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Genesis 47
New English Translation

Joseph’s Wise Administration

47 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[a] in the land of Goshen.” 2 He took five of his brothers and introduced them to Pharaoh.[b]

3 Pharaoh said to Joseph’s[c] brothers, “What is your occupation?” They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants take care of flocks, just as our ancestors did.”[d] 4 Then they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live as temporary residents[e] in the land. There is no[f] 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.”

5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 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[g] among them, put them in charge[h] of my livestock.”

7 Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and presented him[i] before Pharaoh. Jacob blessed[j] Pharaoh. 8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How long have you lived?”[k] 9 Jacob said to Pharaoh, “All[l] the years of my travels[m] are 130. All[n] the years of my life have been few and painful;[o] the years of my travels are not as long as those of my ancestors.”[p] 10 Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence.[q]

11 So Joseph settled his father and his brothers. He gave them territory[r] in the land of Egypt, in the best region of the land, the land of Rameses,[s] just as Pharaoh had commanded. 12 Joseph also provided food for his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household, according to the number of their little children.

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[t] because of the famine. 14 Joseph collected all the money that could be found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan as payment[u] for the grain they were buying. Then Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s palace.[v] 15 When the money from the lands of Egypt and Canaan was used up, all the Egyptians[w] came to Joseph and said, “Give us food! Why should we die[x] before your very eyes because our money has run out?”

16 Then Joseph said, “If your money is gone, bring your livestock, and I will give you food[y] in exchange for[z] your livestock.” 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.[aa] He got them through that year by giving them food in exchange for all their livestock.

18 When that year was over, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We cannot hide from our[ab] 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. 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[ac] Pharaoh’s slaves.[ad] Give us seed that we may live[ae] and not die. Then the land will not become desolate.”[af]

20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. Each[ag] of the Egyptians sold his field, for the famine was severe.[ah] So the land became Pharaoh’s. 21 Joseph[ai] made all the people slaves[aj] from one end of Egypt’s border to the other end of it. 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.

23 Joseph said to the people, “Since I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you. Cultivate[ak] the land. 24 When the crop comes in, give[al] one-fifth of it to Pharaoh. The remaining four-fifths will be yours for seed for the fields and for you to eat, including those in your households and your little children.” 25 They replied, “You have saved our lives! You are showing us favor,[am] and we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.”[an]

26 So Joseph made it a statute,[ao] which is in effect[ap] to this day throughout the land of Egypt: One-fifth belongs to Pharaoh. Only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh’s.

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.

28 Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; the years[aq] of Jacob’s life were 147 in all. 29 The time[ar] 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[as] and show me kindness and faithfulness.[at] Do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but when I rest[au] with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.” Joseph[av] said, “I will do as you say.”

31 Jacob[aw] said, “Swear to me that you will do so.”[ax] So Joseph[ay] gave him his word.[az] Then Israel bowed down[ba] at the head of his bed.[bb]

