Page:A critical and exegetical commentary on Genesis (1910).djvu/594

 remove the misgiving natural to an old man called to leave his hearth and his altar. The thought is confined to E (ct. 45$28$ J).—-for nation] The words, if genuine, should follow the immediate grounds of comfort in v.$4$. They are probably to be regarded (with KS. Gu. al.) as an expansion of the same character as 13$14ff.$ 22$15ff.$ 28$14$ etc.—4. I will go down with thee] So in 31$13$ the 'Ēl of Bethel is with Jacob in Mesopotamia.—bring thee up] The reference must be to the Exodus (Ex. 3$8$ 6$8$ etc.), not to Jacob's burial in Canaan (47$29f.$ 50$5ff.$).—lay his hand upon thine eyes] i.e., close them after death; for classical parallels, cf. Hom. Il. xi. 453, Od. xi. 426, xxiv. 296; Eurip. Phœn. 1451 f., Hec. 430; Virg. Aen. ix. 487, etc. (Kn-Di.).—6, 7. P's summary of the migration (v.i.).

8-27. A list of Jacob's immediate descendants.—The passage professes to give the names of those who went down with Jacob to Egypt, but is in reality a list of the leading clans of the Israelite tribes, closely corresponding to Nu. 26$5ff.$. These traditionally numbered seventy (cf. the 70 elders, Ex. 24$1. 9$, Nu. 11$16$). Closely connected with this was another tradition, that the number of the Israelites at the settlement in Egypt was 70 (Dt. 10$22$). In the more careful statement of Ex. 1$5$ (P), this means all the descendants of Jacob at the time: i.e., it includes Joseph (and presumably his sons, though they were in Egypt already) and, of course, excludes Jacob himself. In the mind of the writer of the present passage these two traditional schemes appear to have got mixed up and confused. As it stands, it is neither an accurate enumeration of Jacob's descendants (for the number 70 includes Jacob and excludes Er and Onan), nor a list of those who accompanied him to Egypt (for it embraces Joseph and his sons: see on $26f.$). When cleared of certain obvious accretions ( $8$; $12bα; 15aγ$; $15b$; $26$ and the whole of $27$ except the last word ), we find as its nucleus

verbs, peculiar to E: see G-K. § 69 m$2$; Ho. Hex. 190.—4. ] See on 27$33$ 31$15$. G .—5. $2$] G om.—] G .—6, 7. Cf. 12$5$ 31$18$ 36$6$ (P). Further marks of P:, , (17$7. 9f.$ 35$12$), and the redundant phraseology.