GENESIS 46:8-27
These arrive in Egypt:
Jacob
Children of Leah,
borne to Jacob in Paddan-aram:
Reuben, firstborn of Jacob,
and his sons:
Enoch, Pallu, Chetzron, Carmi
Shimon and his sons:
Yemuel, Yamin, Ohad, Yachin, Tsochar, Saul son of the Canaanite woman
Levi and his sons:
Gershon, Kehath, Merari
Judah and his sons:
Shelah, Peretz, Zerach
(Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan
and therefore are not counted)
Sons of Peretz:
Chetzron, Chamul
Issachar and his sons:
Tola, Puvah, Yov, Shimron
Zebulun and his sons:
Sered, Elon, Yachliel
Dinah, Jacob’s daughter
33 counted thus far
Children of Zilpah,
whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter,
borne to Jacob:
Gad and his sons:
Tsiphyon, Chaggi, Shuni, Etzbon, Eri, Arodi, Areli
Asher and his children:
Yimnah, Yishvah, Yishvi, Beriah, Serach their sister
Beriah’s sons:
Chever, Malkiel
16 more counted thus far
Sons of Rachel,
wife of Jacob:
Joseph and his sons:
Manasseh, Ephraim
(counted although borne to him in Egypt
by Asenath daughter of Poti-phera,
priest of On)
Benjamin and his sons:
Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Na’aman, Echi, Rosh, Muppim, Chuppim, Ard
14 more counted thus far
Sons of Bilhah,
whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter,
borne to Jacob:
Dan and his son:
Chushim
Naphtali and his sons:
Yachtz’el, Guni, Yetzer, Shilem
7 more counted thus far
The number of Jacob’s descendants who then arrive in Egypt, not including his daughters-in-law, is 66. (This number does not include Jacob himself, who is not his own descendant, nor does it include Joseph and his two sons, who were already in Egypt.) The total number belonging to the house of Jacob in Egypt is 70.
GENESIS RABBAH 94:9
Who brought the census to 70?
“All of the souls who come with Jacob to Egypt,
his descendants,
aside from the wives of Jacob’s sons,
are 66;
the sons of Joseph,
who were born to him in Egypt,
are 2;
all of the souls of the house of Jacob
who came to Egypt
were 70.”
(Genesis 46:26-27)
Recognizing that Jacob was not his own descendant,
the Rabbis wonder
who might have been counted
in addition to Joseph and his two sons
to bring the total number belonging to
the house of Jacob in Egypt to 70.
Rabbi Levi taught in the name of Rabbi Samuel bar Nachman: It was Yocheved, the future mother of Moses, who brought the count to 70.
But why, then, is Yocheved not mentioned
among those who come to Egypt with Jacob?
(Cf. Genesis 46:8-27)
Perhaps Yocheved is the additional descendant of Leah
who was not mentioned in the list
of Leah’s 32 named descendants
who were born to her in Paddan Aram and came to Egypt,
thereby justifying the total number of 33 given at its conclusion!
(Cf. Genesis 46:8-15)
But we have: “The name of the wife of Amram was Yocheved daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt (not Paddan Aram)” (Numbers 26:59)! Rabbi Samuel bar Nachman resolves the difficulty: The wording of the verse indicates that she was born to Levi in the land of Egypt, but she was conceived in the land of Canaan. Specifically, she was born at the gates of Egypt, so she was already born when she was brought into Egypt!
There are those who say: It was Serach daughter of Asher who brought the count to 70 (even though she is already counted in 46:17 among the children of Zilpah! but see below and Yefeh Toar at end). She and her city were besieged by Joab when the Ephraimite, Sheva ben Bichri, rebelled against King David and sought refuge there. “A wise woman called out to Joab from the city…, ‘I am one who seeks the welfare of the faithful of Israel (shelumey emuney Yisrael)’”—I am the one who completed the count of Israel in Egypt (hishlamti minyanan shel Yisrael)—“’but you are seeking to kill city and mother in Israel!’ and Joab replied, ‘Far be it from me to swallow up or to destroy…surrender only Sheva ben Bichri and I shall lift the siege.’ Said the woman to Joab, ‘Indeed his head shall be thrown over the wall to you!’ and so, through her wisdom, she persuaded the people to behead Sheva ben Bichri and to throw his head down to Joab. Joab sounded the shofar, all of his men departed from the city to their homes, and Joab returned to the king in Jerusalem.” (II Samuel 20:1-22)
But how did she persuade her fellow townspeople
to behead Sheva ben Bichri?
Especially in light of the Torah law:
“Do not return a fugitive slave to its master…,
but let him reside with you in the place of his choosing…!”
(Deuteronomy 23:16-17)
“The woman spoke to all of the people in her wisdom” (II Samuel 20:22): Do you know of anyone who has prevailed against David? They asked: What does he demand to lift the siege for a fugitive accused of rebelling against the king? A thousand men, she replied, and is not the price of a thousand men better than the destruction of your entire city! What if each one of us, they proposed, contributes what he can afford. Well, she said, maybe I can convince him to give up a little. So she pretended to go and appeal to him, reporting back to the people a reduction of the ransom from a thousand to five hundred, then from five hundred to one hundred, from one hundred to ten, and then from ten to a single fugitive. Notwithstanding the law protecting the fugitive, the people were led by her to compare favorably the price of the ransom to the destruction of their entire city, starting as high as a thousand men, and so “they beheaded Sheva ben Bichri and threw his head down to Joab” (ibid.).
It is taught by the Rabbis: If gentiles should demand, “Surrender to us one of your number for us to kill, or we shall kill all of you,” let all of them be killed rather than forfeit one soul of Israel. However, if the gentiles should specify to them whom to surrender, such as Sheva ben Bichri, then they should hand him over rather than let all of them be killed.
Said Rabbi Judah: Even when the gentiles specify whom to surrender, if they have not succeeded in trapping the entire city in their siege, so that there is a chance that the Jews might elude the gentiles’ attack, “let all of them be killed rather than forfeit one soul of Israel!” However, if all of the city is trapped by the gentiles, so that the specified victim would inevitably suffer the same fate as the rest of the Jews, then they should hand him over in order to save the entire city. Such was the reasoning of Serach daughter of Asher, when she “spoke to all of the people in her wisdom” (ibid.), that is, with a reasoned argument: Since he will be killed and you will be killed, give him to them so that you will not be killed!
Yefeh Toar (Samuel ben Isaac Ashkenazi Jaffe, 16th cent., Constantinople): Serach daughter of Asher is counted only as one among the children of Zilpah. Therefore we can say that she completed the count in that she was considered as two because she was both pious and wise and she lived many days. A completed individual is regarded in the plural.
Sedra Summary 