion. (ADD) means the verse relates to that week’s Additional portion.

Torah Portion (T)

46:1 Israel traveled with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the Elohim of his father, Isaac. 2 Elohim spoke to Israel in the [vision]^(LXX) of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!” He said, “Here I am.” 3 He said, “I am Elohim, the Elohim of your father. Don’t be afraid to go down into Egypt, for there I will make of you a great nation. 4 I will go down with you into Egypt. I will also surely bring you up again. the hand of Joseph will close your eyes.” 5 Jacob rose up from Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried Jacob, their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 6 They took their livestock, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt—Jacob, and all his seed with him, 7 his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters, and he brought all his seed with him into Egypt. 8 These are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, the firstborn of Jacob. 9 The sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 10 The sons of Shimon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. 11 The sons of Levi: Gershon, Qohath, and Merari. 12 The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez were Hezron and [Hamuel].^(LXX)(SP) 13 The sons of Issachar: Tola, [Puah],^(LXX)(SP) [Yashub],^{(LXX)(SP)(mss)} and Shimron. 14 The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 15 These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty-three. 16 The sons of Gad: [Zephon],^(LXX) Haggi, [and]^(LXX)(mss) Shuni, Ezbon, [and]^(LXX) Eri, Arodi, and Areli. 17 The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and Serah their sister. The sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel. 18 These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah, his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob, even sixteen souls. 19 The sons of Rachel, the wife of Jacob: Joseph and Benjamin. 20 To Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him. 21 The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, [and Ahiram],^{(cf. Numbers 26:38)} [and Shuppim],^{(cf. 1 Chronicles 7:12; Numbers 26:39)} and Huppim, and Ard. 22 These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen. 23 The son of Dan: [Shuham].^{(cf. Numbers 26:42)} 24 The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. 25 These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel, his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob: all the souls were seven. 26 All the souls who came with Jacob into Egypt, who were his direct seed, in addition to the sons of the wives of Jacob, all the souls were sixty-six. 27 The sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob, who came into Egypt, were [seventy-five].^(LXX) 28 Jacob sent Judah before him to Joseph, to show the way before him to Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen. 29 Joseph prepared his chariot, and went up to meet Israel, his father, in Goshen. He presented himself to him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. 30 Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.” 31 Joseph said to his brothers, and to his father's house, “I will go up, and speak with Pharaoh, and will tell him, ‘My brothers, and my father's house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. 32 These men are feeders of sheep, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.' 33 It will happen, when Pharaoh summons you, and will say, ‘What is your occupation?' 34 that you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we, and our fathers:' that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every feeder of sheep is an abomination to the Egyptians.”

Prophets Portion (P)

5:1 Then there arose a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brothers the Jews. 2 For there were some who said, “We, our sons and our daughters, are many. Let us get grain, that we may eat and live.” 3 There were also some who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses. Let us get grain, because of the famine.” 4 There were also some who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute using our fields and our vineyards as collateral. 5 Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children as their children. Behold, we bring our sons and our daughters into bondage to be servants, and some of our daughters have been brought into bondage. It is also not in our power to help it, because other men have our fields and our vineyards.” 6 I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words. 7 Then I consulted with myself, and contended with the nobles and the rulers, and said to them, “You exact usury, everyone of his brother.” I held a great assembly against them. 8 I said to them, “We, after our ability, have redeemed our brothers the Jews that were sold to the nations; and would you even sell your brothers, and should they be sold to us?” Then they held their peace, and found not a word to say. 9 Also I said, “The thing that you do is not good. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our Elohim because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies? 10 I likewise, my brothers and my servants, lend them money and grain. Please let us stop this usury. 11 Please restore to them, even today, their fields, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the grain, the new wine, and the oil, that you are charging them.” 12 Then they said, “We will restore them, and will require nothing of them. We will do so, even as you say.”

