Preface: Joseph brings his family into Egypt permanently in Genesis 47, introducing them to Pharaoh. Pharaoh assigns to his family the land of Goshen, which is apparently not too far from the palace of Pharaoh.

The famine continues in the land, and Joseph continues to sell the available grain, eventually taking the people of Egypt and their lands for Pharaoh. The priests of the land were not subject to these payments. Joseph institutes what is essentially an income tax in perpetuity.

Jacob, near the end of his life, makes Joseph swear to bury him in Canaan. This final section might have been better placed with Genesis 48.

There are many chapter commentaries on the book of Genesis. This will be the most extensive examination of Genesis 47, where you will be able to examine in depth every word of the original text. Every attempt has been made to make this both a complete and self-contained study. Therefore, all references, vocabulary, and related concepts should be found within this extensive study. Easy access links to more in-depth studies of some vocabulary words, concepts and doctrines are also provided.

Outline of Chapter 47:

Preface

Introduction

         vv.     1–12         Pharaoh Meets’ Joseph’s Brothers and Father and Gives Them Egyptian Land

         vv.    13–26         The Famine Continues

         vv.    27–31         Jacob Requires that Joseph Bury Him in the Land of Canaan

Summary

Addendum

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines:

         Preface               Preface

         Preface               Quotations

         Introduction 

         Introduction         The Prequel of Genesis 47

         Introduction         The Principals of Genesis 47

         Introduction         The Places of Genesis 47

         Introduction         The Patriarchal Timeline for Genesis 47

         Introduction         A Synopsis of Genesis 47

         Introduction         Paragraph Divisions of Modern Translations for Genesis 47 (from Dr. Bob Utley)

         Introduction         Chapter Updates

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v.       6              Goshen and the Hebrews

         v.       6              Map of Goshen in Egypt

         v.       6              Map of Avaris

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v.      12              A New Theory of the Authorship of Genesis

         v.      12              Evidence that the history of Genesis was known to the Hebrew people early on

         v.      13              Hajime Murai’s Structure of Genesis 47:13-26

         v.      14              What We Learn from Joseph Selling the Grain

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v.      21              Two Interpretations of Genesis 47:21

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v.      26              Why are churches untaxed?

         v.      26              Parallels Between What Joseph Did and What Jesus Christ Does For Us

         v. 

         v. 

         v.      28              William Ramey’s Chiasmos of Genesis 47:28–48:22

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v.      31              The Many Pairings of the Patriarchal Age (by Wenstrom)

         Summary            A Set of Summary Doctrines and Commentary

         Summary            An Abbreviated Exegesis of Genesis 47

         Summary            The Subsections of Genesis 47

         Summary            Why Genesis 47 is in the Word of God

         Summary            What We Learn from Genesis 47

         Summary            B. H. Carroll Summarizes Genesis 47

         Summary            Edersheim Summarizes Genesis 47

         Summary 

         Addendum 

         Addendum          Josephus’ History of this Time Period

         Addendum          A Complete Translation of Genesis 47

         Addendum          Doctrinal Teachers Who Have Taught Genesis 47

         Addendum          Word Cloud from a Reasonably Literal Paraphrase of Genesis 47

         Addendum          Word Cloud from the Exegesis of Genesis 47

——————————

An Introduction to Genesis 47

I ntroduction: Genesis 47 divides up easily into 3 sections (and it quite amazes me that very few translations offer headings for each section): (1) Joseph brings in 5 of his brothers and then his father to meet and to speak with Pharaoh, and to get official permission to live in the land of Egypt; (2) the remainder of the famine is discussed, and we find out how Joseph dealt with it; and (3) Jacob recognizes that he is near the end of his life, and he tells this to his son Joseph and extracts from him a promise to bury him in the land of Canaan.

As you can see, these sections are quite disparate and not really related, apart from Joseph being at the heart of each vignette. It would have made a great deal of sense for the final section to have been placed with Genesis 48, which deals with Jacob’s adoption and blessing of his two grandsons.

As we have noticed throughout these final chapters of Genesis, the chapter divisions often seem unnecessary or incorrectly placed. In the previous chapter, all of Joseph’s relatives have moved to Egypt, and that last thing that happened was, Joseph told his brothers to be honest about their profession of keeping animals. We begin this new chapter by those brothers standing before Pharaoh and telling him about their profession. It would have made sense for Genesis 46:31–34 (where Joseph tells his brothers what to say to Pharaoh) to be in the same chapter as Genesis 47:1–11 (where Pharaoh meets and interviews the brothers of Jacob, hearing about their profession, and assigning them specific land in Egypt where they might live).

