In the Beginning:
The Book of Genesis

Lesson 27 Thus Israel Dwelt in Egypt
the book of Genesis 46:1—47:31

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)*
New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE)*
Catechism of the Catholic Church
ex libris (in our library)
cross references in the book of Genesis
next lesson: Jacob’s Final Words to His Sons

This material coordinates with Lesson 27 on pages 146–151 in the study book In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis.

“And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.  And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.”—the book of Genesis 1:31—2:2

welcome to our in-depth study of the book of Genesis
We invite interested groups and individuals to check out the sample first lesson from this 28-lesson Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study. These online study pages link to our free lesson video overviews as well as to a list of cross references in the biblical text. Other study aids include maps, charts, illustrations, additional commentary, and prayers based on the primary Scripture in each lesson. In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis has been granted an imprimatur and can be purchased from our website shop. If you have a Bible-study question or comment, click on one of the “ask us your question” or “what do you think” buttons on any online study page.

open with prayer
It’s always wise to begin any Bible study with prayer, whether reading the Scriptures alone or meeting with others in a discussion study group. You can pray using your own words or use one of the opening prayers on our website. We especially like the following:

Lord Jesus, you promised to send your Holy Spirit
to teach us all things.
As we read and study your word today,
allow it to touch our hearts and change our lives. Amen.

let’s review—the book of Genesis 44:1—45:28
In Lesson 26 Joseph Discloses His Identity to His Brothers, he first devises a way to determine if they regret their past behavior. He sends them home with grain and all of the money they brought, and he has one of his silver cups planted in Benjamin’s belongings. Then Joseph sends a servant to stop the brothers and take as a slave whichever one is found to have the silver cup. When the brothers learn this, they’re distraught. Judah goes to Joseph and asks to be kept instead so that Benjamin can be returned to their father Jacob. Joseph is overcome with emotion, and he confesses his real identity to his brothers. Pharaoh agrees that Joseph’s family should settle in Egypt. When Jacob learns of Joseph’s success, he’s overjoyed and agrees to travel to Egypt with his entire family.

genealogy notes—Israel’s family relocates
Click on the family tree (right) to enlarge the last genealogical chart in this Bible study. The original genealogical chart is on page 149 in the study book In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis. The red line traces the lineage of Jesus Christ.  Knowledge of the descendants of Jacob can enlighten many of future events in Scripture.

Jacob displays trust in the LORD (17:00)
In the video overview for this lesson, Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps addresses the way in which Jacob (Israel) demonstrates his trust in God. When Jacob learns that Joseph is alive and living in Egypt, he seeks guidance from the LORD to learn whether he and the rest of his family should relocate to Egypt. Jacob approaches God at Beersheba, and he does this by offering sacrifices. The biblical text is careful to specify that Jacob is reaching out to the God of his father Isaac, something that emphasizes the hereditary nature of the patriarchal line that also includes Abraham. The videos for this study are being redone and will be posted as they become available. The original videos for Lessons 4 through 28 will remain accessible until then.


The Scripture ranges for the videos being redone to accompany this Catholic Bible study from Turning to God’s Word will match the Scripture ranges for the sets of questions in the study book In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis. Viewers will be able to follow along as author Matthew Phelps discusses Lesson 27, “Thus Israel Dwelt in Egypt,” on pages 146–151 in the study book.

a census of God’s people
The forty-sixth chapter in the book of Genesis provides documentation showing exactly how many Hebrews move from the land of Canaan into Egypt during the time of Jacob and Joseph. This accounting becomes useful later when the book of Exodus describes the circumstances under which the Hebrews leave Egypt to return to the land promised to their forefather Abraham. This last genealogy in the book of Genesis establishes the baseline from which the people of Israel grow from a family of 12 sons, into a collection of 12 tribes, into the dynastic future family into which the Messiah will be born.

Q&A—what’s up with the order of that last genealogy
A reader has spotted something unusual in the way that Jacob’s children are listed in the book of Genesis 46:8–27. It’s an excellent observation that indicates she’s been paying close attention to the genealogies.

Q: I’ve noticed that Jacob’s children aren’t listed in birth order in the book of Genesis 46:8–27? Can you please address why that is? What’s the author trying to show us?

A: We can make a guess at what’s going on. The author has listed Leah’s sons first, probably because they include Jacob’s first-born son, but perhaps also because Leah is Jacob’s first wife. This means that she’s considered the more legitimate in terms of the children she bears. After the sons that Leah bore herself, the author picks up those sons and the daughter born to Leah through her maid Zilpah. This keeps together all of the children Leah claimed as hers, whether she gave birth to them herself or not, and no matter where they fall in the birth order of all of Jacob’s children. After that, the author lists the two sons to whom Rachel gave birth, and then finally the sons Rachel claimed as her own because they were born to her maid Bilhah.

