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Genesis Chapter 47

Old Testament Law (Torah) 31 Verses

What is Genesis 47 about?

The book of beginnings — creation, the Fall, Noah's flood, and the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. The complete chapter text below provides the immediate literary context for study.

Text — American Standard Version (1901)

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. For original Hebrew/Greek interlinear text, open in BibleWord.ai.
1Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen.
2And from among his brethren he took five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh.
3And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and our fathers.
4And they said unto Pharaoh, To sojourn in the land are we come; for there is no pasture for thy servants` flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen.
5And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee:
6the land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and thy brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any able men among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.
7And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
8And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How many are the days of the years of thy life?
9And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years: few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.
10And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.
11And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
12And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father`s household, with bread, according to their families.
13And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.
14And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh`s house.
15And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for [our] money faileth.
16And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail.
17And they brought their cattle unto Joseph; and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, and for the flocks, and for the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread in exchange for all their cattle for that year.
18And when that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide from my lord, how that our money is all spent; and the herds of cattle are my lord`s; there is nought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands:
19wherefore should we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land be not desolate.
20So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine was sore upon them: and the land became Pharaoh`s.
21And as for the people, he removed them to the cities from one end of the border of Egypt even to the other end thereof.
22Only the land of the priests bought he not: for the priests had a portion from Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them; wherefore they sold not their land.
23Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land.
24And it shall come to pass at the ingatherings, that ye shall give a fifth unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.
25And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh`s servants.
26And Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; only the land of the priests alone became not Pharaoh`s.
27And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they gat them possessions therein, and were fruitful, and multiplied exceedingly.
28And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were a hundred forty and seven years.
29And the time drew near that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found favor in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me: bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt;
30but when I sleep with my fathers, thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying-place. And he said, I will do as thou hast said.
31And he said, Swear unto me: and he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed`s head.
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What do historical commentaries say about this chapter?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · on verse 1
“Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, etc.] After he had been with his father, had had an interview with him, and had took his leave of him for a time, he came to Pharaoh’s court: and said, my father, and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; Pharaoh had desired they might come, and Joseph now acquaints him they were come; not being willing it should be said that they were come in a private manner, and without his knowledge; nor to dispose of them himself without the direction and approbation of Pharaoh, who was superior to him; and he makes…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · on verse 1
“JOSEPH'S PRESENTATION AT COURT. (Gen. 47:1-31) Joseph . . . told Pharaoh, My father and my brethren--Joseph furnishes a beautiful example of a man who could bear equally well the extremes of prosperity and adversity. High as he was, he did not forget that he had a superior. Dearly as he loved his father and anxiously as he desired to provide for the whole family, he would not go into the arrangements he had planned for their stay in Goshen until he had obtained the sanction of his royal master.”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · on verse 1
“- Jacob in Goshen 11. רעמסס ra‛mesês, Ra‘meses “son of the sun.” 31. מטה mı̂ṭṭāh, “bed.” מטה maṭṭeh “staff.” Arrangements are now made for the settlement of Israel in Goshen. The administration of Joseph during the remaining years of the famine is then recorded. For the whole of this period his father and brothers are subject to him, as their political superior, according to the reading of his early dreams. We then approach to the death-bed of Jacob, and hear him binding Joseph by an oath to bury him in the grave of his fathers. Genesis 47:1-12 Joseph announces to Pharaoh the arrival of his kindred. “Of the…”
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Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Tyndale Open Study Notes · on verse 1
“47:1-6 Pharaoh responded as Joseph hoped by giving Jacob’s family the best part of the land; he even gave some of the brothers oversight of his own livestock (47:6). 47:1 Goshen (see study note on 45:10) is not referred to in ancient Egyptian texts; the name it bore in later Egyptian writings was “the region of Rameses” (47:11; see Exod 1:11). It was fertile and near to Joseph at court, which suggests that it was on the eastern side of the Nile delta.”
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