Genesis 47:3

3 Pharaoh asked the brothers, "What do you do for a living?" "We're shepherds," they replied to Pharaoh. "And that's what our fathers were."

Genesis 47:3 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 47:3

And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, what [is] your occupation?
&c.] Which is the question he had told his brethren beforehand would be asked them, and prepared them to give an answer to it, ( Genesis 46:33 Genesis 46:34 ) ; which was perhaps an usual question Pharaoh asked of persons that came to settle in his dominions, that he might have no idle vagrants there, and that he might know of what advantage they were like to be of in his kingdom, and might dispose of them accordingly:

and they said unto Pharaoh, thy servants [are] shepherds, both we
[and] also our fathers;
see ( Genesis 46:34 ) .

Genesis 47:3 In-Context

1 Joseph went to Pharaoh. He told him, "My father and brothers have come from the land of Canaan. They've brought along their flocks and herds and everything they own. They are now in Goshen."

2 Joseph had chosen five of his brothers to meet with Pharaoh.

3 Pharaoh asked the brothers, "What do you do for a living?" "We're shepherds," they replied to Pharaoh. "And that's what our fathers were."

4 They also said to him, "We've come to live in Egypt for a while. There isn't enough food anywhere in Canaan. There isn't any grass for our flocks. So please let us settle in Goshen."

5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Your father and your brothers have come to you.