Genesis 47:11 (or 12) is the conclusion of the wonderful narrative which begins with Joseph as a young man, age 17, being sold by his brothers into slavery in Egypt; to this point where the family of Joseph (his father and brothers) have arrived in Egypt to live, and have met with Pharaoh. This continuous narrative began in Genesis 37:1 and takes us to Genesis 47:11 (or 12) (there was an intermission in Genesis 38).

At various times, this narrative is probably delivered by two men, Joseph and Judah, each one taking turns, speaking before their families (which would make perfect sense, as these men together assume the rights and privileges of the firstborn). It is possible that Leah originally spoke a portion of this narrative as well, telling about the birth of her sons and her sister’s sons.

It is my educated guess that their father Jacob spoke Genesis 1–36 from memory, at various times, while in Egypt. Reading the Torah aloud seems to be very much in line with current Jewish traditions and Jewish traditions from the time of Jesus Christ. The only difference is, Jacob and his sons would have done this from memory.

Coming to the end of this continual narrative does not mean that we leave Joseph and his family. However, the narratives from Genesis 47:13 and forward tend to be more episodic (as were the chapters on Abraham). Same people, same family, same location (for the most part); but a clear diverging from the continuous narrative which we have enjoyed up to this time.

In Genesis 47, Joseph stands before Pharaoh to introduce to him his father and some of his brothers.

Genesis 47 is a chapter which speaks of great changes in the land of Egypt. Joseph never allowed the country to become socialistic or communistic. Every year that grain was needed, those who needed it had to pay some sort of a price. It was not distributed freely, except to the priests. Furthermore, those who paid everything that they had for this grain were grateful. They did not have their hands out and then complain when not enough was given to them; they were grateful that Joseph kept them and their families alive.

Also in this chapter we will see Joseph settle his family in the land of Goshen with Pharaoh's permission and Jacob will enter into the dying phase of his life. Because of his words and actions, I have often had to draw conclusions as to his spiritual state. I am certain there are some people who questioned this. In this chapter, we can tell by his period of dying that his life was a spiritual mess.

The Patriarchal Timeline for Genesis 47

——————————

Pharaoh Meets' Joseph's Brothers and Father and Gives Them Egyptian Land

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:                       Note: I compare the Hebrew text to English translations of the Latin, Syriac (= Aramaic) and Greek texts, using the Douay-Rheims translation; George Lamsa’s translation, and Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton’s translation as revised and edited by Paul W. Esposito, respectively. I often update these texts with non-substantive changes (e.g., you for thou, etc.). I often use the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible instead of Brenton’s translation, because it updates the English text.

The Septuagint was the earliest known translation of a book (circa 200 b.c.). Since this translation was made before the textual criticism had been developed into a science and because different books appear to be translated by different men, the Greek translation can sometimes be very uneven.

When there are serious disparities between my translation and Brenton’s (or the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible), I look at the Greek text of the Septuagint (the LXX) to see if a substantive difference actually exists (and I reflect these changes in the English rendering of the Greek text). I use the Greek LXX with Strong’s numbers and morphology available for e-sword. The only problem with this resource (which is a problem for similar resources) is, there is no way to further explore Greek verbs which are not found in the New Testament. Although I usually quote the Complete Apostles’ Bible here, I have begun to make changes in the translation when their translation conflicts with the Greek and note what those changes are.

The Masoretic text is the Hebrew text with all of the vowels (vowel points) inserted (the original Hebrew text lacked vowels). We take the Masoretic text to be the text closest to the original. However, differences between the Masoretic text and the Greek, Latin and Syriac are worth noting and, once in a great while, represent a more accurate text possessed by those other ancient translators.

In general, the Latin text is an outstanding translation from the Hebrew text into Latin and very trustworthy (I say this as a non-Catholic). Unfortunately, I do not read Latin—apart from some very obvious words—so I am dependent upon the English translation of the Latin (principally, the Douay-Rheims translation).

Underlined words indicate differences in the text.

Bracketed portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls are words, letters and phrases lost in the scroll due to various types of damage. Underlined words or phrases are those in the Dead Sea Scrolls but not in the Masoretic text.

