Genesis 47:2

2 And Joseph ordained five, the least, or meekest, men of his brethren, to come before the king,

Genesis 47:2 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 47:2

And he took some of his brethren
Along with him, when he left his father in Goshen; the word for "some" signifies the extremity of a thing: hence some have fancied that he took some of the meanest and most abject, so Jarchi, lest if they had appeared to Pharaoh strong and robust, he should have made soldiers of them; others on the contrary think he took those that excelled most in strength of body, and endowments of mind, to make the better figure; others, that he took of both sorts, or some at both ends, the first and last, elder and younger; but it may be, he made no choice at all, but took some that offered next:

[even] five men:
whom the Targum of Jonathan names as follow, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher; but Jarchi will have them to be Reuben, Simeon and Levi, Issachar and Benjamin; but on these accounts no dependence is to be had:

and presented them, unto Pharaoh;
introduced them into his presence, that he might converse with them, and ask them what questions he thought fit.

Genesis 47:2 In-Context

1 Therefore Joseph entered, and told to Pharaoh, and said, My father and brethren, the sheep and the great beasts of them, and all things that they wield (and all the things that they possess), have come from the land of Canaan; and lo! they stand in the land of Goshen.

2 And Joseph ordained five, the least, or meekest, men of his brethren, to come before the king,

3 whom he asked, What work have ye? They answered, We thy servants be keepers of sheep, both we and our fathers; (and Pharaoh asked them, What work do you do? And they answered, We, thy servants, be shepherds, and herdsmen, both we and our fathers;)

4 we came into thy land to be pilgrims, that is, to dwell for a time, for no grass is to the flocks of thy servants; for hunger waxeth grievous in the land of Canaan, and we ask that thou command us thy servants to be in the land of Goshen. (we have come to live in thy land, that is, to live here for a time, for there is no grass for the flocks, and herds, of thy servants, for the famine hath spread far and wide in the land of Canaan; and we ask that thou allow us, thy servants, to live in the land of Goshen.)

5 And so the king said to Joseph, Thy father and thy brethren have come to thee;