Genesis 47:1-12

Pharaoh Welcomes Jacob

1 So Joseph went and informed Pharaoh: "My father and my brothers, with their sheep and cattle and all that they have, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in the land of Goshen."

2 He took five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh.

3 Then Pharaoh asked his brothers, "What is your occupation?" And they said to Pharaoh, "Your servants, both we and our fathers, are shepherds."

4 Then they said to Pharaoh, "We have come to live in the land for a while because there is no grazing land for your servants' sheep, since the famine in the land of Canaan has been severe. So now, please let your servants settle in the land of Goshen."

5 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "[Now that] your father and brothers have come to you,

6 the land of Egypt is open before you; settle your father and brothers in the best part of the land. They can live in the land of Goshen. If you know of any capable men among them, put them in charge of my livestock."

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

8 Then Pharaoh said to Jacob, "How many years have you lived?"^[a]

9 Jacob said to Pharaoh, "My pilgrimage has lasted 130 years. My years have been few and hard, and they have not surpassed the years of my fathers during their pilgrimages."

10 So Jacob blessed Pharaoh and departed from Pharaoh's presence.

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

12 And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father's household with food for their dependents.

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]. Lit many are the days of the years