Apostolic Portion (A)

2:1 Now when Yeshua was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, 2 “Where is he who is born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Messiah would be born. 5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is written through the prophet, 6 ‘You Bethlehem, land of Judah, are in no way least among the princes of Judah; for out of you shall come a governor who shall shepherd my people, Israel.’ ” (cf. Micah 5:2) 7 Then Herod secretly called the wise men, and learned from them exactly what time the star appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem, and said, “Go and search diligently for the young child. When you have found him, bring me word, so that I also may come and worship him.” 9 They, having heard the king, went their way; and behold, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them until it came and stood over where the young child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 They came into the house and saw the young child with Miriam, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Opening their treasures, they offered to him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 Being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country another way. 13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.” 14 He arose and took the young child and his mother by night and departed into Egypt, 15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” (cf. Hosea 11:1) 16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and sent out and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from two years old and under, according to the exact time which he had learned from the wise men. 17 Then that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying, 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; she wouldn’t be comforted, because they are no more.” (cf. Jeremiah 31:15) 19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, 20 “Arise and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel, for those who sought the young child’s life are dead.” 21 He arose and took the young child and his mother, and came into land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in the place of his father, Herod, he was afraid to go there. Being warned in a dream, he withdrew into the region of Galilee, 23 and came and lived in a city called Natsareth; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophets that he will be called a Natsarene (cf. Isaiah 11:1).

Additional Portion (ADD)

Between 1947 and 1956 approximately 15 Jubilees scrolls were found in five caves at Qumran, all written in Hebrew. The large number of manuscripts (more than for any biblical books except for Psalms, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Exodus, and Genesis, in descending order) indicates that Jubilees was widely used at Qumran. A comparison of the Qumran texts with the Ethiopic version, performed by James VanderKam, found that the Ethiopic was in most respects an accurate and literalistic translation. Scholars have dated Jubilees to have been written sometime around 160-150 B.C.

​45:1 And Israel went into the country of Egypt, into the land of Goshen, on the new moon of the fourth month, in the second year of the third week of the forty-fifth jubilee [2172 A.M.]. 2. And Joseph went to meet his father Jacob, to the land of Goshen, and he fell on his father’s neck and wept. 3. And Israel said unto Joseph: “Now let me die since I have seen thee, and now may the Lord Elohim of Israel be blessed, the Elohim of Abraham and the Elohim of Isaac who hath not withheld His mercy and His grace from His servant Jacob. 4. It is enough for me that I have seen thy face whilst †I am† yet alive; yea, true is the vision which I saw at Bethel. Blessed be the Lord my Elohim for ever and ever, and blessed be His name.” 5. And Joseph and his brothers ate bread before their father and drank wine, and Jacob rejoiced with exceeding great joy because he saw Joseph eating with his brothers and drinking before him, and he blessed the Creator of all things who had preserved him, and had preserved for him his twelve sons. 6. And Joseph had given to his father and to his brothers as a gift the right of dwelling in the land of Goshen and in Rameses and all the region round about, which he ruled over before Pharaoh. And Israel and his sons dwelt in the land of Goshen, the best part of the land of Egypt; and Israel was one hundred and thirty years old when he came into Egypt, 7. And Joseph nourished his father and his brethren and also their possessions with bread as much as sufficed them for the seven years of the famine. 8. And the land of Egypt suffered by reason of the famine, and Joseph acquired all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh in return for food, and he got possession of the people and their cattle and everything for Pharaoh. 9. And the years of the famine were accomplished, and Joseph gave to the people in the land seed and food that they might sow (the land) in the eighth year, for the river had overflowed all the land of Egypt. 10. For in the seven years of the famine it had not overflowed and had irrigated only a few places on the banks of the river, but now it overflowed and the Egyptians sowed the land, and it bore much corn that year. 11. And this was the first year of the fourth week of the forty-fifth jubilee [2178 A.M.]. 12. And Joseph took of the corn of the harvest the fifth part for the king and left four parts for them for food and for seed, and Joseph made it an ordinance for the land of Egypt until this day.

Related Scriptures

2:25 Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Shimon. This man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 He came in the Spirit into the temple. When the parents brought in the child, Yeshua, that they might do concerning him according to the requirement of the Torah, 28 then he received him into his arms, and blessed Elohim, and said, 29 “Now you are releasing your servant, Master, according to your word, in peace; 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared before the face of all peoples; 32 a light for revelation to the nations, and the glory of your people Israel.” 33 Joseph and his mother were marveling at the things which were spoken concerning him, 34 and Shimon blessed them, and said to Miriam, his mother, “Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against. 35 Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

8:25 Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, “Go, slaughter to your Elohim in the land!” 26 Moses said, “It isn’t appropriate to do so; for we will slaughter the abomination of the Egyptians to YHWH our Elohim. Behold, if we slaughter the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, won’t they stone us?”

