When we read about the children born to Jacob, we are told of 12 sons and a lone daughter, Dinah.1 Yet in the Torah's account of Jacob's family settling in Egypt, we find an interesting verse:
[Jacob’s] sons and his sons' sons with him, his daughters and his sons' daughters and all his descendants he brought with him to Egypt.2
But we are not told who these other daughters are. So what does the verse intend here? Did Jacob have more than one daughter?
1. Each Son was Born With a Twin
The key is found in another verse where the daughters are mentioned, this one after Jacob learns of Joseph’s disappearance:
And all his sons and all his daughters arose to console him, but he refused to be consoled.3
Who are these daughters?
Rashi cites the Midrash,4 which quotes Rabbi Judah, who teaches that each of Jacob's sons was born with a twin sister. The brothers then married these half-sisters (i.e. they each married the twin of one of their brothers from a different mother).5 Rashi provides this possible explanation for the daughters who consoled Jacob, but he does not apply the same interpretation to the later verse describing Jacob’s family entering Egypt. This is because—as Rashi himself notes—these daughters are not listed there, leading him to conclude that according to that interpretation, they must have died before this time.6
In other words, according to Rashi, the verse describing the daughters that entered the land of Egypt cannot refer to these twin sisters, so to whom does it refer?
2. It Refers to his Daughter and Daughters-in-Law
Rashi cites another explanation from the Midrash, in the name of Rabbi Nehemiah, which interprets the term "daughters" to refer to Jacob’s daughters-in-law: “A person does not hesitate to call his son-in-law his ‘son’ and his daughter-in-law his ‘daughter.’”7
Radak understands the verse in the same way.8
This interpretation works for both instances where the verse references Jabob’s daughters.
The Rebbe extensively analyzes why Rashi in Genesis 37 cites both these explanations, pointing out the shortcomings of each. Regarding the first explanation, that each son was born with a twin, Rashi felt that since we adopt the approach that our forefathers observed the mitzvahs, it is problematic to explain that the sons of Jacob married their half-sisters, which is clearly forbidden.9 Additionally, the phrase “and all his daughters” seems particularly inclusive, perhaps hinting to others who were like daughters, namely his daughters-in-law.
But Rashi is also not completely satisfied with the second explanation, that it refers to Jacob’s daughters-in-law, as this is a departure from the plain reading of the verse.
Ultimately the Rebbe determines that this approach is too simplistic and does not fully illustrate Rashi's reasoning. He goes on to develop a complex explanation based on multiple textual nuances to explain why Rashi cites both interpretations.10
3. It’s a Language Thing
Leaving the above discussion aside, we find an interesting marginal note in the authoritative “Leipzig 1” manuscript of Rashi. This manuscript dates to the 13th century, after Rashi’s passing, and was written by Rabbi Machir the son of Karshavyah. It was copied from a text that was transcribed and annotated by Rashi's student and scribe, Rabbi Shemayah. It includes Rashi's commentary and marginal glosses, many of which Rabbi Shemayah attributes directly to Rashi.11 The relevant note, which the author of the manuscript attributes to Rashi, reads as follows:
Whoever was “his daughters,” this refers to Dinah, who was the only daughter he had — similar to the expression “and the sons of Dan, Hushim,”12 where “all the sons of Dan” are referred to, but he [Dan] had only Hushim alone."13
According to this understanding, the verse uses a plural form even though, in truth, he only had one daughter. This is similar to other instances where the plural form is used to assist the flow of the verse.
This seems to be the opinion of the majority of the commentators.14
4. It Refers to his Daughter and Granddaughter
Some suggest that the plural reference to daughters is a reference to Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, and his granddaughter—Yocheved the daughter of Levi.15
5. His Daughters-in-law and Granddaughters
The Bechor Shor suggests that the plural form refers to his daughters-in-law and granddaughters, since he did not have multiple daughters.16 Rabbi Abraham, the son of Maimonides, proposes that these granddaughters may have passed away before the family's descent into Egypt, as they are notably absent from the listings, unlike the daughters-in-law who are specifically mentioned.17 (This explanation only works for the daughters who comforted Jabob mentioned earlier in Genesis but not for the daughters who are mentioned as settling in Egypt.)
6. Dinah’s Maidservants
Ibn Ezra suggests a unique explanation:
It is possible that Dinah had young maidservants who grew up with her, and on account of his daughter, the Torah refers to them as “the daughters of Jacob,” since they were raised in his household.18
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