American King James Version - AKJV - 1999
Genesis 47
1
Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brothers, 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.
Reference
2
And he took some of his brothers, even five men, and presented them to Pharaoh.
Reference
Parallel theme
Acts 7:13
3
And Pharaoh said to his brothers, What is your occupation? And they said to Pharaoh, Your servants are shepherds, both we, and also our fathers.
4
They said morever to Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we come; for your servants have no pasture for their flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray you, let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.
Reference
5
And Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, Your father and your brothers are come to you:
6
The land of Egypt is before you; in the best of the land make your father and brothers to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if you know any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.
Reference
Parallel theme
Exodus 18:21
Proverbs 22:29
Exodus 18:25
Genesis 47:4
2 Chronicles 26:10
References Egypt
Genesis 47:11
7
And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
Reference
Blessing
Genesis 47:10
8
And Pharaoh said to Jacob, How old are you?
9
And Jacob said to Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.
Reference
Parallel theme
Psalm 39:12
Psalm 39:5
Job 14:1
Genesis 35:28
Psalm 119:19
Psalm 119:54
James 4:14
1 Peter 2:11
11
And Joseph placed 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 Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
Reference
📍 Rameses
12
And Joseph nourished his father, and his brothers, and all his father's household, with bread, according to their families.
Reference
Parallel theme
Genesis 45:11
13
And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.
Reference
References Egypt
Acts 7:11
14
And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.
Reference
References Egypt
Genesis 41:56
15
And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for why should we die in your presence? for the money fails.
16
And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail.
17
And they brought their cattle to Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year.
18
When that year was ended, they came to him the second year, and said to him, We will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also has our herds of cattle; there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands:
19
Why shall we die before your eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate.
Reference
20
And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh's.
21
And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof.
Reference
References Egypt
Genesis 41:48
22
Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them: why they sold not their lands.
Reference
Parallel theme
Ezra 7:24
23
Then Joseph said to the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: see, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land.
24
And it shall come to pass in the increase, that you shall give the fifth part to 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.
Reference
25
And they said, You have saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants.
Reference
Grace
Genesis 33:15
26
And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part, except the land of the priests only, which became not Pharaoh's.
Reference
Parallel theme
Genesis 47:22
27
And Israel dwelled in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly.
Reference
Parallel theme
Psalm 107:38
Psalm 105:24
Zechariah 10:8
Genesis 26:4
References Egypt
Genesis 46:3
Acts 7:17
Deuteronomy 26:5
References Israel
Exodus 1:7
28
And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years.
29
And the time drew near that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said to him, If now I have found grace in your sight, put, I pray you, your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray you, in Egypt:
Reference
30
But I will lie with my fathers, and you shall carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burial plot. And he said, I will do as you have said.
Reference
Summary of Genesis 47
Genesis chapter forty-seven continues the resettlement of the family in Egypt, and gives us an interesting and perhaps surprising insight into how Joseph is dealing with the impending famine on a nation-scale.
The chapter opens with Joseph bringing five of his brothers to meet Pharaoh, presenting them formally. They are asked what their occupation is, and they reply precisely as Joseph has coached them: your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were. They have come to live in the land for a while, since the famine is so severe in Canaan that there is not pasture for their flocks, and ask specifically to settle in Goshen. Pharaoh readily agrees, telling Joseph to settle his father and brothers in the best part of the land, Goshen. The Pharaoh even suggests that if any of them are particularly capable, they could be put in charge of his own royal stock.
Joseph then brings him his father Jacob in to see Pharaoh, and Jacob blesses Pharaoh. Pharaoh asks him how old he is, a fairly natural question given how frail Jacob must have looked. Jacob's answer is quite telling, for it is clear he is reflecting upon a long life of hardship, deception, loss, and wandering, yet he is quite clear that the years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty, few and difficult, and they have not equalled the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers. There is a real feeling of weariness in his reply to being given this wonderful opportunity.
Jacob blesses the Pharaoh once more and leaves him.
Joseph then settles his father and brothers in Egypt, giving them property in the best part of the land (the region of Rameses) as the Pharaoh had directed him. He gives food to his father and brothers and their entire households according to the number of their children, to make sure the whole extended family is cared for for the duration of the crisis.
The chapter now turns to how Joseph is handling the impending famine for the wider population in Egypt, and it is a surprising and almost unsettling insight into centrally controlled economics. As the famine draws increasingly severe to the land, Joseph gathers in his storehouses all the money to be found in Egypt and Canaan, by right of the grain they buy from him, and brings it into the Pharaoh's palace. When the money runs out, the Egyptians come to him and beg food: give us food, why should we die before your eyes, our money is all gone. So Joseph trades them their livestock for food, horses, sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. The following year they come to him again, finding nothing to offer but themselves. We cannot hide from our lord that our money is used up and our livestock belongs to you, there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land. Why should we perish before your eyes, both us and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we, and with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh, just give us seed so we may live and not die, so the land will not become desolate.