I will only list the translation from the Dead Sea Scrolls if it exists and if it is different from the Masoretic text.

The Targum of Onkelos is actually the Pentateuchal Targumim, which are The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel. On the Pentateuch With The Fragments of the Jerusalem Targum From the Chaldee by J. W. Etheridge, M.A. From http://www.becomingjewish.org/texts/targum/onkelos_genesis.html and first published in 1862.

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so goes in Joseph and so he makes known to Pharaoh and so he says, “My father and my brothers and their flock and their herd and all that [is] to them have come from a land of Canaan and behold them in a land of Goshen.”

Dead Sea Scrolls                   .

Targum (trans. Etheridge)      .

Targum (Onkelos)                  And Joseph came and showed Pharoh, and said, My father and my brethren, and their sheep and their oxen, and all that they have, are come from the land of Kenaan, and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen. Translation for Onkelos and Pseudo-Jonathan by J. W. Etheridge, M.A. (1862).

Targum (Pseudo-Jonathan)   And Joseph came and informed Pharoh, and said, My father and my brethren, with their sheep all oxen and all that they have, are come from the land of Kenaan, and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen.

Jerusalem targum                  .

Revised Douay-Rheims         .

Douay-Rheims 1899 (Amer.) Then Joseph went in and told Pharao, saying: My father and brethren, their sheep and their herds, and all that they possess, are come out of the land of Chanaan: and behold they stay in the land of Gessen.

Aramaic ESV of Peshitta        Then Yoseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, "My father and my brothers, with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen."

Peshitta (Syriac)                    THEN Joseph came and informed Pharaoh, and said to him, My father and my brothers and their flocks and their herds and all that they have, are come from the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are now settled in the land of Goshen.

Septuagint (Greek)                And Joseph came and told Pharao, saying, My father, and my brethren, and their cattle, and their oxen, and all their possessions, are come out of the land of Chanaan, and behold, they are in the land of Gesem. This is the New Brenton translation from http://www.katapi.org.uk/

NETS (Greek)                        .

Brenton’s Septuagint             .

Significant differences: 

Limited Vocabulary Translations:

Bible in Basic English             .

Easy English                          Joseph went to Pharaoh. He told him, ‘My father and brothers, and all their animals are now in Goshen. They have come from Canaan. And they have brought everything that belongs to them.’

Easy-to-Read Version–2006  Israel Settles in Goshen

Joseph went in to Pharaoh and said, “My father and my brothers and all their families are here. They have all their animals and everything they own from the land of Canaan with them. They are now in the land of Goshen.”

Easy-to-Read Version–2008  .

God’s Word™                         Jacob [Israel] Meets Pharaoh

Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers have arrived from Canaan with their flocks, herds, and everything they have. Now they are in Goshen.”

Good News Bible (TEV)         .

International Children’s B.     .

The Message                         Joseph went to Pharaoh and told him, “My father and brothers with their flocks and herds and everything they own have come from Canaan. Right now they are in Goshen.”

Names of God Bible               .

NIRV                                      .

New Simplified Bible              .

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           .

Contemporary English V.       Joseph took five of his brothers to the king and told him, "My father and my brothers have come from Canaan. They have brought their sheep, goats, cattle, and everything else they own to the region of Goshen." Then he introduced his brothers to the king,

The Living Bible                     Upon their arrival, Joseph went in to see Pharaoh.

“My father and my brothers are here from Canaan,” he reported, “with all their flocks and herds and possessions. They wish to settle in the land of Goshen.”

New Berkeley Version           .

New Century Version             Jacob Settles in Goshen

Joseph went in to the king and said, “My father and my brothers have arrived from Canaan with their flocks and herds and everything they own. They are now in the land of Goshen.”

New Life Version                    .

New Living Translation           Jacob Blesses Pharaoh

Then Joseph went to see Pharaoh and told him, “My father and my brothers have arrived from the land of Canaan. They have come with all their flocks and herds and possessions, and they are now in the region of Goshen.”

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          So JoSeph went and told Pharaoh: 'My father and brothers have arrived from the land of CanaAn with their cattle, oxen, and all their possessions. And {Look!} they are now in the land of Gesem.'

Beck’s American Translation .

International Standard V        Joseph’s Family Settles in Goshen

After this, Joseph went to inform Pharaoh. “My father and brothers have come here from Canaan,”a he said, “and they’ve come with their flocks, herds, and everything else they have. I settled them in the Goshen territory!”

