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Genesis 47

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Joseph Presents His Family to Pharaoh 1–12

1
Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen.
2
And from among his brethren he took five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh. ​
3
And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and our fathers. ​
4
And they said unto Pharaoh, To sojourn in the land are we come; for there is no pasture for thy servants’ flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen. ​
5
And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee:
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the land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and thy brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any able men among them, then make them rulers over my cattle. ​
7
And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
8
And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How many are the days of the years of thy life?
9
And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years: few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage. ​
10
And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.
11
And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. ​
12
And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father’s household, with bread, according to their families.

Joseph Manages the Famine Economy 13–26

13
And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine. ​
14
And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.
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And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for our money faileth.
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And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail.
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And they brought their cattle unto Joseph; and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, and for the flocks, and for the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread in exchange for all their cattle for that year. ​
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And when that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide from my lord, how that our money is all spent; and the herds of cattle are my lord’s; there is nought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands:
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wherefore should we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land be not desolate. ​
20
So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine was sore upon them: and the land became Pharaoh’s. ​
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And as for the people, he removed them to the cities from one end of the border of Egypt even to the other end thereof. ​
22
Only the land of the priests bought he not: for the priests had a portion from Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them; wherefore they sold not their land. ​
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Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land.
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And it shall come to pass at the ingatherings, that ye shall give a fifth unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones. ​
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And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.
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And Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; only the land of the priests alone became not Pharaoh’s. ​

Israel Settles; Jacob Requests Burial 27–31

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And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they gat them possessions therein, and were fruitful, and multiplied exceedingly. ​
28
And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were a hundred forty and seven years.
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And the time drew near that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found favor in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me: bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt; ​
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but when I sleep with my fathers, thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying-place. And he said, I will do as thou hast said. ​
31
And he said, Swear unto me: and he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Genesis 47

Verse 2

five men — Joseph had told his brethren what Pharaoh would ask (Gen 46:33–34), and now sets before him 'some of his brethren', literally from the end (qatseh) of them. Yatsag, 'presented', is to set in place. The answer they give in v.3 follows his instruction.

Verse 3

Thy servants are shepherds — The answer Joseph gave them, with its reason: 'every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians' (Gen 46:34), so the family would be kept apart in Goshen. 'Occupation' is ma'aseh, work done. 'Both we, and also our fathers' repeats Joseph's words.

Verse 4

to sojourn — Gur, to live as a stranger without holding the land, the verb used of Abram, who 'went down into Egypt to sojourn there' in an earlier famine (Gen 12:10). It fits the promise of a seed that 'shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs' (Gen 15:13). The request is for pasture.

Verse 6

men of activity — Chayil, strength or ability, the word for the 'able men, such as fear God' chosen as rulers in Ex 18:21. Pharaoh would set such men of the family as 'rulers' (sar, chiefs) 'over my cattle', besides the grant of Goshen as 'the best of the land'.

Verse 9

pilgrimage — Magur, a lodging as a stranger, the word behind 'the land wherein thou art a stranger' (Gen 17:8). Heb 11:13 says of the patriarchs that they 'were strangers and pilgrims on the earth'. Jacob's 130 years fell short of Isaac's 180 (Gen 35:28) and he lived to 147 (v.28).

Verse 11

land of Rameses — The 'best of the land' of Goshen (vv.4, 6) is here called Rameses, and Joseph settles them there 'as Pharaoh had commanded'. The same place is the starting point of the Exodus: 'the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth' (Ex 12:37). 'Possession' is achuzzah, a holding.

Verse 13

fainted — The famine foretold in Gen 41:30–31, 'very grievous', now reaches its depth: 'no bread in all the land'. Lahah, to languish, is said of Egypt and Canaan together, the reason Jacob's household has come down (v.4). The rest of the chapter follows what Joseph did with the grain.

Verse 17

he fed them — The next stage came after the money was spent (vv.15–16), when bread was given for horses, flocks, herds and asses. 'Fed' is nahal, to lead or guide, the verb of 'he leadeth me beside the still waters' (Ps 23:2) and 'thou hast guided them in thy strength' (Ex 15:13). It lasted 'for that year'.

Verse 19

buy us and our land for bread — The proposal comes from the Egyptians, after money and livestock had gone (vv.15–17). They ask for seed 'that we may live, and not die', and v.25 says 'Thou hast saved our lives'. Israel's law later forbade selling land outright: 'The land shall not be sold for ever' (Lev 25:23).

Verse 20

the famine prevailed over them — Chazaq, to be strong: the famine proved stronger than the Egyptians, and each man sold his field. Joseph bought 'for Pharaoh', in the king's name, while his own family received their land by Pharaoh's gift (v.11), not by purchase.

Verse 21

removed them to cities — Abar, to cause to pass over: the people are moved to cities 'from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof'. The verse gives no reason for it. The next verses show the land still sown with the seed Joseph gave them (v.23).

Verse 22

the priests — Kohen, the word Genesis uses of Potipherah, 'priest of On', whose daughter Asenath became Joseph's wife (Gen 41:45). The priests lived on a fixed 'portion' (choq) from Pharaoh, so had no need to sell; the same word is rendered 'law' in v.26.

Verse 24

the fifth part — Chamishi, a fifth. Joseph's counsel in the plenteous years had been to 'take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt' (Gen 41:34); now the fifth is a standing share to Pharaoh, and 'four parts' stay with the people for seed, food, household and 'little ones'.

Verse 26

made it a law — Choq, a fixed rule, the word for the priests' 'portion' in v.22. The fifth (chomesh) is set over the land 'unto this day', the priests' land alone excepted. The phrase marks the rule as still in force when Genesis was written down.

Verse 27

grew, and multiplied exceedingly — Parah and rabah, the verbs of 'Be fruitful, and multiply' (Gen 1:28) and of God's word to Jacob, 'be fruitful and multiply' (Gen 35:11), with me'od, exceedingly. Israel 'had possessions' (achaz) in Goshen while the Egyptians sold theirs. Ex 1:7 records the same increase.

Verse 29

under my thigh — Yarek, thigh or loins; Gen 46:26 renders it 'loins' for the body from which descendants come. In Genesis this oath appears twice: Abraham's servant (Gen 24:2, 9) and Joseph here. Jacob asks him to 'deal kindly and truly' (chesed, emeth) and not bury him in Egypt.

Verse 30

with my fathers — Jacob names the burying place of Abraham and Isaac: 'the cave that is in the field of Machpelah', where Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah and Leah lay (Gen 49:29–31). Jacob's sons carried it out (Gen 50:13), Joseph going up with them (Gen 50:7). The request holds the family's hope in Canaan, not Egypt.

Verse 31

Swear unto me — Jacob asks for the oath a second time, and Joseph swears (shaba). 'Bowed himself' is shachah, to bow low, the verb used for worship. Heb 11:21 counts the scene as faith: 'worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff'. The oath concerned burial in Canaan (vv.29–30).