Goshen

Goshen was a fertile district in northeastern Egypt, in the Nile Delta region, where Jacob's family settled at Joseph's invitation (Gen. 45:10; 46:28–29). Joseph presented his family to Pharaoh as shepherds, and they were granted Goshen because Egyptians generally had an aversion to shepherds (Gen. 46:34), keeping Israel somewhat separate from the Egyptian population. The family of seventy souls multiplied greatly in Goshen during the 430 years of sojourn in Egypt (Ex. 12:40–41). During the plagues, Goshen was repeatedly distinguished from the rest of Egypt: the flies, the pestilence, the hail, and the darkness did not come upon Goshen where Israel dwelt (Ex. 8:22; 9:26; 10:23). The region is generally identified with the Wadi Tumilat in the eastern delta. The name Goshen is also applied to a district in southern Canaan (Josh. 10:41; 11:16) and to a town in the hill country of Judah (Josh. 15:51).