THEOSISVissarion (Nechaev)
The names of Jacob's sons who settled in Egypt serve as the names of the patriarchs from whom each tribe descended. This listing of Israel's sons does not follow their birth order but begins with those born to Leah: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. Following them is Benjamin, Jacob's youngest son by Rachel. Lastly, we find the sons Jacob had through the handmaids of Leah and Rachel: Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. Joseph, Rachel's son, is not listed alongside his brothers; rather, it is noted that he was already in Egypt prior to their settlement there, thus facilitating their journey to the land where their descendants became a nation.
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This passage indicates that Jacob, along with his entire household—his wives, children, grandchildren, and all their possessions, including servants and livestock—moved to Egypt. The extensive connotation of "house" in this context is affirmed by the book of Genesis, which states, "his sons and his sons' sons, and all his seed, his daughters and his daughters' daughters, came into Egypt with Jacob, and that they took their cattle and all their goods with them" (Gen. 46:6-7).
The names of Jacob's family members who entered Egypt with him are enumerated in the same book. However, the phrase used—came or traveled with Jacob—leads to some questions. Did they all physically accompany Jacob into Egypt? Not necessarily. It is known that Joseph had already established himself in Egypt long before Jacob's journey. Other family members referenced in Genesis, such as Joseph's children Ephraim and Manasseh (Gen. 46:27), along with Judah's grandsons from Phares and Benjamin's grandsons, were born in Egypt. Thus, when it is stated that all listed who went into Egypt traveled with Jacob, it should be understood that some accompanied him directly, while others were born during his or Joseph’s lifetime and are included for that reason.
In total, seventy-five individuals emerged from Jacob's lineage upon entering Egypt. The Hebrew text mentions seventy souls in this account of Exodus, as well as in Genesis (46:27) and Deuteronomy (10:22). The discrepancy arises because the Greek translations of the Bible added five additional individuals—grandsons and great-grandsons of Joseph—based on genealogical lists in Numbers (26:3) and Chronicles (1 Chronicles 7:14). This addition was made to highlight Joseph's significance in the migration narrative. The figure of seventy-five is reiterated in Stephen's address to the Hellenistic Jews who adhered to the standard Greek version (Acts 7:14).
The number seventy-five represents key ancestors among Jacob's descendants. It does not encompass wives, daughters, slaves, or others not born of Jacob’s bloodline and excludes grandsons and great-grandsons of other sons of Jacob beyond those of Judah, Joseph, and Benjamin. Therefore, it can be inferred that the total number of those settled in Egypt alongside Jacob, as well as those born in Egypt during the lifetimes of Jacob and Joseph, is substantially greater.