Commentaire de citation sur La Genèse 46:6

וַיֵּ֣רֶד מִצְרַ֔יְמָה Vayered Mitzrayma: “He went down to Egypt.” This comes to teach us that when Jacob said, “Enough! My son Joseph is still alive! I must go and see him before I die.” (Gen. 45:28) it was his intention to go down to Egypt but to stop at the border. He thought that Joseph would come up and meet him there. Once Jacob saw Joseph, he would return to the land of Canaan. Immediately after the Torah states, “I will go and see him,” it states, “So Israel set out with all that was his…” (Gen. 46:10), meaning he took what he needed for the trip. It didn’t occur to him to take his herds, flocks, and his possessions, as it said afterwards. “That night God appeared to Jacob and said, “Don’t be afraid to go down to Egypt…” (Gen. 46:3 ) Thus, the statement, “Compelled by the word of God….” teaches us that he was then told that he must go down to Egypt. Only then does it state, “and they took along their livestock and the wealth that they had amassed in Canaan. Thus Jacob and all his offspring with him came to Egypt:” (Gen. 46:6)

What does the Torah tell us about the geographical entity we call Egypt? First of all, Egypt functions as a place of economic refuge for those living around it. Both Avraham and Ya’akov go to Egypt when confronted with famine (Bereshit 12:10 and Bereshit 46:6).⁹Bereshit 12:10 and 46:6, respectively. Yitzchak would have done the same had he not been prohibited by special Divine mandate (Bereshit 26:1-2).¹⁰Ibid., 26:1–2. Moreover, we read that other nations would also come to Egypt to find sustenance in times of famine (Bereshit 41:57).¹¹Ibid., 41:57. Were we to know nothing else, these passages immediately show us that even when the rest of the region is experiencing drought, Egypt is somehow spared.

And they walked from nation to nation Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines, in Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, and so Isaac, and so Jacobthey all were exiled from one strange place to another strange place.