Genesis 47:21-31

21 and Joseph reduced the people to servitude,[a] from one end of Egypt to the other.
22 However, he did not buy the land of the priests, because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.
23 Joseph said to the people, “Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you so you can plant the ground.
24 But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children.”
25 “You have saved our lives,” they said. “May we find favor in the eyes of our lord; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh.”
26 So Joseph established it as a law concerning land in Egypt—still in force today—that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. It was only the land of the priests that did not become Pharaoh’s.
27 Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number.
28 Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, and the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven.
29 When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise that you will show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt,
30 but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.” “I will do as you say,” he said.
31 “Swear to me,” he said. Then Joseph swore to him, and Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.[b]

Genesis 47:21-31 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 47

This chapter gives an account of the presentation of five of Joseph's brethren, and then of his father, to Pharaoh, and of what passed between them, Ge 47:1-10; of Joseph's settlement of them, according to the direction of Pharaoh, in the land of Rameses in Goshen, and of his provision for them there, Ge 47:11,12; of his getting into his hands, for Pharaoh, the money, cattle, and lands, of the Egyptians, excepting the lands belonging to the priests, for corn he had supplied them with, Ge 47:13-22; of his giving them seed to sow with, on condition of Pharaoh's having a fifth part of the produce, Ge 47:23-26, of the increase of Jacob's substance in Egypt, and that of his children; of the time of his living there, and his approaching death, when he called Joseph to him, and obliged him by an oath to bury him in the burying place of his fathers, Ge 47:27-31.

Cross References 27

  • 1. S ver 19
  • 2. ver 26
  • 3. Deuteronomy 14:28-29; Ezra 7:24
  • 4. Isaiah 55:10; Isaiah 61:11
  • 5. Nehemiah 5:3
  • 6. S Genesis 41:34
  • 7. S Genesis 32:5
  • 8. S ver 19
  • 9. S Genesis 41:34
  • 10. ver 22
  • 11. S Genesis 45:10,18
  • 12. S Genesis 33:19
  • 13. S Genesis 1:22; S Genesis 12:2; S Genesis 17:6; Genesis 46:3; Exodus 1:7
  • 14. Psalms 105:23
  • 15. S Genesis 25:7
  • 16. S Genesis 46:29
  • 17. S Genesis 27:2; Deuteronomy 31:14
  • 18. S Genesis 32:5
  • 19. S Genesis 24:2
  • 20. S Genesis 19:19
  • 21. S Genesis 24:27; Judges 1:24; 2 Samuel 2:6; Genesis 24:49
  • 22. S Genesis 15:15
  • 23. S Genesis 23:20; S Genesis 25:9; S Genesis 29:16; Genesis 50:25; Genesis 49:29-32; Genesis 50:5,13; Exodus 13:19; Joshua 24:32; Acts 7:15-16
  • 24. Genesis 21:23; Joshua 2:20; Judges 15:12; 1 Samuel 24:21; 1 Samuel 30:15
  • 25. S Genesis 24:3
  • 26. S Genesis 46:29
  • 27. S Genesis 32:10; Heb 11:21 "fn" 1Ki 1:47

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint (see also Vulgate); Masoretic Text "and he moved the people into the cities"
  • [b]. Or "Israel bowed down at the head of his bed"
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