This is just one of many variations in the way that Sacred Scripture lists the sons of Jacob. Later in the Bible, Jacob’s descendants usually are referred to as the 12 tribes of Israel, and their listing is complicated to allow for the inclusion of Joseph’s two Egyptian-born sons. It becomes even more problematic when the descendants of Levi are consecrated (set apart) to serve as priests. And the author of the book of Revelation has an entirely different way of determining who is and who isn’t considered among Jacob’s children. You can learn more about this in Lesson 8 Salvation Belongs to Our God  in the Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study The Revelation of Jesus Christ: The Faithful Witness.

all of life is a sojourn
The exchanges in the forty-seventh chapter in the book of Genesis between Pharaoh and Joseph’s brothers and between Pharaoh and Jacob (Israel) emphasize the idea that the Hebrews consider their time in Egypt, and indeed, even their time on earth, to be a sojourn or temporary stay. In the New Testament, the Letter to the Hebrews 13:14 reflects the way this attitude carries over to Christianity: “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek a city which is to come.” Heaven, or eternal life, is the ultimate goal of all of God’s people. The Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study The Letter to the Hebrews: An Explanation of the Mechanism of Our Salvation provides an in-depth look at early Christian apologetics.

blessing—you could look it up in our archives
The book of Genesis twice mentions that Jacob blesses Pharaoh, opposite of what we might expect. The idea of blessing in Scripture carries far more significance than we usually ascribe to it. “Blessing” is a word that also appears throughout the Psalms, which you can learn more about in our in-depth two-volume study Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume I: Lauds & Vespers. Volume II: Vigils, Day Prayer & Compline is scheduled for publication in late summer of 2025. Learn about the relationship between the words “blessing” and “speech” by reading Lost in Translation, an online column in which Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps helps readers connect with ideas expressed in the original languages of the Scriptures. New Lost in Translation entries are posted on Mondays, and past entries are archived on our website. Contact us if you’d like to receive Lost in Translation by email every week.

WHAT DO YOU THINK about Pharaoh taking a portion of all that the Egyptians produce?
In the forty-seventh chapter in the book of Genesis, it becomes obvious that Pharaoh grows excessively rich through Joseph’s wise stewardship.   

?  After all of the Egyptians have spent all of their money for food during the famine, what does Joseph first allow them to trade for food?
?  Once that commodity is gone, what does Joseph next allow the people to trade in exchange for food?
?  What evidence in the biblical text suggests that Joseph’s own family doesn’t obtain food by the same means as the other Egyptians?
?  Who are the only group of Egyptians who weren’t required to sell their land to Pharaoh, and why not?
?  What portion of all that the land of Egypt produces is given over to Pharaoh?
?  How does this portion compare with the portion allotted to priests in the book of Numbers 18:21–24?
?  Consider why it is that God, after leading his people out of Egypt, requires a smaller portion from his people than Pharaoh required of people living in Egypt.

the best Catholic commentary about Scripture
To find out more about how Church teaching is supported by Scripture passages in In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis, check out the Index of Citations in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Links (Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition [RSVCE*]) to the primary Scripture passages in the lesson and relevant paragraphs in the Catechism are provided here. Not every passage in the biblical text for this Catholic study is referenced in a Catechism paragraph, however, including the passage in this lesson from the book of Genesis 46:1—47:31.

to learn more, read more Scripture
If you’re having difficulty with a particular passage of Scripture, it can be helpful to read the relevant cross references—but looking these up can take time. To make that easier, we’ve compiled the cross references from the Revised Standard Version Second Catholic Edition (RSV2CE)—the translation that we reprint in our study books. That list can be found at the top of every online study page, and it includes links to cross references in the primary biblical text for In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis.

don’t forget about our indexes & extra online material
If you’re trying to locate information about a specific Scripture passage, you can look it up in the index at the back of the study book or sample lesson. If you want to find a particular commentary, you can look up its title in the topics index. To learn more about another book of the Bible for which there’s a Turning to God’s Word study, visit the online study directories to read the commentaries and watch any accompanying videos. Finally, if you have a question or would like to make a comment about any of our studies, you can use one of the “ask us your question” or “what do you think” buttons to email our authors.