5:1 Then there arose a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brothers the Jews. 2 For there were some who said, “We, our sons and our daughters, are many. Let us get grain, that we may eat and live.” 3 There were also some who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses. Let us get grain, because of the famine.” 4 There were also some who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute using our fields and our vineyards as collateral. 5 Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children as their children. Behold, we bring our sons and our daughters into bondage to be servants, and some of our daughters have been brought into bondage. It is also not in our power to help it, because other men have our fields and our vineyards.” 6 I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words. 7 Then I consulted with myself, and contended with the nobles and the rulers, and said to them, “You exact usury, everyone of his brother.” I held a great assembly against them. 8 I said to them, “We, after our ability, have redeemed our brothers the Jews that were sold to the nations; and would you even sell your brothers, and should they be sold to us?” Then they held their peace, and found not a word to say. 9 Also I said, “The thing that you do is not good. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our Elohim because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies? 10 I likewise, my brothers and my servants, lend them money and grain. Please let us stop this usury. 11 Please restore to them, even today, their fields, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the grain, the new wine, and the oil, that you are charging them.” 12 Then they said, “We will restore them, and will require nothing of them. We will do so, even as you say.”

Exodus 22:25 If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you will not be to him as a creditor. You will not charge him interest.

Leviticus 25:35 If your brother has become poor, and his hand can’t support himself among you, then you will uphold him. He will live with you like a sojourner and a settler. 36 Take no interest from him or profit; but fear your Elohim, that your brother may live among you. 37 You will not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit. 38 I am YHWH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your Elohim.

Deuteronomy 23:19 You will not lend on interest to your brother: interest of money, interest of food, interest of anything that is lent on interest. 20 You may charge a foreigner interest; but you will not charge your brother interest, that YHWH your Elohim may bless you in all that you put your hand to, in the land where you go in to possess it.

Luke 6:30-38 Give to everyone who asks you, and don’t ask him who takes away your goods to give them back again. 31 “As you would like people to do to you, do exactly so to them. 32 If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive back as much. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back; and your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind toward the unthankful and evil. 36 “Therefore be merciful, even as your Father is also merciful. 37 Don’t judge, and you won’t be judged. Don’t condemn, and you won’t be condemned. Set free, and you will be set free. 38 “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be given to you. For with the same measure you measure it will be measured back to you.”

25:23 The land will not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; for you are strangers and live as foreigners with me. 24 In all the land of your possession you will grant a redemption for the land. 25 If your brother becomes poor, and sells some of his possessions, then his kinsman who is next to him will come, and redeem that which his brother has sold. 26 If a man has no one to redeem it, and he becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it, 27 then let him reckon the years since its sale, and restore the surplus to the man to whom he sold it; and he will return to his property. 28 But if he isn’t able to get it back for himself, then what he has sold will remain in the hand of him who has bought it until the Year of Jubilee. In the Jubilee it will be released, and he will return to his property. 29 f a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it has been sold. For a full year he will have the right of redemption. 30 If it isn’t redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city will be made sure in perpetuity to him who bought it, throughout his generations. It will not be released in the Jubilee. 31 But the houses of the villages which have no wall around them will be accounted for with the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they will be released in the Jubilee. 32 Nevertheless, in the cities of the Levites, the Levites may redeem the houses in the cities of their possession at any time. 33 The Levites may redeem the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, and it will be released in the Jubilee; for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the sons of Israel. 34 But the field of the pasture lands of their cities may not be sold, for it is their perpetual possession.

Leviticus 5:14 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 15 “If anyone commits a trespass, and sins unwittingly regarding YHWH’s holy, then he will bring his trespass offering to YHWH: a ram without defect from the flock, according to your estimation in silver by shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering. 16 He will make restitution for that which he has done wrong regarding the holy, and will add a fifth part to it, and give it to the priest; and the priest will make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and he will be forgiven.

Leviticus 27:14 When a man dedicates his house to be holy to YHWH, then the priest will evaluate it, whether it is good or bad. As the priest evaluates it, so it will stand. 15 If he who dedicates it will redeem his house, then he will add the fifth part of the money of your valuation to it, and it will be his.

Leviticus 27:16 If a man dedicates to YHWH part of the field of his possession, then your valuation will be according to the seed for it. The sowing of a homer of barley will be valued at fifty shekels of silver. 17 If he dedicates his field from the Year of Jubilee, according to your valuation it will stand. 18 But if he dedicates his field after the Jubilee, then the priest will reckon to him the money according to the years that remain to the Year of Jubilee; and an abatement will be made from your valuation. 19 If he who dedicated the field will indeed redeem it, then he will add the fifth part of the money of your valuation to it, and it will remain his. 20 If he will not redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it will not be redeemed any more; 21 but the field, when it goes out in the Jubilee, will be holy to YHWH, as a devoted field. It will be owned by the priests.

