Genesis 47:1-12
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.
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- Genesis 47:1 tn Heb “Look they [are] in the land of Goshen.” Joseph draws attention to the fact of their presence in Goshen.
- Genesis 47:2 tn Heb “and from the whole of his brothers he took five men and presented them before Pharaoh.”
- Genesis 47:3 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Genesis 47:3 tn Heb “both we and our fathers.”
- Genesis 47:4 tn Heb “to sojourn.”
- 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.
- Genesis 47:6 tn Heb “men of skill.”
- 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.
- Genesis 47:7 tn Heb “caused him to stand.”
- 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.
- Genesis 47:8 tn Heb “How many are the days of the years of your life?”
- Genesis 47:9 tn Heb “the days of.”
- 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.
- Genesis 47:9 tn Heb “the days of.”
- 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.
- Genesis 47:9 tn Heb “and they have not reached the days of the years of my fathers in the days of their sojournings.”
- Genesis 47:10 tn Heb “from before Pharaoh.”
- 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.
- 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.
Genesis 47:1-12
American Standard Version
47 Then 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. 2 And from among his brethren he took 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 our fathers. 4 And 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. 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 thy brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any [a]able men 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 many are the days of the years of thy life? 9 And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my [b]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. 10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of 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, [c]according to their families.
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- Genesis 47:6 Or, men of activity
- Genesis 47:9 Or, sojournings
- Genesis 47:12 Or, according to the number of their little ones
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