Why is Joseph not included among the names of the sons of Israel?
Exodus 1:2–4 (ESV)
2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
Joseph did not go down to Egypt “with Jacob” (Exodus 1:1) but had gone there earlier when his brothers sold him into slavery. This is also why the text makes the comment in Exodus 1:5 that “Joseph was already in Egypt.”
2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,