Numbers 5:5 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Speak to the sons of Israel: ‘When a man or woman commits any sin that men commit, so as to trespass against YHWH, and that soul is guilty, 7 then he will confess his sin which he has done; and he will make restitution for his guilt in full, add to it the fifth part of it, and give it to him in respect of whom he has been guilty.

Genesis 50:1-14 (T)

50:1 Joseph fell on his father’s face, wept on him, and kissed him. 2 Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father; and the physicians embalmed Israel. 3 Forty days were used for him, for that is how many days it takes to embalm. The Egyptians wept for Israel for seventy days. 4 When the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to Pharaoh’s staff, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, 5 ‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am dying. Bury me in my grave which I have dug for myself in the land of Canaan.” Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come again.’ ” 6 Pharaoh said, “Go up, and bury your father, just like he made you swear.” 7 Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, all the elders of the land of Egypt, 8 all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen. 9 Both chariots and horsemen went up with him. It was a very great company. 10 They came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and there they lamented with a very great and severe lamentation. He mourned for his father seven days. 11 When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians.” Therefore its name was called Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan. 12 His sons did to him just as he commanded them, 13 for his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field, as a possession for a burial site, from Ephron the Hittite, near Mamre. 14 Joseph returned into Egypt—he, and his brothers, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.

Genesis 28:12 He dreamed and saw a stairway set upon the land, and its top reached to the heavens. Behold, the angels of Elohim were ascending and descending on it. 13 Behold, YHWH stood above it, and said, “[I am]^(LXX)(mss) the Elohim of Abraham your father, and the Elohim of Isaac. I will give the land you lie on to you and to your seed. 14 Your seed will be as the dust of the land, and you will spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. In you and in your seed, all the families of the land will be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you until I have done that which I have spoken of to you.” 16 Jacob awakened out of his sleep, and he said, “Surely YHWH is in this place, and I didn’t know it.” 17 He was afraid, and said, “How awesome this place is! This is none other than Elohim’s house, and this is the gate of the heavens.” 18 Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on its top. 19 He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first.

Genesis 35:6 6 So Jacob came to Luz, that is, Bethel, which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. 7 He built an altar there, and called the place El Beth El; because there [the Elohim]^(MTT) were revealed to him, when he fled from the face of his brother. 8 Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; and its name was called Allon Bacuth. 9 Elohim appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan Aram, and blessed him. 10 Elohim said to him, “Your name is Jacob. Your name will not be Jacob any more, but your name will be Israel.” He named him Israel. 11 Elohim said to him, “I am El Shaddai. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations will be from you, and kings will come out of your body. 12 The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, and to your seed after you I will give the land.” 13 Elohim went up from him in the place where he spoke with him. 14 Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he spoke with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a libation offering on it, and poured oil on it. 15 Jacob called the name of the place where Elohim spoke with him Bethel.

Additional Readings​

Genesis 46:28 – 47:31 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)

Composed in Talmudic Israel (c.150 – c.250 AD). Targum Pseudo-Jonathan is a western targum (translation) of the Torah (Pentateuch) from the land of Israel (as opposed to the eastern Babylonian Targum Onkelos). Its correct title was originally Targum Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Targum), which is how it was known in medieval times. But because of a printer’s mistake it was later labeled Targum Jonathan, in reference to Jonathan ben Uzziel. Some editions of the Pentateuch continue to call it Targum Jonathan to this day. Most scholars refer to the text as Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. This targum is more than a mere translation. It includes much Aggadic material collected from various sources as late as the Midrash Rabbah as well as earlier material from the Talmud. It is effectively a combination of a commentary and a translation. In the portions where it is pure translation, it often agrees with the Targum Onkelos. The date of its composition is disputed. It cannot have been completed before the Arabic conquest as it refers to Mohammad’s wife Fatimah, but might have been initially composed in the 4th Century AD. However, some scholars date it in the 14th Century.

