Genesis 47:1-11

1 Then Yosef went in and told Par`oh, and said, "My father and my brothers, with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own, have come out of the land of Kana`an; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen."

2 From among his brothers he took five men, and presented them to Par`oh.

3 Par`oh said to his brothers, "What is your occupation?" They said to Par`oh, "Your servants are shepherds, both we, and our fathers."

4 They said to Par`oh, "We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants' flocks. For the famine is severe in the land of Kana`an. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen."

5 Par`oh spoke to Yosef, saying, "Your father and your brothers have come to you.

6 The land of Mitzrayim is before you. Make your father and your brothers dwell in the best of the land. Let them dwell in the land of Goshen. If you know any able men among them, then put them in charge of my cattle."

7 Yosef brought in Ya`akov, his father, and set him before Par`oh, and Ya`akov blessed Par`oh.

8 Par`oh said to Ya`akov, "How many are the days of the years of your life?"

9 Ya`akov said to Par`oh, "The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred thirty years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage."

10 Ya`akov blessed Par`oh, and went out from the presence of Par`oh.

11 Yosef placed his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Mitzrayim, in the best of the land, in the land of Ra`meses, as Par`oh had commanded.

Genesis 47:1-11 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.