Genesis 47:6-16

6 The land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers ¹in the best of the land. ²Let them settle in the land of Goshen, and if you know any ³able men among them, put them in charge of my livestock. ”

7 Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and stood him before Pharaoh, ⁴and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

8 And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life? ”

9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my ⁵sojourning are 130 years. ⁶Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and ⁷they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their ⁸sojourning. ”

10 And Jacob ⁹blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.

11 Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of ¹⁰Rameses, ¹¹as Pharaoh had commanded.

12 And Joseph ¹²provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their dependents.

Joseph and the Famine

13 Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished by reason of the famine.

14 ¹³And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, in exchange for the grain that they bought. And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.

15 And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. ¹⁴Why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone. ”

16 And Joseph answered, “Give your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock, if your money is gone. ”

Genesis 47:6-16 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

• 1. 47:6 ch. 45:18
• 2. 47:6 ver. 4
• 3. 47:6 Ex. 18:21, 25
• 4. 47:7 ver. 10
• 5. 47:9 1 Chr. 29:15; Ps. 39:12; 119:19, 54; Heb. 11:9, 13
• 6. 47:9 Job 14:1; [Ps. 39:4, 5; James 4:14]
• 7. 47:9 ch. 11:32; 25:7; 35:28
• 8. 47:9 1 Chr. 29:15; Ps. 39:12; 119:19, 54; Heb. 11:9, 13
• 9. 47:10 ver. 7
• 10. 47:11 Ex. 1:11; 12:37; [ch. 45:10]
• 11. 47:11 ver. 6
• 12. 47:12 ch. 45:11; 50:21
• 13. 47:14 ch. 41:56
• 14. 47:15 ver. 19