Exodus 1:4

Study note

Setting — The narrator continues recording the names of Jacob’s descendants who entered Egypt, following the partial list in Exodus 1:3. This occurs at the opening of the census that establishes the patriarchal lineage before the narrative notes their total number in Exodus 1:5.

The words — The text lists דָּן (dan) and גָּד (gad), proper names identifying two of Jacob’s sons. These terms function as plain tribal markers alongside Naphtali and Asher without additional descriptive language.

The thread — These four tribal names appear in the birth narratives of Genesis 30:6, 8, 11, and 13. They reappear in the tribal counts of Numbers 1 and the covenant list of Deuteronomy 33:23.

Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to track specific family lines within a larger genealogical record. It establishes the structural foundation of Israel’s tribes before the text shifts to their numerical growth and subsequent oppression.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.