Text -- Genesis 47:1-31 (NET)

Joseph’s Wise Administration

47:1 Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father, my brothers, their flocks and herds, and all that they own have arrived from the land of Canaan. They are now in the land of Goshen.” 47:2 He took five of his brothers and introduced them to Pharaoh. 47:3 Pharaoh said to Joseph’s brothers, “What is your occupation?” They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants take care of flocks, just as our ancestors did.” 47:4 Then they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live as temporary residents in the land. There is no pasture for your servants’ flocks because the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. So now, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen.” 47:5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 47:6 The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best region of the land. They may live in the land of Goshen. If you know of any highly capable men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.” 47:7 Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and presented him before Pharaoh. Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 47:8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How long have you lived?” 47:9 Jacob said to Pharaoh, “All the years of my travels are 130. All the years of my life have been few and painful; the years of my travels are not as long as those of my ancestors.” 47:10 Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence. 47:11 So Joseph settled his father and his brothers. He gave them territory in the land of Egypt, in the best region of the land, the land of Rameses, just as Pharaoh had commanded. 47:12 Joseph also provided food for his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household, according to the number of their little children. 47:13 But there was no food in all the land because the famine was very severe; the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan wasted away because of the famine. 47:14 Joseph collected all the money that could be found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan as payment for the grain they were buying. Then Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s palace. 47:15 When the money from the lands of Egypt and Canaan was used up, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food! Why should we die before your very eyes because our money has run out?” 47:16 Then Joseph said, “If your money is gone, bring your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock.” 47:17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for their horses, the livestock of their flocks and herds, and their donkeys. He got them through that year by giving them food in exchange for livestock. 47:18 When that year was over, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We cannot hide from our lord that the money is used up and the livestock and the animals belong to our lord. Nothing remains before our lord except our bodies and our land. 47:19 Why should we die before your very eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we, with our land, will become Pharaoh’s slaves. Give us seed that we may live and not die. Then the land will not become desolate.” 47:20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. Each of the Egyptians sold his field, for the famine was severe. So the land became Pharaoh’s. 47:21 Joseph made all the people slaves from one end of Egypt’s border to the other end of it. 47:22 But he did not purchase the land of the priests because the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh and they ate from their allotment that Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land. 47:23 Joseph said to the people, “Since I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you. Cultivate the land. 47:24 When you gather in the crop, give one-fifth of it to Pharaoh, and the rest will be yours for seed for the fields and for you to eat, including those in your households and your little children.” 47:25 They replied, “You have saved our lives! You are showing us favor, and we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.” 47:26 So Joseph made it a statute, which is in effect to this day throughout the land of Egypt: One-fifth belongs to Pharaoh. Only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh’s. 47:27 Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and they owned land there. They were fruitful and increased rapidly in number. 47:28 Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; the years of Jacob’s life were 147 in all. 47:29 The time for Israel to die approached, so he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt, 47:30 but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.” Joseph said, “I will do as you say.” 47:31 Jacob said, “Swear to me that you will do so.” So Joseph gave him his word. Then Israel bowed down at the head of his bed.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Gen 47:1

¹ tn Heb “Look they [are] in the land of Goshen.” Joseph draws attention to the fact of their presence in Goshen.

NET Notes: Gen 47:2

¹ tn Heb “and from the whole of his brothers he took five men and presented them before Pharaoh.”

NET Notes: Gen 47:3

¹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “both we and our fathers.”

NET Notes: Gen 47:4

¹ tn Heb “to sojourn.”

² tn Heb “for there.” The Hebrew uses a causal particle to connect what follows with what precedes. The translation divides the statement into two sentences for stylistic reasons.

NET Notes: Gen 47:6

¹ tn Heb “men of skill.”

² tn Heb “make them rulers.”

sn Put them in charge of my livestock. Pharaoh is, in effect, offering Joseph’s brothers jobs as royal keepers of livestock, a position mentioned often in Egyptian inscriptions, because the Pharaohs owned huge herds of cattle.

NET Notes: Gen 47:7

¹ tn Heb “caused him to stand.”

² sn The precise meaning of the Hebrew verb translated “blessed” is difficult in this passage, because the content of Jacob’s blessing is not given. The expression could simply mean that he greeted Pharaoh, but that seems insufficient in this setting. Jacob probably praised Pharaoh, for the verb is used this way for praising God. It is also possible that he pronounced a formal prayer of blessing, asking God to reward Pharaoh for his kindness.

NET Notes: Gen 47:8

¹ tn Heb “How many are the days of the years of your life?”

NET Notes: Gen 47:9

¹ tn Heb “the days of.”

