Genesis 47:8-18

8 Then the king said to Jacob, "How old are you?"
9 Jacob said to him, "My life has been spent wandering from place to place. It has been short and filled with trouble -- only one hundred thirty years. My ancestors lived much longer than I."
10 Then Jacob blessed the king and left.
11 Joseph obeyed the king and gave his father and brothers the best land in Egypt, near the city of Rameses.
12 And Joseph gave his father, his brothers, and everyone who lived with them the food they needed.
13 The hunger became worse, and since there was no food anywhere in the land, Egypt and Canaan became very poor.
14 Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan. People paid for the grain they were buying, and he brought that money to the king's palace.
15 After some time, when the people in Egypt and Canaan had no money left, they went to Joseph and said, "Please give us food. Our money is gone, and if we don't eat, we will die here in front of you."
16 Joseph answered, "Since you have no money, give me your farm animals, and I will give you food in return."
17 So people brought their farm animals to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. And he kept them alive by trading food for their farm animals that year.
18 The next year the people came to Joseph and said, "You know we have no money left, and all our animals belong to you. We have nothing left except our bodies and our land.

Genesis 47:8-18 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.

Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.