ex libris—Church documents & books about religious topics
Link to magisterial documents referred to in our Bible studies at ex libris—magisterial documents. This listing includes significant recent encyclicals as well as a number of historical Church documents. Recommended books related to Scripture study can be found at ex libris—main bookshelf.

wondering how to pronounce some of these words?
The following link is to a reading from the New International Version (NIV) Bible. To listen, open the link and click on the audio icon above the printed text. Although not taken from the translations used in our study materials, the NIV reading provides an audio guide to pronunciation of words in this lesson’s primary biblical text. A close online version of the translation of the Bible used in Catholic liturgy in the United States as well as an audio guide for daily Mass readings for the current month can be found on the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

the book of Genesis 46:1—47:31 (NIV)

round black doveclose with Bible-based prayer related to this lesson
Many of our Catholic study groups like to conclude their discussions with a prayer based on the scriptural focus of their lesson, and some participants include Scripture-specific prayer in their individual study. If you’re uncomfortable composing your own Bible-based prayers, you can follow our four easy steps. If you prefer, you can use the following prayer based on this lesson’s text from the book of Genesis.

O God, you created the world as a temporary home for your people.
Foster in us a spirit of gratitude
and the desire to use wisely the gifts that you’ve given us
in order that we may be found worthy of the even greater gift
of eternal life made possible through your Son.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, who was present
with you and the Spirit in the beginning. Amen.

Lesson 28 Jacob’s Final Words to His Sons—the book of Genesis 48:1—50:26
Lesson 26 Joseph Discloses His Identity to His Brothers—the book of Genesis 44:1—45:28

you also may like our study of the book of Exodus
You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus, a 28-lesson Catholic Bible study with an imprimatur, provides an in-depth look at how significant events in biblical history that occurred thousands of years ago to descendants of Jacob remain relevant and even critical for present-day Christians to understand. The deliverance of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt and the giving of Ten Commandments are examined along with the development of Moses’ relationship to God. Click on the book’s cover to view a sample lesson.

start a Turning to God’s Word Bible study
Thank you for your interest in our study In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis. Information about beginning a Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study can be found at start a Bible study. Tami, Matthew, and I are available to answer questions and offer support. Contact us if you’d like to start a Turning to God’s Word study or have your schedule listed with other TtGW study groups on our website. —Jennifer

*There are seven deuterocanonical books in the Old Testament—the Books of Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, and First and Second Maccabees, as well as some passages in the Books of Esther and Daniel. Protestants usually refer to these works as “apocryphal,” a word that means “outside the (Protestant) canon” because they’re excluded from most Protestant Bibles. The word “deuterocanonical” means “second canon”; Catholics use that word to refer to any section of the Catholic Old Testament for which there are no extant, or existing, Hebrew manuscripts. All of the deuterocanonical books appear in the Septuagint, the earliest remaining versions of which date to the 1st century B.C. This Greek translation of the Old Testament was in common use by Jews at the time of Jesus—but the same books aren’t found in existing Hebrew manuscripts, which aren’t as old as the oldest version of the Septuagint. Learn more by reading How Do Catholic & Protestant Bibles Differ?

Turning to God’s Word printed Bible studies use the 2006 Revised Standard Version Second Catholic Edition (RSV2CE) translation for all Scripture references except those to the Psalms, which are taken from The Abbey Psalms and Canticles, prepared by the Benedictine monks of Conception Abbey and published in 2020 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). All Scripture links for the online study pages for In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis are to the 1966 Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE) translation. The New International Version (NIV) audio recordings follow the same chapter and verse numbering as the RSV Catholic translations, but the NIV translation doesn’t include the deuterocanonical books and passages.

The 1966 RSVCE uses archaic pronouns and verb forms such as “thee,” “thou,” “didst” in the Psalms and in direct quotations attributed to God. The 2006 RSV2CE replaces those with more accessible English. The few significant translation changes in the RSV2CE include rendering almah as “virgin” in the Book of Isaiah 7:14 and restoring the term “begotten” in the Gospel According to John 3:16.

Numbering varies for some passages in this Bible study. Turning to God’s Word studies (print and digital) follow the numbering in the Revised Standard Version Catholic translations (RSV2CE and RSVCE). Discrepancies in the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE) are noted in the Index of Scripture Citations in the study book and the online sample.

You can learn more about the Psalms by viewing a sample lesson from the Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume I: Lauds & Vespers. The second part of that study, Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume II: Vigils, Day Prayer & Compline, is scheduled for publication in 2025. Some verse numbers may vary in different translations of the Psalms.