Genesis 46:3

 Genesis 46:3

And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:

a. NASB 1995: He said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there. [New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.]

b. YLT: And He saith, 'I am God, God of thy father, be not afraid of going down to Egypt, for for a great nation I set thee there;  [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. Classic Amplified:  And He said, I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will there make of you a great nation.  [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Stone Edition THE CHUMASH, Rabbinic Commentary: And he said, “I am the God, God olf your father. Have no fear of descending to Egypt, for i shall establish you a great nation there.  [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE CHUMASH Copyright 1998, 2000 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ldt.]

e. ESV: Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

f. Unless otherwise stated, all Greek and Hebrew definitions are from Blue Letter Bible

1. “And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:”

a. [And he] said [Strong: 559 ʼâmar, aw-mar'; a primitive root; to say (used with great latitude):—answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, × desire, determine, × expressly, × indeed, × intend, name, × plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), × still, × suppose, talk, tell, term, × that is, × think, use (speech), utter, × verily, × yet.]

b. I [Strong: 595 ʼânôkîy, aw-no-kee'; sometimes, אָנֹכִי ʼânôkîy; a primitive pronoun; I:—I, me, × which.]

c. God [Strong: 410 ʼêl, ale; shortened from H352; strength; as adjective, mighty; especially the Almighty (but used also of any deity):—God (god), × goodly, × great, idol, might(-y one), power, strong. Compare names in '-el.']

d. [the] God [Strong: 430 ʼĕlôhîym, el-o-heem'; plural of H433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative:—angels, × exceeding, God (gods) (-dess, -ly), × (very) great, judges, × mighty.]

e. [of thy] father [Strong: 1 ʼâb, awb; a primitive word; father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote application:—chief, (fore-) father(-less), × patrimony, principal.]

f. fear [Strong: 3372 yârêʼ, yaw-ray'; a primitive root; to fear; morally to revere; causatively to frighten:—affright, be (make) afraid, dread(-ful), (put in) fear(-ful, -fully, -ing), (be had in) reverence(-end), × see, terrible (act, -ness, thing).]

g. not [Strong: 410 ʼal, al; a negative particle (akin to H3808); not (the qualified negation, used as a deprecative); once (Job 24:25) as a noun, nothing:—nay, neither, + never, no, nor, not, nothing (worth), rather than.]

h. [to] go down [Strong: 3381 yârad, yaw-rad'; a primitive root; to descend (literally, to go downwards; or conventionally to a lower region, as the shore, a boundary, the enemy, etc.; or figuratively, to fall); causatively, to bring down (in all the above applications):—× abundantly, bring down, carry down, cast down, (cause to) come(-ing) down, fall (down), get down, go(-ing) down(-ward), hang down, × indeed, let down, light (down), put down (off), (cause to, let) run down, sink, subdue, take down.]

i. [to] Egypt [Strong: Mitsrayim, mits-rah'-yim; dual of H4693; Mitsrajim, i.e. Upper and Lower Egypt:—Egypt, Egyptians, Mizraim.]

j. for [Strong: 3588 kîy, kee; a primitive particle (the full form of the prepositional prefix) indicating causal relations of all kinds, antecedent or consequent; (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexed:—and, (forasmuch, inasmuch, where-) as, assured(-ly), but, certainly, doubtless, else, even, except, for, how, (because, in, so, than) that, nevertheless, now, rightly, seeing, since, surely, then, therefore, (al-) though, till, truly, until, when, whether, while, whom, yea, yet.]

k. [I will] there [Strong: 8033 shâm, shawm; a primitive particle (rather from the relative pronoun, H834); there (transferring to time) then; often thither, or thence:—in it, thence, there (-in, of, out), thither, whither.]

l. make [of thee] [Strong: 7760 sûwm, soom; or שִׂים sîym; a primitive root; to put (used in a great variety of applications, literal, figurative, inferentially, and elliptically):—× any wise, appoint, bring, call (a name), care, cast in, change, charge, commit, consider, convey, determine, disguise, dispose, do, get, give, heap up, hold, impute, lay (down, up), leave, look, make (out), mark, name, × on, ordain, order, paint, place, preserve, purpose, put (on), regard, rehearse, reward, (cause to) set (on, up), shew, stedfastly, take, × tell, tread down, (over-)turn, × wholly, work.]

b. [a] great [Strong: 1419 gâdôwl, gaw-dole'; or גָּדֹל gâdôl; (shortened) from H1431; great (in any sense); hence, older; also insolent:— aloud, elder(-est), exceeding(-ly), far, (man of) great (man, matter, thing,-er,-ness), high, long, loud, mighty, more, much, noble, proud thing, × sore, (×) very.]

c. nation [Strong: 1471 gôwy, go'-ee; rarely (shortened) גֹּי gôy; apparently from the same root as H1465 (in the sense of massing); a foreign nation; hence, a Gentile; also (figuratively) a troop of animals, or a flight of locusts:—Gentile, heathen, nation, people.]

1). We must remember the prophetic vision that Abraham received at the cutting of the Covenant in Genesis 15.

a). Genesis 15:12-14 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.

15:13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

15:14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

2). The Genesis Record, Henry M. Morris, pp 628, 629: There at Beersheba, God set Jacob’s mind at ease about going down to Egypt. Identifying Himself as indeed the God of his father Isaac, He also assured Jacob that He (El, the strong Creator and Sovereign of all men) would protect him and bless him in Egypt, even as He had in Canaan. Furthermore, God promised that he would bring him back up out of Egypt, when it was time to do so. This promise, as applied to Jacob  personally, was only fulfilled after his death (Genesis 49:29; 50:4-8), but it found its more complete fulfillment in the lives of his descendants, in the days of Moses and Joshua.