Chapter 46 And Israel journeyed with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the Elohim of his father Izhak. And the Lord spake to Israel in a prophecy of the night, and said, Jakob! and he said, Behold me. And He said, I am Elohim, the Elohim of thy father; fear not to go down into Mizraim on account of the servitude I have decreed with Abraham: for a great people will I make thee there. I am He who in My Word will go down with thee into Mizraim; I will regard the affliction of thy children, and My Word shall bring thee up from thence, and cause thy children to come up; but Joseph shall lay his hand upon thine eyes.

And Jakob arose from Beer de Sheba; and the sons of Israel journeyed, with Jakob their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the waggons which Pharoh had sent to carry him. They took their possessions and the substance which they had gotten in the land of Kenaan, and came into Mizraim, Jakob and all his sons with him, his sons and his sons’ children with him, his daughters, and the daughters of his sons; and all his seed came with him to Mizraim.

These are the names of the sons of Israel who came into Mizraim. Jakob and his sons. The firstborn of Jakob, Reuben. And the sons of Reuben, Hanok and Phallu Hetsron and Karmi. The sons of Shimeon, Jemuel and Jamin, Ochad, Jakin, Sochar and Shaul: he is Zimri, who made the work of the Kenaanites in Shittim. And the sons of Levi, Gershon, Kehath and Merari. The sons of Jehuda, Er, Onan, Shelah, Pherets, and Zarach. But Er and Onan died, on account of their evil work in the land of Kenaan; and Shelah and Zarach had no children in the land of Kenaan; but the sons of Pherets who went down to Mizraim were Hetsron and Chamul. The sons of Issakar, sages, and masters of reasoning, their names were Tola, Phua, Job, and Shimron The sons of Zebulon, merchants, masters of commerce nourishing their brethren, the sons of Issakar, and receiving a reward like theirs; and their names were Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. These are the sons of Leah, whom she bare unto Jakob in. Padan Aram, with Dinah his daughter; all the souls of his sons and his daughter; thirty and three. And the children of Gad, Sephon, Haggi, Suni Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. The children of Asher, Yimna, Yishvah, Yishvi, Beriah and Serach their sister, who was carried away while alive into the Garden (of Eden), because she had announced to Jakob that Joseph still lived. It was she who saved the inhabitants of (the city) Abel from the judgment of death, in the days of Joab. The sons of Beriah who went down into Mizraim were Heber and Malkiel. These are the children of Zilpha, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and she bare them to Jakob; sixteen souls. The sons of Rahel, wife of Jakob, Joseph and Benjamin. And to Joseph were born two sons in the land of Mizraim, whom Asenath the daughter of Dinah, educated in the house of Potiphera prince of Tanis, bare, Menasheh and Ephraim. The sons of Benjamin, ten; and their names, according to the interpretation of Joseph his brother: Bela,[2] who was swallowed up from him; Beker, who was the chosen of his mother; Eshbal, who went into captivity; Gera, who became a sojourner in a foreign land; Naaman, who was pleasant and honourable; Achi, who had a (twin) brother, the son of his mother; Rosh, who was a chief in his father’s house; Muppim, who was sold into Muph; Chuppim, because at the time that he was separated from him he was the son of eighteen years and was eligible for marriage (Chupha, thalamus nuptialis) ; and Ared, who descended into Mizraim. These are the children of Rahel who were born unto Jakob, all the souls fourteen. The sons of Dan, able men (or armed) and merchants, of whose numbers there is no end (or sum). And the sons of Naphtali, Jakzeel, Guni, Jetser, and Shillem. These are the sons of Bilhah whom Laban gave to Rahel his daughter; and she bare them unto Jakob, all the souls seven. All the souls which went into Mizraim with Jakob which had come forth from his thigh; besides the wives of Jakob’s sons, all the souls were sixty and six. But the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Mizraim were two souls; and Joseph who was in Mizraim, and Jokebed the daughter of Levi, who was born among the hills in their journey to Mizraim, the sum of all the souls of the house of Jakob who came into Mizraim, seventy.

And he sent Jehuda before him to Joseph to indicate the way before him, to subdue the pillars of the earth, and to provide him a house of dwelling in Goshena. And they came to the land of Goshen. [JERUSALEM. To prepare him a place of habitation in Goshena.]

And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen; and his father, before he recognised him, worshipped him, and thus became liable to be shortened (or cut off) in his years. And he wondered, and beheld him, and fell upon his neck, and wept still upon his neck, because he had worshipped him. And Israel said to Joseph, If at this time I die, I am Comforted: for with the death that the righteous die shall I die, after seeing thy face, because thou art yet alive.

