Bible Strands
Genesis 46:19
The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator records this genealogical entry as Jacob’s family prepares to descend into Egypt. It follows a list of sons born to Zilpah and precedes a list of sons born to Joseph in Egypt.
The words — The text opens with בְּנֵ֤י (be.Nei), literally “[the] sons of,” immediately identifying the lineage. It then names רָחֵל (ra.Chel) as אֵ֣שֶׁת (‘E.shet), “[the] wife of,” Jacob to distinguish her maternal line.
The thread — This maternal identification echoes Jacob’s earlier vow to serve Laban for Rachel and his later reference to her two sons when speaking to his brothers. The verse also anticipates the birth of Joseph’s Egyptian-born sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, listed immediately afterward.
Why it lands — The reader must recognize that Jacob’s lineage is being systematically categorized by maternal origin during a migration. The text demands precise accounting of tribal descent before the narrative shifts to the next generation.
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.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
The sons of Rachel Jacob’s wife; Joseph, and Benjamin.
Cross-references
- Genesis 44:27 And your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons.
- Genesis 29:18 Since Jacob loved Rachel, he answered, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”
- Genesis 30:24 She named him Joseph, and said, “May the LORD add to me another son.”
- Genesis 35:16 Later, they set out from Bethel, and while they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth, and her labor was difficult.
- Genesis 35:24 The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.
- Genesis 37:1 Now Jacob lived in the land where his father had resided, the land of Canaan.
- Genesis 39:1 Meanwhile, Joseph had been taken down to Egypt, where an Egyptian named Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.
- Genesis 47:1 So Joseph went and told Pharaoh: “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in Goshen.”
- Genesis 49:22 Joseph is a fruitful vine—a fruitful vine by a spring, whose branches scale the wall.
- Genesis 50:1 Then Joseph fell upon his father’s face, wept over him, and kissed him.