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 47:1 tn Heb “Look they [are] in the land of Goshen.” Joseph draws attention to the fact of their presence in Goshen.
  2. Genesis 47:2 tn Heb “and from the whole of his brothers he took five men and presented them before Pharaoh.”
  3. Genesis 47:3 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  4. Genesis 47:3 tn Heb “both we and our fathers.”
  5. Genesis 47:4 tn Heb “to sojourn.”
  6. Genesis 47:4 tn Heb “for there is no.” The Hebrew uses a causal particle to connect what follows with what precedes. The translation divides the statement into two sentences for stylistic reasons.
  7. Genesis 47:6 tn Heb “men of skill.”
  8. Genesis 47:6 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.
  9. Genesis 47:7 tn Heb “caused him to stand.”
  10. Genesis 47:7 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.
  11. Genesis 47:8 tn Heb “How many are the days of the years of your life?”
  12. Genesis 47:9 tn Heb “the days of.”
  13. Genesis 47:9 tn Heb “sojournings.” Jacob uses a term that depicts him as one who has lived an unsettled life, temporarily residing in many different places.
  14. Genesis 47:9 tn Heb “the days of.”
  15. Genesis 47:9 tn The Hebrew word רַע (raʿ) 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.
  16. Genesis 47:9 tn Heb “and they have not reached the days of the years of my fathers in the days of their sojournings.”
  17. Genesis 47:10 tn Heb “from before Pharaoh.”
  18. Genesis 47:11 tn Heb “a possession,” or “a holding.” Joseph gave them a plot of land with rights of ownership in the land of Goshen.
  19. Genesis 47:11 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.
  20. Genesis 47:13 tn The verb לַהַה (lahah, = לָאָה, laʾah) means “to faint, to languish”; it figuratively describes the land as wasting away, drooping, being worn out.
  21. Genesis 47:14 tn Or “in exchange.” On the use of the preposition here see BDB 90 s.v. בְּ.
  22. Genesis 47:14 tn Heb “house.”
  23. Genesis 47:15 tn Heb “all Egypt.” The expression is a metonymy and refers to all the people of Egypt.
  24. Genesis 47:15 tn The imperfect verbal form has a deliberative force here.
  25. Genesis 47:16 tn The word “food” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  26. Genesis 47:16 tn On the use of the preposition here see BDB 90 s.v. בְּ.
  27. Genesis 47:17 tn The definite article is translated here as a possessive pronoun.
  28. Genesis 47:18 tn Heb “my.” The expression “my lord” occurs twice more in this verse.
  29. Genesis 47:19 tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates consequence.
  30. Genesis 47:19 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.
  31. Genesis 47:19 tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates purpose or result.
  32. Genesis 47:19 tn The disjunctive clause structure (vav plus subject plus negated verb) highlights the statement and brings their argument to a conclusion.
  33. Genesis 47:20 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.
  34. Genesis 47:20 tn The Hebrew text adds “upon them.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  35. Genesis 47:21 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  36. Genesis 47:21 tc The MT reads “and the people he removed to the cities,” which does not make a lot of sense in this context. Smr and the LXX read “he enslaved them as slaves.”
  37. Genesis 47:23 tn The perfect verbal form with the vav consecutive is equivalent to a command here.
  38. Genesis 47:24 tn The perfect form with the vav (ו) consecutive is equivalent to an imperfect of instruction here.
  39. Genesis 47:25 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.”
  40. Genesis 47:25 sn Slaves. See the note on this word in v. 21.
  41. Genesis 47:26 tn On the term translated “statute” see P. Victor, “A Note on Hoq in the Old Testament,” VT 16 (1966): 358-61.
  42. Genesis 47:26 tn The words “which is in effect” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  43. Genesis 47:28 tn Heb “the days of the years.”
  44. Genesis 47:29 tn Heb “days.”
  45. Genesis 47:29 sn On the expression put your hand under my thigh see Gen 24:2.
  46. Genesis 47:29 tn Or “deal with me in faithful love.”
  47. Genesis 47:30 tn Heb “lie down.” Here the expression “lie down” refers to death.
  48. Genesis 47:30 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  49. Genesis 47:31 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  50. Genesis 47:31 tn Heb “swear on oath to me.” The words “that you will do so” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
  51. Genesis 47:31 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  52. Genesis 47:31 tn Heb “swore on oath to him.”
  53. Genesis 47:31 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.
  54. Genesis 47:31 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).
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Genesis 47
New International Version

47 Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father and brothers, with their flocks and herds and everything they own, have come from the land of Canaan(A) and are now in Goshen.”(B) 2 He chose five of his brothers and presented them(C) before Pharaoh.

3 Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What is your occupation?”(D)

“Your servants(E) are shepherds,(F)” they replied to Pharaoh, “just as our fathers were.” 4 They also said to him, “We have come to live here for a while,(G) because the famine is severe in Canaan(H) and your servants’ flocks have no pasture.(I) So now, please let your servants settle in Goshen.”(J)

5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you, 6 and the land of Egypt is before you; settle(K) your father and your brothers in the best part of the land.(L) Let them live in Goshen. And if you know of any among them with special ability,(M) put them in charge of my own livestock.(N)”

7 Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in and presented him(O) before Pharaoh. After Jacob blessed[a] Pharaoh,(P) 8 Pharaoh asked him, “How old are you?”

