Genesis47
New Living Translation
1Then Joseph went to see Pharaoh and told him, “My father and my brothers have arrived from the land of Canaan. They have come with all their flocks and herds and possessions, and they are now in the region of Goshen.”
2Joseph took five of his brothers with him and presented them to Pharaoh.
3And Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What is your occupation?” They replied, “We, your servants, are shepherds, just like our ancestors.
4We have come to live here in Egypt for a while, for there is no pasture for our flocks in Canaan. The famine is very severe there. So please, we request permission to live in the region of Goshen.”
5Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Now that your father and brothers have joined you here,
6choose any place in the entire land of Egypt for them to live. Give them the best land of Egypt. Let them live in the region of Goshen. And if any of them have special skills, put them in charge of my livestock, too.”
7Then Joseph brought in his father, Jacob, and presented him to Pharaoh. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
8“How old are you?” Pharaoh asked him.
9Jacob replied, “I have traveled this earth for 130 hard years. But my life has been short compared to the lives of my ancestors.”
10Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh again before leaving his court.
11So Joseph assigned the best land of Egypt—the region of Rameses—to his father and his brothers, and he settled them there, just as Pharaoh had commanded.
12And Joseph provided food for his father and his brothers in amounts appropriate to the number of their dependents, including the smallest children.
13Meanwhile, the famine became so severe that all the food was used up, and people were starving throughout the lands of Egypt and Canaan.
14By selling grain to the people, Joseph eventually collected all the money in Egypt and Canaan, and he put the money in Pharaoh’s treasury.
15When the people of Egypt and Canaan ran out of money, all the Egyptians came to Joseph. “Our money is gone!” they cried. “But please give us food, or we will die before your very eyes!”
16Joseph replied, “Since your money is gone, bring me your livestock. I will give you food in exchange for your livestock.”
17So they brought their livestock to Joseph in exchange for food. In exchange for their horses, flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and donkeys, Joseph provided them with food for another year.
18But that year ended, and the next year they came again and said, “We cannot hide the truth from you, my lord. Our money is gone, and all our livestock and cattle are yours. We have nothing left to give but our bodies and our land.
19Why should we die before your very eyes? Buy us and our land in exchange for food; we offer our land and ourselves as slaves for Pharaoh. Just give us grain so we may live and not die, and so the land does not become empty and desolate.”
20So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. All the Egyptians sold him their fields because the famine was so severe, and soon all the land belonged to Pharaoh.
21As for the people, he made them all slaves, from one end of Egypt to the other.
22The only land he did not buy was the land belonging to the priests. They received an allotment of food directly from Pharaoh, so they didn’t need to sell their land.
23Then Joseph said to the people, “Look, today I have bought you and your land for Pharaoh. I will provide you with seed so you can plant the fields.
24Then when you harvest it, one-fifth of your crop will belong to Pharaoh. You may keep the remaining four-fifths as seed for your fields and as food for you, your households, and your little ones.”
25“You have saved our lives!” they exclaimed. “May it please you, my lord, to let us be Pharaoh’s servants.”
26Joseph then issued a decree still in effect in the land of Egypt, that Pharaoh should receive one-fifth of all the crops grown on his land. Only the land belonging to the priests was not given to Pharaoh.
27Meanwhile, the people of Israel settled in the region of Goshen in Egypt. There they acquired property, and they were fruitful, and their population grew rapidly.
28Jacob lived for seventeen years after his arrival in Egypt, so he lived 147 years in all.
29As the time of his death drew near, Jacob called for his son Joseph and said to him, “Please do me this favor. Put your hand under my thigh and swear that you will treat me with unfailing love by honoring this last request: Do not bury me in Egypt.
30When I die, please take my body out of Egypt and bury me with my ancestors.” So Joseph promised, “I will do as you ask.”
31“Swear that you will do it,” Jacob insisted. So Joseph gave his oath, and Jacob bowed humbly at the head of his bed.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Genesis 47.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Joseph presents his brethren to Pharaoh. (1–6). Jacob blesses Pharaoh. (7–12). Joseph's dealings with the Egyptians during the famine. (13–26). Jacob's age. His desire to be buried in Canaan. (27–31).
vv1-6
Though Joseph was a great man, especially in Egypt, yet he owned his brethren. Let the rich and great in the world not overlook or despise poor relations. Our Lord Jesus is not ashamed to call us brethren. In answer to Pharaoh's inquiry, What is your calling? they told him that they were shepherds, adding that they were come to sojourn in the land for a time, while the famine prevailed in Canaan. Pharaoh offered to employ them as shepherds, provided they were active men. Whatever our business or employment is, we should aim to excel in it, and to prove ourselves clever and industrious.
