Genesis 47:1-12

1 Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father and brothers, with their flocks and herds and everything they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in Goshen.”
2 He chose five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh.
3 Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What is your occupation?” “Your servants are shepherds,” they replied to Pharaoh, “just as our fathers were.”
4 They also said to him, “We have come to live here for a while, because the famine is severe in Canaan and your servants’ flocks have no pasture. So now, please let your servants settle in Goshen.”
5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you,
6 and the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land. Let them live in Goshen. And if you know of any among them with special ability, put them in charge of my own livestock.”
7 Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in and presented him before Pharaoh. After Jacob blessed[a] Pharaoh,
8 Pharaoh asked him, “How old are you?”
9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers.”
10 Then Jacob blessed[b] Pharaoh and went out from his presence.
11 So Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh directed.
12 Joseph also provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household 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.

Cross References 23

  • 1. S Genesis 42:13
  • 2. S Genesis 46:31
  • 3. S Genesis 43:15
  • 4. Genesis 46:33
  • 5. S Genesis 42:11
  • 6. Genesis 46:32
  • 7. Ruth 1:1; Genesis 15:13; Deuteronomy 26:5
  • 8. S Genesis 12:10; Genesis 43:1
  • 9. 1 Kings 18:5; Jeremiah 14:5-6; Joel 1:18
  • 10. Genesis 46:34
  • 11. S Genesis 34:10
  • 12. S Genesis 13:9; S Genesis 45:18
  • 13. Exodus 18:21,25; Deuteronomy 1:13,15; 2 Chronicles 19:5; Psalms 15:2
  • 14. S Genesis 39:4
  • 15. S Genesis 43:15
  • 16. ver 10; 2 Samuel 14:22; 2 Samuel 19:39; 1 Kings 8:66
  • 17. S Genesis 25:7
  • 18. S Genesis 3:17; Psalms 39:4; Psalms 89:47; Hebrews 11:9,13
  • 19. Genesis 35:28; Job 8:9; Psalms 39:12
  • 20. S ver 7
  • 21. S Genesis 45:10,18
  • 22. Exodus 1:11; Exodus 12:37; Numbers 33:3,5
  • 23. S Genesis 45:11

Footnotes 2

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