Genesis 47:1-12

Jacob Settles in Goshen

1 So Joseph went and reported to Pharaoh. And he said, "My father and my brothers, with their flocks and their herds, and all that they have, have come from the land of Canaan. Now [they are] here in the land of Goshen."
2 And from among his brothers he took five men and presented them before Pharaoh.
3 And Pharaoh said to his brothers, "What [is] your occupation?" And they said to Pharaoh, "Your servants [are] keepers of sheep, both we and also our ancestors."
4 And they said to Pharaoh, "We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servant's flocks, for the famine [is] severe in the land of Canaan. So now, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen."
5 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Your father and your brothers have come to you.
6 The land of Egypt [is] before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. Let them live in the land of Goshen, and if you know there is among them men of ability, then appoint them overseers of my own livestock."
7 Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and presented him before Pharaoh. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
8 Then Pharaoh said to Jacob, "{How old are you}?"
9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The days of the years of my sojourning [are] one hundred and thirty years. Few and hard have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not reached the days of the years of the lives of my ancestors in the days of their sojourning."
10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and he went out from the presence of Pharaoh.
11 And Joseph settled his father and his brothers, and he gave them property in the land of Egypt in the best part of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had instructed.
12 And Joseph provided his father and his brothers and all the household of his father with food, according to the number of their children.

Genesis 47:1-12 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.

Footnotes 3

  • [a]. Or "fathers"
  • [b]. Literally "How many are the days of the years of your life?"
  • [c]. Or "fathers"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.