Genesis 47:1-12

Jacob Settles in Goshen

1 So Joseph went and told Pharaoh: “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in Goshen.”

2 And he chose five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh.

3 “What is your occupation?” Pharaoh asked Joseph’s brothers. “Your servants are shepherds,” they replied, “both we and our fathers.”

4 Then they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live in the land for a time, because there is no pasture for the flocks of your servants, since the famine in the land of Canaan has been severe. So now, please allow your servants to settle in the land of Goshen.”

5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Now that your father and brothers have come to you,

6 the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and brothers in the best part of the land. They may dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know of any talented men among them, put them in charge of my own livestock.”

7 Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and presented him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

8 “How many years have you lived?” Pharaoh asked.

9 “My travels ^[a] have lasted 130 years,” Jacob replied. “My years have been few and hard, and they have not matched the years of the travels of my fathers.”

10 Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and departed from his presence.

11 So Joseph settled his father and brothers in the land of Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.

12 Joseph also provided his father and brothers and all his father’s household with food for their families.

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

• [a] Hebrew sojourns; twice in this verse