vv7-12
With the gravity of old age, the piety of a true believer, and the authority of a patriarch and a prophet, Jacob besought the Lord to bestow a blessing upon Pharaoh. He acted as a man not ashamed of his religion; and who would express gratitude to the benefactor of himself and his family. We have here a very uncommon answer given to a very common question. Jacob calls his life a pilgrimage; the sojourning of a stranger in a foreign country, or his journey home to his own country. He was not at home upon earth; his habitation, his inheritance, his treasures were in heaven. He reckons his life by days; even by days life is soon reckoned, and we are not sure of the continuance of it for a day. Let us therefore number our days. His days were few. Though he had now lived one hundred and thirty years, they seemed but a few days, in comparison with the days of eternity, and the eternal state. They were evil; this is true concerning man. He is of few days and full of trouble; since his days are evil, it is well they are few. Jacob's life had been made up of evil days. Old age came sooner upon him than it had done upon some of his fathers. As the young man should not be proud of his strength or beauty, so the old man should not be proud of his age, and his hoary hairs, though others justly reverence them; for those who are accounted very old, attain not to the years of the patriarchs. The hoary head is only a crown of glory, when found in the way of righteousness. Such an answer could not fail to impress the heart of Pharaoh, by reminding him that worldly prosperity and happiness could not last long, and was not enough to satisfy. After a life of vanity and vexation, man goes down into the grave, equally from the throne as the cottage. Nothing can make us happy, but the prospect of an everlasting home in heaven, after our short and weary pilgrimage on earth.
vv13-26
Care being taken of Jacob and his family, which mercy was especially designed by Providence in Joseph's advancement, an account is given of the saving the kingdom of Egypt from ruin. There was no bread, and the people were ready to die. See how we depend upon God's providence. All our wealth would not keep us from starving, if rain were withheld for two or three years. See how much we are at God's mercy, and let us keep ourselves always in his love. Also see how much we smart by our own want of care. If all the Egyptians had laid up corn for themselves in the seven years of plenty, they had not been in these straits; but they regarded not the warning. Silver and gold would not feed them: they must have corn. All that a man hath will he give for his life. We cannot judge this matter by modern rules. It is plain that the Egyptians regarded Joseph as a public benefactor. The whole is consistent with Joseph's character, acting between Pharaoh and his subjects, in the fear of God. The Egyptians confessed concerning Joseph, Thou hast saved our lives. What multitudes will gratefully say to Jesus, at the last day, Thou hast saved our souls from the most tremendous destruction, and in the season of uttermost distress! The Egyptians parted with all their property, and even their liberty, for the saving of their lives: can it then be too much for us to count all but loss, and part with all, at His command, and for His sake, who will both save our souls, and give us an hundredfold, even here, in this present world? Surely if saved by Christ, we shall be willing to become his servants.
Key Words
יוֹסֵף: Joseph, the name of seven Israelites
בּוֹא: to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)
פַּרְעֹה: Paroh, a general title of Egyptian kings
אָב: father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote application
אָח: a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relationship and metaphorical affinity or resemblance (like father))
צֹאן: a collective name for a flock (of sheep or goats); also figuratively (of men)
בָּקָר: beef cattle or an animal of the ox family of either gender (as used for plowing); collectively, a herd
כֹּל: properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense)
אֲשֶׁר: who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.
מִן: properly, a part of; hence (prepositionally), from or out of in many senses
Cross References
Genesis 47New Testament exposition of Jacob's life as a heavenly pilgrimage, hoping for a better country.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
New Testament commentary on Jacob bowing himself in worship at the head of his bed/staff.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Direct parallel to the instructions given by Joseph regarding their occupation as shepherds.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Illuminates the solemnity of Jacob blessing Pharaoh; the less is blessed of the better.
Supported by JFB
The exact physical gesture of putting a hand under the thigh to secure a solemn oath.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Jacob's specific dying charge detailing his burial in the family cave of Machpelah in Canaan.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Confirms the timeline, showing this was the second year of the seven-year famine.
Supported by JFB
Shows the direct fulfillment of Israel multiplying exceedingly in Goshen, leading to Pharaoh's alarm.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Parallels Joseph's own later dying oath demanding his bones be carried out of Egypt to Canaan.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
The historical confession of Israel: 'A Syrian ready to perish was my father...'
Echoes Jacob's confession of being a stranger and a sojourner on the earth.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Illustrates the Egyptians giving up all property and freedom to save their physical lives.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The origin of the fifth-part policy first proposed by Joseph during the years of plenty.
Supported by JFB
NT theological context attributing these patriarchal burial requests to faith in God's promises.
Supported by JFB
Begins the literal fulfillment of God's prophecy that Abraham's seed would sojourn in Egypt.
Poetic commentary on God calling for a famine and breaking the whole staff of bread.
A parallel of state-level tax exemptions granted to religious ministers/priests.
Supported by JFB
Contrasts Jacob's total life duration of 147 years with his earlier statement to Pharaoh.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Joseph reports this specific oath directly to Pharaoh to secure permission for the burial journey.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The formal law instituted by Joseph as a result of buying the land for Pharaoh.
Connects the Egyptians' 'saved our lives' statement with Joseph's earlier declaration of God's purpose.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Fulfillment of God's promise to make Jacob a great nation in Egypt.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Poetic summary of Jacob's 17-year sojourn in Egypt, the land of Ham.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Uses the identical Hebrew idiom for demonstrating 'kindness and truth'.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The immediate sequential narrative link showing Jacob's physical weakness on his bed.
Supported by Matthew Poole