New Advent (Knox) Bible       So Joseph approached Pharao with the news that his father and his brethren had brought their sheep and cattle and all they possessed away from Chanaan, and were there in the land of Gessen.

Revised Knox Bible                .

Today’s NIV                          .

Translation for Translators     Jacob blessed the king of Egypt

Joseph chose five of his older brothers to go with him to talk to the king. He introduced his older brothers to the king, and then he said, “My father and my older brothers and younger brother have come from Canaan land. They have brought all their sheep and goats and cattle and everything else that they own, and they are living now in Goshen region.” The king asked the brothers, “What work do you do?” They replied to the king, “We are shepherds, just as our ancestors were.” This translation mixed vv. 1–2 together. I included v. 3 as well for context.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Awful Scroll Bible                   Joseph was to come in, and was to announce to Pharaoh, even was he to say: My father and my brothers, their small cattle and their large cattle, are to have come in from the solid grounds of Canaan, to the solid grounds of Goshen.

Conservapedia                       .

Ferrar-Fenton Bible                .

God’s Truth (Tyndale)           And Joseph went and told Pharao and said: my father and my brethren their sheep and their beasts and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan and are in the land of Gosan.

HCSB                                     Pharaoh Welcomes Jacob

So Joseph went and informed Pharaoh: “My father and my brothers, with their sheep and cattle and all that they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in the land of Goshen.”

Jubilee Bible 2000                  Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh and said, My father and my brethren and their sheep and their cows and all that they have are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen.

H. C. Leupold                         CHAPTER XLVII

11. Establishment of Israel in Goshen and Egyptian Famine Measures (47:1-26)

Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh and said: My father and my brethren, together with their flocks and herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; and, see, they are in the land of Goshen.

Lexham English Bible            .

NIV, ©2011                             .

NIV – UK                                .

Tree of Life Version                Jacob Blesses Pharaoh

Then Joseph came and informed Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers and their flocks and their cattle and everything that belongs to them have come from the land of Canaan, and behold, they are in the land of Goshen.”

Catholic Bibles (those having the imprimatur):

Christian Community (1988)  Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father and brothers with their sheep and cattle and all their possessions have come from the land of Canaan to Goshen.”

The Heritage Bible                 And Joseph came, and caused it to stand out boldly to Pharaoh, and said, My father, and my brothers, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that is theirs, have come from the land of Canaan, and behold, they are in the land of Goshen.

New American Bible (2002)   .

New American Bible (2011)   Settlement in Goshen.

Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers have come from the land of Canaan, with their flocks and herds and everything else they own; and they are now in the region of Goshen.”

New Jerusalem Bible             So Joseph went and told Pharaoh, 'My father and brothers have arrived from Canaan with their flocks and cattle and all their possessions. Here they are, in the region of Goshen.'

New Revised Standard V.      .

Revised English Bible            .

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           Then Yosef went in and told Pharaoh, “My father and brothers have come from the land of Kena‘an with their flocks, livestock and all their possessions; right now they are in the land of Goshen.”

exeGeses companion Bible   YAAQOV IN MISRAYIM

Then Yoseph comes and tells Paroh and says,

My father and my brothers

and their flocks and their oxen and all they have

have come from the land of Kenaan;

and behold, they are in the land of Goshen.

Hebraic Roots Bible               .

Israeli Authorized Version      .

JPS (Tanakh—1985)               Then Joseph came and reported to Pharaoh, saying, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that is theirs, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in the region of Goshen.”

Kaplan Translation                 Jacob Arrives in Egypt

Joseph went and told Pharaoh. He said, 'My father and brothers have come from Canaan, along with their sheep, their cattle, and all their belongings. They are now in the Goshen district.' The Kaplan Translation, particularly in Exodus through Deuteronomy, takes note of historic rabbinic opinions.

Orthodox Jewish Bible           Then Yosef came and told Pharaoh, and said, Avi and my achim, and their tzon, and their bakar, and all that they have, are come out of Eretz Kena’an; and they are now in Eretz Goshen.

The Scriptures 1998              .

Expanded/Embellished Bibles:

The Amplified Bible                .

The Expanded Bible              Jacob Settles in Goshen

Joseph went in and spoke to ·the king [^LPharaoh] and said, “My father and my brothers have arrived from Canaan with their flocks and herds and everything they own. They are now in the land of Goshen [45:10].”

