Genesis 46:5-7

"And Jacob rose up from Beersheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him: his sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt."

One purpose in these lines is to show that all of Israel actually went down into Egypt, just as all of them later were delivered. This purpose is also apparent in the list of Jacob's posterity in the following verses.

It is to be noted that, despite the suggestion by Pharaoh that they would not need to bring their possessions with them, since plenty was available in Egypt, they nevertheless brought all that it was possible to carry. This was obviously for the purpose of not being any greater burden to the Egyptians than was unavoidable. Note also in these verses that nothing whatever is said of the wives of Jacob's sons and grandsons, nor is there any reference to their servants or employees. From this, it is evident that the company which went down into Egypt was far larger than the list of barely seventy persons next recorded.