Genesis 47:3

3 Pharaoh said to Joseph's brothers, "What do you do?" They said to Pharaoh, "Your servants are shepherds, both we and our ancestors."

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 inform Pharaoh and said, "My father and brothers with their flocks, herds, and everything they own have come from the land of Canaan and are now in the land of Goshen."

2 From all of his brothers, he selected five men and presented them before Pharaoh.

3 Pharaoh said to Joseph's brothers, "What do you do?" They said to Pharaoh, "Your servants are shepherds, both we and our ancestors."

4 They continued, "We've come to the land as immigrants because the famine is so severe in the land of Canaan that there are no more pastures for your servants' flocks. Please allow your servants to settle in the land of Goshen."

5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since your father and brothers have arrived,