9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty.(Q) My years have been few and difficult,(R) and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers.(S)” 10 Then Jacob blessed[b] Pharaoh(T) and went out from his presence.

11 So Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land,(U) the district of Rameses,(V) as Pharaoh directed. 12 Joseph also provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their children.(W)

Joseph and the Famine

13 There was no food, however, in the whole region because the famine was severe; both Egypt and Canaan wasted away because of the famine.(X) 14 Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan in payment for the grain they were buying,(Y) and he brought it to Pharaoh’s palace.(Z) 15 When the money of the people of Egypt and Canaan was gone,(AA) all Egypt came to Joseph(AB) and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes?(AC) Our money is all gone.”

16 “Then bring your livestock,(AD)” said Joseph. “I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock, since your money is gone.(AE)” 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses,(AF) their sheep and goats, their cattle and donkeys.(AG) And he brought them through that year with food in exchange for all their livestock.

18 When that year was over, they came to him the following year and said, “We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money is gone(AH) and our livestock belongs to you,(AI) there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land. 19 Why should we perish before your eyes(AJ)—we and our land as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for food,(AK) and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh.(AL) Give us seed so that we may live and not die,(AM) and that the land may not become desolate.”

20 So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe(AN) for them. The land became Pharaoh’s, 21 and Joseph reduced the people to servitude,[c](AO) from one end of Egypt to the other. 22 However, he did not buy the land of the priests,(AP) because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment(AQ) Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.

23 Joseph said to the people, “Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed(AR) for you so you can plant the ground.(AS) 24 But when the crop comes in, give a fifth(AT) of it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children.”

25 “You have saved our lives,” they said. “May we find favor in the eyes of our lord;(AU) we will be in bondage to Pharaoh.”(AV)

26 So Joseph established it as a law concerning land in Egypt—still in force today—that a fifth(AW) of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. It was only the land of the priests that did not become Pharaoh’s.(AX)

27 Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen.(AY) They acquired property there(AZ) and were fruitful and increased greatly in number.(BA)

28 Jacob lived in Egypt(BB) seventeen years, and the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven.(BC) 29 When the time drew near for Israel(BD) to die,(BE) he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes,(BF) put your hand under my thigh(BG) and promise that you will show me kindness(BH) and faithfulness.(BI) Do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but when I rest with my fathers,(BJ) carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.”(BK)

“I will do as you say,” he said.

31 “Swear to me,”(BL) he said. Then Joseph swore to him,(BM) and Israel(BN) worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.[d](BO)

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 47:7 Or greeted
  2. Genesis 47:10 Or said farewell to
  3. Genesis 47:21 Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint (see also Vulgate); Masoretic Text and he moved the people into the cities
  4. Genesis 47:31 Or Israel bowed down at the head of his bed
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Genesis 47
King James Version

47 Then Joseph came 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.

2 And he took some of his brethren, even five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh.

3 And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and also our fathers.

4 They said morever unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we come; for thy servants have no pasture for their 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.

5 And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee:

6 The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.

7 And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

8 And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou?

9 And Jacob said unto 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 unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.

10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.

11 And 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.

12 And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with bread, according to their families.

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.

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.

15 And when money failed 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 the money faileth.

16 And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail.

17 And they brought their cattle unto 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 unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands:

19 Wherefore shall 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, that the land be not desolate.

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.

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: wherefore they sold not their lands.

23 Then 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.

24 And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part 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.

25 And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants.

26 And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part, except the land of the priests only, which became not Pharaoh's.

27 And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly.

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 nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace 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:

30 But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And he said, I will do as thou hast said.

31 And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head.

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