Genesis 46:8-27, And these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob's firstborn. And the sons of Reuben; Hanoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi. And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman. And the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. And the sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharez, and Zarah: but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Pharez were Hezron and Hamul. And the sons of Issachar; Tola, and Phuvah, and Job, and Shimron. And the sons of Zebulun; Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel. These be the sons of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob in Padanaram, with his daughter Dinah: all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty and three. And the sons of Gad; Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli. And the sons of Asher; Jimnah, and Ishuah, and Isui, and Beriah, and Serah their sister: and the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel. These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bare unto Jacob, even sixteen souls. The sons of Rachel Jacob's wife; Joseph, and Benjamin. And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him. And the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard. These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen. And the sons of Dan; Hushim. And the sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem. These are the sons of Bilhah, which Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter, and she bare these unto Jacob: all the souls were seven. All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob's sons' wives, all the souls were threescore and six; 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.

Thirty three does not include Jacob, Leah or Dinah unless Er and Onan are not counted and Leah and Dinah are counted or Jacob and Dinah are counted

Zilpah not included in the count but Serah is!

Rachel and Asenath are not included in the count

Bilhah is not included in the count

All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob's sons' wives, all the souls were threescore and six; (70 minus Jacob, Joseph and his two sons) 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.

These numbers do not include the wives of Jacob's sons and grandsons and husbands of his daughters and granddaughters.

So the total number of the caravan into Egypt well exceeded 70.

Genesis 46:28-30,  And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.

We see again the prominence and precedence of Judah amongst the sons of Israel.

Judah had proved himself to Israel and Israel now sends him as his ambassador to Joseph to determine where in Goshen Joseph has prepared a place for his father Jacob.

The caravan of people, cattle and sheep, was large and difficult to move and there was no advantage to go to where Joseph was and then have to move from there to Goshen.

Judah was to go ahead and find out Joseph's plans for the family, where they were to settle and then return to direct Israel to the exact place in Goshen Joseph had set aside.

No doubt Joseph had a very special and royal state chariot.

The official governmental limousine of the day.

It was probably specially attired with decorations appropriate for the welcome of a head of state.

For Jacob was acknowledged as the honored patriarch of a powerful clan.

And Joseph encouraged this status by setting aside a separate land area for this clan to prosper and by also coming to welcome Israel and his party in his official chariot along with most likely a sizable entourage.

Joseph had no doubt wept in despair when his brothers put him in the pit and had sold him to the Midianites but now it is time for weeping of joy.

His first response when reunited with his father is to fall on his neck and weep a good while.

Emotions are God given and are to be expressed when called for.

Jacob' life was now complete and death could come for him for he had now knew that his beloved son was alive.

The high point of his life was now lived and if God was finished with him he was ready to be called into the bosom of his father Abraham.

Now let me die simply means Now I can die, whenever my hour comes, I can die at ease.

These are similar words to what a Christian would say because he knows the Lord.

Genesis 46:31-34,  And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his father's house, I will go up, and show Pharaoh, and say unto him, My brethren, and my father's house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me; And the men are shepherds, for their trade hath been to feed cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have. And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation? That ye shall say, Thy servants' trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

There was prejudice in the land of Egypt in that day as there is in every land in every day.

Shepherds were looked upon as a lowly class and here Joseph uses this prejudice to gain a separate place for his father and his brother.

Joseph was wise in doing this for he knew the ways of the Egyptians and the weaknesses of his brothers.

This is not a deception as some commentators believe but Joseph's using what was real to gain good but separate land for his family.

There is no indication that he tried to downplay the fact that they were shepherds and in fact he told his brothers to be forthright and tell the Pharaoh that they were shepherds.

Joseph simply wanted to insure separation for his family for he knew that God desired separation in order to make of Israel a great nation.

For he knew that the very lowliness of this calling was the means for their isolation and their security.

He would rather have them be an abomination than a delight to the Egyptians.

For Egypt's frown is better for them than Egypt's flattery and fellowship.

This is another indication of Joseph as a type of Christ for Christ preached the same message when he said in:

Luke 6:22,  Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.

Genesis 47:1,  Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen.

So Joseph returns to the palace and enters into the presence of Pharaoh alone.

Notice how Joseph has used his authority to already choose where his family will be.

He is there to receive Pharaoh's blessing on what he has done

they are in the land of Goshen.

Joseph was not a man unused to making decisions nor was he a man who wanted others to make a decision for him.

Perhaps this was a land more given to pasture than to agriculture.

Perhaps it was a land recently taken over by the Egyptians and therefore vacant.

Joseph had well prepared reasons and expectations that the Pharaoh would think this a wise selection.

Genesis 47:2,  And he took some of his brethren, even five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh.

No indication is given which five brothers he took.

But Joseph was shrewd and I'm sure he took those who he thought could stand before Pharaoh and not disgrace the family.

Genesis 47:3,4  And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and also our fathers. They said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we come; for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen.

We see here that Joseph's preparation of his brothers pays off.

Joseph had desired that they emphasize the fact that they were shepherds so his selection of Goshen would be endorsed and his desire that they be separate would be fulfilled.

It is amazing how Joseph distains the riches of Egypt.

He was in a position to have his family in the court of the Pharaoh.

He could have used his position to promote every one of his brothers to high positions of power.

Any appointment Joseph desired for them would have been given.

Why did Joseph not use this opportunity to promote his own? It is because he was a man of faith.

He was a son of Israel and he knew the word of God.

He knew the plan and purpose of God and was not about to go against that purpose.

Although he was second in command throughout the whole land of Egypt he knew he was but a stranger and a sojourner looking for a city whose builder and maker was God.