And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten.
All the souls ... were threescore and ten. It appears, by comparing this with the preceding verse, that all the persons enumerated were 70, including in that number Jacob himself, Joseph, and his two sons. The following is a tabular view of the genealogy: In considering this genealogical list, in which the children of Jacob are reckoned by their several mothers, it appears distinguished by a few striking features-First, the great preponderance of sons. 'It was a mark of the divine wisdom, which always directed the births in the chosen family, that there should have been so large an excess of males in Jacob's family. It was of the greatest importance to guard against any intermarriages with the Canaanites, lest the stream of pagan corruption should break through the barriers by which this family was kept apart. Since, however, the immediate posterity of Jacob consisted chiefly of sons, it would be easier to overcome the difficulties, and there would also be less danger connected with the marriage of one of Jacob's sons or grandsons to a pagan wife, than with the marriage of a daughter to a pagan husband. The subordinate position of the wife would render the foyer of comparatively slight importance; but in the latter case the daughter would actually separate herself from the chosen family and from the covenant of Yahweh.'
Second, as a general rule, Jacob's sons and grandsons married among their paternal kindred. The case of Simeon (Genesis 46:10) is noticed as exceptional, as was also that of Judah (Genesis 38:2), the prevailing practice being to select wives from the families of Ishmael, Keturah, or Edom.
Third, since the twelve sons of Jacob founded the twelve tribes, so their sons, i:e., Jacob's grandsons, were the founders of the families into which the tribes were subdivided, unless these grandsons died without leaving children, or did not leave a sufficient number of male descendants to form independent families, or the natural rule for the formation of tribes and families was set aside by other events or causes. 'On this hypothesis we
explain the peculiarities of this genealogy and the differences that appear between it and Numbers 26:1-65.' (Delitzsch).