Jacob Goes Down to Egypt

Gustave Doré · 1866 (designs for La Sainte Bible, Tours); this printing 1873–1874
National Library of Poland, Warsaw

Here a whole family is on the move, and Doré fills the plate with figures and animals as far as the eye can go. It is one of the plates of the Polish Doré Bible printed by M. Glücksberg in Warsaw in 1873–1874.

Old Jacob rides high on a camel hung with fringed cloths. Around him walk his people: a youth with a vessel slung from a pole, women carrying jars on their shoulders, a man pointing the way ahead. Sheep crowd the foreground, and the rest of the long column fades into the dusk.

From the text

“Israel set out with all that he had” (Genesis 46:1)

They took the livestock and possessions they had acquired in Canaan (Genesis 46:6)

His sons and grandsons, his daughters and granddaughters went with him (Genesis 46:7)

The artist’s own

Jacob on a camel — the text says his sons carried him in the wagons Pharaoh had sent (Genesis 46:5)

Water jars and a carrying pole, details of travel in Doré’s own picture of the East

Details

Jacob

The old man rides high on a camel hung with fringed cloths.

The youth with the pole

A young man carries a vessel on a pole over his shoulder.

Women with jars

Two women carry tall jars on their shoulders.

The flock

Sheep crowd the road in the foreground.

Gustave Doré, French, 1832–1883. National Library of Poland (Biblioteka Narodowa), Warsaw — «Pismo Święte Starego i Nowego Testamentu», vol. 1, Warsaw: M. Glücksberg, 1873 (acc. 75.267 A), tabl. 29 · Wood engraving after Gustave Doré’s design · National Library of Poland (Polona): the record of the volume gives the licence «Domena Publiczna» (Public Domain), «copyrightProtected»: false; the scan was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by the library itself («Polona Upload», GLAM-Wiki partnership: “This file was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons as part of a GLAM-Wiki partnership between the National Library of Poland and Wikimedia Polska”), linking its Polona record.

The verses

Gen 46:1–7So Israel set out with all that he had, and when he came to Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. And that night God spoke to Israel in a vision: “Jacob, Jacob!” He said. “Here I am,” replied Jacob. “I am God,” He said, “the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will surely bring you back. And Joseph’s own hands will close your eyes.” Then Jacob departed from Beersheba, and the sons of Israel took their father Jacob in the wagons Pharaoh had sent to carry him, along with their children and wives. They also took the livestock and possessions they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and Jacob and all his offspring went to Egypt. Jacob took with him to Egypt his sons and grandsons, and his daughters and granddaughters—all his offspring.