So Joseph buys all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh, and the Egyptians sell their fields because the famine is too severe for them to withstand any other way, and the land becomes Pharaoh's. Joseph reduces the whole population to a form of servitude (in the widest sense) from one end of Egypt to the other, excepting the priests' land which is kept as they receive a regular food allowance directly and never sell. Joseph buys seed for the people to plant, and when they harvest they give a fifth to Pharaoh and keep the rest for seed for the fields, and food for their households and children. The people are grateful: you have saved our lives, so say, may we find favour in our lord's eyes, we will be in bondage to Pharaoh. The text notes that this is a law established in Egypt to give a fifth to Pharaoh, which lasted into the time the text was written, with the priests' land being the one exception.
In the land of Goshen, Israel's family sets down and thrives, acquiring property, becoming fruitful and increasing greatly in number.
Jacob lives seventeen more years in Egypt, reaching a total of a hundred and forty-seven years old. As the time draws near for him to die, he calls for Joseph and asks him for one final personal favor. By the custom, he asks Joseph to put his hand under his thigh and swear that he will not bury him in Egypt, but carry him out of this land and bury him where his fathers were buried. It is a request that shows he is far from done yet, and that even seventeen years in this land of comfort and safety have not convinced him that this is his home, and Joseph swears to do exactly as he has asked.
The chapter opens with Joseph bringing five of his brothers to meet Pharaoh, presenting them formally. They are asked what their occupation is, and they reply precisely as Joseph has coached them: your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were. They have come to live in the land for a while, since the famine is so severe in Canaan that there is not pasture for their flocks, and ask specifically to settle in Goshen. Pharaoh readily agrees, telling Joseph to settle his father and brothers in the best part of the land, Goshen. The Pharaoh even suggests that if any of them are particularly capable, they could be put in charge of his own royal stock.
Joseph then brings him his father Jacob in to see Pharaoh, and Jacob blesses Pharaoh. Pharaoh asks him how old he is, a fairly natural question given how frail Jacob must have looked. Jacob's answer is quite telling, for it is clear he is reflecting upon a long life of hardship, deception, loss, and wandering, yet he is quite clear that the years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty, few and difficult, and they have not equalled the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers. There is a real feeling of weariness in his reply to being given this wonderful opportunity.
Jacob blesses the Pharaoh once more and leaves him.
Joseph then settles his father and brothers in Egypt, giving them property in the best part of the land (the region of Rameses) as the Pharaoh had directed him. He gives food to his father and brothers and their entire households according to the number of their children, to make sure the whole extended family is cared for for the duration of the crisis.
The chapter now turns to how Joseph is handling the impending famine for the wider population in Egypt, and it is a surprising and almost unsettling insight into centrally controlled economics. As the famine draws increasingly severe to the land, Joseph gathers in his storehouses all the money to be found in Egypt and Canaan, by right of the grain they buy from him, and brings it into the Pharaoh's palace. When the money runs out, the Egyptians come to him and beg food: give us food, why should we die before your eyes, our money is all gone. So Joseph trades them their livestock for food, horses, sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. The following year they come to him again, finding nothing to offer but themselves. We cannot hide from our lord that our money is used up and our livestock belongs to you, there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land. Why should we perish before your eyes, both us and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we, and with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh, just give us seed so we may live and not die, so the land will not become desolate.
So Joseph buys all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh, and the Egyptians sell their fields because the famine is too severe for them to withstand any other way, and the land becomes Pharaoh's. Joseph reduces the whole population to a form of servitude (in the widest sense) from one end of Egypt to the other, excepting the priests' land which is kept as they receive a regular food allowance directly and never sell. Joseph buys seed for the people to plant, and when they harvest they give a fifth to Pharaoh and keep the rest for seed for the fields, and food for their households and children. The people are grateful: you have saved our lives, so say, may we find favour in our lord's eyes, we will be in bondage to Pharaoh. The text notes that this is a law established in Egypt to give a fifth to Pharaoh, which lasted into the time the text was written, with the priests' land being the one exception.
In the land of Goshen, Israel's family sets down and thrives, acquiring property, becoming fruitful and increasing greatly in number.
Jacob lives seventeen more years in Egypt, reaching a total of a hundred and forty-seven years old. As the time draws near for him to die, he calls for Joseph and asks him for one final personal favor. By the custom, he asks Joseph to put his hand under his thigh and swear that he will not bury him in Egypt, but carry him out of this land and bury him where his fathers were buried. It is a request that shows he is far from done yet, and that even seventeen years in this land of comfort and safety have not convinced him that this is his home, and Joseph swears to do exactly as he has asked.