We are in chapter 46 of Genesis with our word for today. בֵֽית house, dwelling house, palace, temple, receptacle, family, dynasty. It is used 2031 times in the Old Testament. We see most of the time our word is used to describe the temple or house of the Lord. This phrase בֵּ֖ית יְהוָ֣ה is used 517 times in the Old Testament. 2 Samuel 12:20 Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the בֵית־יְהוָ֖ה house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate. 1 Kings 7:51 Thus all the work that King Solomon did on the בֵּ֥ית יְהוָֽה house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, the silver, the gold, and the vessels, and stored them in the treasuries of the בֵּ֥ית יְהוָֽה house of the Lord. 1 Kings 8:10-11 When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the בֵּ֥ית יְהוָֽה temple of the Lord. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his בֵּ֥ית יְהוָֽה temple.
Our word is also used to describe a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families. Exodus 8:3 The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your בְּבֵיתֶ֔ךָ palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the וּבְבֵ֤ית houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs.
We also see our word used in the sense of one’s ancestry conceived of as a house. 1 Kings 12:20 When all the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the בֵית־דָּוִ֔ד house of David. Psalm 135:19-20 All you בֵּ֣ית Israelites, praise the Lord; בֵּ֥ית house of Aaron, praise the Lord; בֵּ֣ית house of Levi, praise the Lord; you who fear him, praise the Lord. This is the sense that our word is used in our chapter today. Genesis 46:5, 7, 26-27 Then Jacob set out from Beersheba. The sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him…All the persons of the לְבֵֽית־יַעֲקֹ֛ב house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy.
A lot of this chapter is showing how God was moving Jacob’s whole family to Egypt where he would create an entire nation there and then bring them back into the land he had promised them. God is showing himself faithful. We also see this phrase לְבֵֽית־יַעֲקֹ֛ב house of Jacob used several times throughout the Old Testament referring to God’s people. Exodus 19:3 Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the לְבֵ֣ית יַעֲקֹ֔ב descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel. Psalm 114:1 When Israel went out from Egypt, the בֵּ֥ית יַ֝עֲקֹ֗ב house of Jacob from a people of strange language. Obadiah 17-18 But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape, and it shall be holy, and the בֵּ֣ית יַֽעֲקֹ֔ב house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions. The בֵית־יַעֲקֹ֨ב house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the לְבֵ֣ית עֵשָׂ֔ו house of Joseph a flame. I’ll close with this messianic prophecy about Jesus our savior and future hope. Here described as being from the house of David. Zechariah 12:10; 13:1 And I will pour out on the בֵּ֨ית דָּוִ֜יד house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn…On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the לְבֵ֥ית דָּוִ֖יד house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.