² tn Heb “sojournings.” Jacob uses a term that depicts him as one who has lived an unsettled life, temporarily residing in many different places.

³ tn Heb “the days of.”

⁴ tn The Hebrew word רַע (ra’) can sometimes mean “evil,” but that would give the wrong connotation here, where it refers to pain, difficulty, and sorrow. Jacob is thinking back through all the troubles he had to endure to get to this point.

⁵ tn Heb “and they have not reached the days of the years of my fathers in the days of their sojournings.”

NET Notes: Gen 47:10

¹ tn Heb “from before Pharaoh.”

NET Notes: Gen 47:11

¹ tn Heb “a possession,” or “a holding.” Joseph gave them a plot of land with rights of ownership in the land of Goshen.

² sn The land of Rameses is another designation for the region of Goshen. It is named Rameses because of a city in that region (Exod 1:11; 12:37). The use of this name may represent a modernization of the text for the understanding of the intended readers, substituting a later name for an earlier one. Alternatively, there may have been an earlier Rameses for which the region was named.

NET Notes: Gen 47:13

¹ tn The verb לַהַה (lahah, = לָאָה, la’ah) means “to faint, to languish”; it figuratively describes the land as wasting away, drooping, being worn out.

NET Notes: Gen 47:14

¹ tn Or “in exchange.” On the use of the preposition here see BDB 90 s.v. בְּ.

² tn Heb “house.”

NET Notes: Gen 47:15

¹ tn Heb “all Egypt.” The expression is a metonymy and refers to all the people of Egypt.

² tn The imperfect verbal form has a deliberative force here.

NET Notes: Gen 47:16

¹ tn The word “food” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

² tn On the use of the preposition here see BDB 90 s.v. בְּ.

NET Notes: Gen 47:17

¹ tn The definite article is translated here as a possessive pronoun.

NET Notes: Gen 47:18

¹ tn Heb “my.” The expression “my lord” occurs twice more in this verse.

NET Notes: Gen 47:19

¹ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates consequence.

² sn Pharaoh’s slaves. The idea of slavery is not attractive to the modern mind, but in the ancient world it was the primary way of dealing with the poor and destitute. If the people became slaves of Pharaoh, it was Pharaoh’s responsibility to feed them and care for them. It was the best way for them to survive the famine.

³ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates purpose or result.

⁴ tn The disjunctive clause structure (vav [ו] + subject + negated verb) highlights the statement and brings their argument to a conclusion.

NET Notes: Gen 47:20

¹ tn The Hebrew text connects this clause with the preceding one with a causal particle (כִּי, ki). The translation divides the clauses into two sentences for stylistic reasons.

² tn The Hebrew text adds “upon them.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

NET Notes: Gen 47:21

¹ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tc The MT reads “and the people he removed to the cities,” which does not make a lot of sense in this context. The Samaritan Pentateuch and the LXX read “he enslaved them as slaves.”

NET Notes: Gen 47:23

¹ tn The perfect verbal form with the vav consecutive is equivalent to a command here.

NET Notes: Gen 47:24

¹ tn The words “the crop” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

² tn The perfect form with the vav (ו) consecutive is equivalent to an imperfect of instruction here.

³ tn Heb “four parts.”

NET Notes: Gen 47:25

¹ tn Heb “we find favor in the eyes of my lord.” Some interpret this as a request, “may we find favor in the eyes of my lord.”

² sn Slaves. See the note on this word in v. 21.

NET Notes: Gen 47:26

¹ tn On the term translated “statute” see P. Victor, “A Note on Hoq in the Old Testament,” VT 16 (1966): 358-61.

² tn The words “which is in effect” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

NET Notes: Gen 47:28

¹ tn Heb “the days of the years.”

NET Notes: Gen 47:29

¹ tn Heb “days.”

² sn On the expression put your hand under my thigh see Gen 24:2.

³ tn Or “deal with me in faithful love.”

NET Notes: Gen 47:30

¹ tn Heb “lie down.” Here the expression “lie down” refers to death.

² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: Gen 47:31

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “swear on oath to me.” The words “that you will do so” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn Heb “swore on oath to him.”

⁵ sn The Hebrew verb normally means “bow down,” especially in worship or prayer. Here it might simply mean “bend low,” perhaps from weakness or approaching death. The narrative is ambiguous at this point and remains open to all these interpretations.

⁶ tc The MT reads מִטָּה (mittah, “bed, couch”). The LXX reads the word as מַטֶּה (matteh, “staff, rod”) and interprets this to mean that Jacob bowed down in worship while leaning on the top of his staff. The LXX reading was used in turn by the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews (Heb 11:21).