Kretzmann’s Commentary    Verses 1-10

Jacob and Five of his Sons Presented to Pharaoh

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. This was the formal and official notification of their arrival in Pharaoh's domain.

NET Bible®                             Joseph’s Wise Administration

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 [Heb “Look they [are] in the land of Goshen.” Joseph draws attention to the fact of their presence in Goshen.] in the land of Goshen.” When it comes to making an actual material change to the text, the NET Bible® is pretty good about indicating this. Since most of these corrections will be clear in the more literal translations below and within the Hebrew exegesis itself, I will not continue to list every NET Bible® footnote. Language footnotes will be placed in the Hebrew exegesis. Some footnotes will quoted elsewhere in this document.

Syndein/Thieme                     Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and kept on saying, 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.

{Note: More 'typology'. Pharaoh is a 'type' of God the Father and Joseph is a 'type' of Jesus Christ. The 'wagons' represented God's provisions and 'my brethren' represent believers in time. Positional Truth - Jesus said "I and the Father am One" - identical characteristics - One in Essence. Believers in Christ are in Union with Christ and Positionally are in Union with Christ and God provides the provisions for us in time.}.

The Voice                               So Joseph went to Pharaoh.

Joseph (to Pharaoh): My father and brothers have arrived from the land of Canaan with their flocks and herds and the rest of their belongings. They are now waiting in the land of Goshen.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Benner’s Mechanical Trans.  ...and Yoseph ^[Adding] came and he told to Paroh ^{[Great house]}, and he said, my father and my brothers and their flocks and their cattle and all which belonged to them came from the land of Kena'an ^[Lowered] and look at them in the land of Goshen ^{[Draw near]},...

Concordant Literal Version    And coming is Joseph and telling Pharaoh, and is saying to him, "My father and my brothers, and their flocks and their herds, and all that is theirs, come from the land of Canaan. And behold them in the land of Goshen.

Context Group Version          .

Darby Translation                  .

Emphasized Bible                  .

English Standard Version      Jacob's Family Settles in Goshen

So Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan. They are now in the land of Goshen.”

English Standard V. – UK       .

Evidence Bible                       .

Green’s Literal Translation    And Joseph came in and made known to Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brothers, and their flocks and their herds, and all which is theirs, have come in from the land of Canaan. And, behold, they are in the land of Goshen. Green placed the final sentence with v. 2.

Jack Ballinger’s translation    .

Modern English Version         .

Niobi Study Bible                   Joseph Is Governor of Egypt
Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, "My father and my brethren, and their flocks and their herds and all that they have, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen."

NASB                                     Jacob’s Family Settles in Goshen

Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers and their flocks and their herds and all that they have, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen.”

New European Version          Jacob’s Family Settle in Egypt

Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brothers, with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen.

New King James Version       Then Joseph went and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers, their flocks and their herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; and indeed they are in the land of Goshen.”

Owen's Translation                .

Ron Snider’s Translation       .

Stuart Wolf’s Translation       .

Third Millennium Bible            .

Updated Bible Version 2.11   .

A Voice in the Wilderness      .

Webster’s Bible Translation  .

World English Bible                .

Young's Literal Translation     .

Young’s Updated LT             And Joseph comes, and declares to Pharaoh, and says, “My father, and my brothers, and their flock, and their herd, and all they have, have come from the land of Canaan, and lo, they are in the land of Goshen.”

The gist of this passage:     Joseph comes in and speaks to Pharaoh, telling him that this family has all arrived, with all of their possessions, and they are now in the land of Goshen.

Translation: Joseph went in to Pharaoh...

Joseph goes in to speak to Pharaoh. In the Hebrew, to Pharaoh is with the next phrase. However, it makes more sense in the English to place that here.

Interestingly enough, Joseph will not always have this same relationship to Pharaoh. In Genesis 50:4–5, we read: And when the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, 'My father made me swear, saying, "I am about to die: in my tomb that I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there shall you bury me." Now therefore, let me please go up and bury my father. Then I will return.'"

Translation: ...and he announced [the arrival of his family],...

Joseph makes an announcement to Pharaoh. Pharaoh knew that Joseph’s family were coming—in fact, Pharaoh made provision for Joseph’s family, sending wagons up to Canaan for them to load up with all of their stuff. No doubt, Pharaoh said at that time, “Please tell me when they have arrived.”