And Joseph said to his brethren and his father’s house, I will go up and tell Pharoh, and say to him, My brethren and my father’s house from the land of Kenaan have come to me. The men are pastors of sheep; for they are men, the masters of flocks; and their sheep and oxen and all which they have, they have brought. And it must be, when Pharoh calleth you, and saith, Tell me, what is your work? you must say, Thy servants have been masters of flocks from our youth until now: that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; because the Mizraee reject[3] all shepherds.

Josephus was born Joseph ben Mattathias in 37 AD in Jerusalem of a priestly and royal family. He excelled in his studies of Jewish law and studied with the Sadducees, Pharisees, and the Essenes, eventually aligning himself with the Pharisees. In 62 AD he went to Rome to free some imprisoned priests. After accomplishing this mission through the intercession of Nero’s wife, Poppaea, he returned to Jerusalem in 65 AD to find the country in revolt against Rome. Josephus shrewdly reinterpreted the Messianic prophecies. He predicted that Vespasian would become the ruler of the ‘entire world’. His prophecy became true in 68 AD when Nero committed suicide and Vespasian became Ceasar. As a result, Josephus was freed; he moved to Rome and became a Roman citizen, taking the Vespasian family name Flavius. Vespasian commissioned Josephus to write a history of the war, which he finished in 78 AD, the Jewish War. His second major work, the Antiquities of the Jews, was completed in 93 AD. The extant manuscripts of the book Antiquities of the Jews contain two references to Yeshua of Nazareth (18.3.3. and 20.9.1.) and one reference to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist (18.5.2.).

2.7.5. When Joseph understood that his father was coming, for Judas his brother was come before him, and informed him of his approach, he went out to meet him; and they met together at Heroopolis. But Jacob almost fainted away at this unexpected and great joy; however, Joseph revived him, being yet not himself able to contain from being affected in the same manner, at the pleasure he now had; yet was he not wholly overcome with his passion, as his father was. After this, he desired Jacob to travel on slowly; but he himself took five of his brethren with him, and made haste to the king, to tell him that Jacob and his family were come; which was a joyful hearing to him. He also bid Joseph tell him what sort of life his brethren loved to lead, that he might give them leave to follow the same, who told him they were good shepherds, and had been used to follow no other employment but this alone. Whereby he provided for them, that they should not be separated, but live in the same place, and take care of their father; as also hereby he provided, that they might be acceptable to the Egyptians, by doing nothing that would be common to them with the Egyptians; for the Egyptians are prohibited to meddle with feeding of sheep.

2.7.6. When Jacob was come to the king, and saluted him, and wished all prosperity to his government, Pharaoh asked him how old he now was; upon whose answer, that he was a hundred and thirty years old, he admired Jacob on account of the length of his life. And when he had added, that still he had not lived so long as his forefathers, he gave him leave to live with his children in Heliopolis; for in that city the king’s shepherds had their pasturage.

2.7.7. However, the famine increased among the Egyptians, and this heavy judgment grew more oppressive to them, because neither did the river overflow the ground, for it did not rise to its former height, nor did Elohim send rain upon it; nor did they indeed make the least provision for themselves, so ignorant were they what was to be done; but Joseph sold them corn for their money. But when their money failed them, they bought corn with their cattle and their slaves; and if any of them had a small piece of land, they gave up that to purchase them food, by which means the king became the owner of all their substance; and they were removed, some to one place, and some to another, that so the possession of their country might be firmly assured to the king, excepting the lands of the priests, for their country continued still in their own possession. And indeed this sore famine made their minds, as well as their bodies, slaves; and at length compelled them to procure a sufficiency of food by such dishonorable means. But when this misery ceased, and the river overflowed the ground, and the ground brought forth its fruits plentifully, Joseph came to every city, and gathered the people thereto belonging together, and gave them back entirely the land which, by their own consent, the king might have possessed alone, and alone enjoyed the fruits of it. He also exhorted them to look on it as every one’s own possession, and to fall to their husbandry with cheerfulness, and to pay as a tribute to the king, the fifth part of the fruits for the land which the king, when it was his own, restored to them. These men rejoiced upon their becoming unexpectedly owners of their lands, and diligently observed what was enjoined them; and by this means Joseph procured to himself a greater authority among the Egyptians, and greater love to the king from them. Now this law, that they should pay the fifth part of their fruits as tribute, continued until their later kings.