King James Version
Genesis 47
31 verses with commentary
Jacob's Family Settles in Goshen
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.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their ...</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
XLVII
JOSEPH PRESENTS HIS FATHER AND BRETHREN TO PHARAOH.
(1) **Behold, they are in the land of Goshen.**—Though Joseph had all along wished this to be the dwelling-place of his brethren, yet it was necessary to obtain Pharaoh’s permission; and at present Joseph only mentions that they had halted there. In Genesis 47:4 they ask for the necessary consent.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14-15. And he fell upon ... Benjamin's neck--**The sudden transition from a condemned criminal to a fondled brother, might have occasioned fainting or even death, had not his tumultuous feelings been relieved by a torrent of tears. But Joseph's attentions were not confined to Benjamin. He affectionately embraced every one of his brothers in succession; and by those actions, his forgiveness was d...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 47
Chapter Outline
Joseph presents his brethren to Pharaoh.(1-6)
Jacob blesses Pharaoh.(7-12)
Joseph's dealings with the Egyptians during the famine.(13-26)
Jacob's age. His desire to be buried in Canaan.(27-31)
**Verses 1-6**
Though Joseph was a great man, especially in Egypt, yet he owned his brethren. Let the rich and great in the world not overlook or despise ...
Read full commentary →And he took some of his brethren, even five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And he took some of his brethren, even five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh....</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments of salvation.<br><b...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Even five men.**—As the number “five” appears again and again in this narrative (Genesis 43:34; Genesis 45:22), it may have had some special importance among the Egyptians, like the number seven among the Jews.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 47
Chapter Outline
Joseph presents his brethren to Pharaoh.(1-6)
Jacob blesses Pharaoh.(7-12)
Joseph's dealings with the Egyptians during the famine.(13-26)
Jacob's age. His desire to be buried in Canaan.(27-31)
**Verses 1-6**
Though Joseph was a great man, especially in Egypt, yet he owned his brethren. Let the rich and great in the world not overlook or despise ...
Read full commentary →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.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servant...</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **Also our fathers.**—Joseph had instructed them to add this (Genesis 46:34), because occupations were hereditary among the Egyptians, and thus Pharaoh would conclude that in their case also no change was possible in their mode of life.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17-20. Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren--**As Joseph might have been prevented by delicacy, the king himself invited the patriarch and all his family to migrate into Egypt; and he made most liberal arrangements for their removal and their subsequent settlement. It displays the character of this Pharaoh to advantage, that he was so kind to the relatives of Joseph; but indeed the gr...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 47
Chapter Outline
Joseph presents his brethren to Pharaoh.(1-6)
Jacob blesses Pharaoh.(7-12)
Joseph's dealings with the Egyptians during the famine.(13-26)
Jacob's age. His desire to be buried in Canaan.(27-31)
**Verses 1-6**
Though Joseph was a great man, especially in Egypt, yet he owned his brethren. Let the rich and great in the world not overlook or despise ...
Read full commentary →They said moreover 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.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>They said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we come; for thy servants have no pa...</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **To sojourn.**—Joseph’s brethren ask for permission only for a temporary stay. Apparently, too, in spite of the famine, there was pasture for cattle in Goshen. They had been able hitherto to keep them alive even in Canaan; and probably the Nile, though it did not overflow, yet on reaching the delta lost itself in swamps, which produced a great quantity of the marsh grass described in Genesis ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17-20. Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren--**As Joseph might have been prevented by delicacy, the king himself invited the patriarch and all his family to migrate into Egypt; and he made most liberal arrangements for their removal and their subsequent settlement. It displays the character of this Pharaoh to advantage, that he was so kind to the relatives of Joseph; but indeed the gr...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 47
Chapter Outline
Joseph presents his brethren to Pharaoh.(1-6)
Jacob blesses Pharaoh.(7-12)
Joseph's dealings with the Egyptians during the famine.(13-26)
Jacob's age. His desire to be buried in Canaan.(27-31)
**Verses 1-6**
Though Joseph was a great man, especially in Egypt, yet he owned his brethren. Let the rich and great in the world not overlook or despise ...
Read full commentary →And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee:
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee:...</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments of salvation.<...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17-20. Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren--**As Joseph might have been prevented by delicacy, the king himself invited the patriarch and all his family to migrate into Egypt; and he made most liberal arrangements for their removal and their subsequent settlement. It displays the character of this Pharaoh to advantage, that he was so kind to the relatives of Joseph; but indeed the gr...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 47
Chapter Outline
Joseph presents his brethren to Pharaoh.(1-6)
Jacob blesses Pharaoh.(7-12)
Joseph's dealings with the Egyptians during the famine.(13-26)
Jacob's age. His desire to be buried in Canaan.(27-31)
**Verses 1-6**
Though Joseph was a great man, especially in Egypt, yet he owned his brethren. Let the rich and great in the world not overlook or despise ...
Read full commentary →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.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in ...</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17-20. Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren--**As Joseph might have been prevented by delicacy, the king himself invited the patriarch and all his family to migrate into Egypt; and he made most liberal arrangements for their removal and their subsequent settlement. It displays the character of this Pharaoh to advantage, that he was so kind to the relatives of Joseph; but indeed the gr...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 47
Chapter Outline
Joseph presents his brethren to Pharaoh.(1-6)
Jacob blesses Pharaoh.(7-12)
Joseph's dealings with the Egyptians during the famine.(13-26)
Jacob's age. His desire to be buried in Canaan.(27-31)
**Verses 1-6**
Though Joseph was a great man, especially in Egypt, yet he owned his brethren. Let the rich and great in the world not overlook or despise ...
Read full commentary →And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh....</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments of sal...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Jacob blessed Pharaoh.**—The presentation of Jacob to Pharaoh seems to have been a much more solemn matter than that of Joseph’s brethren. Pharaoh looks upon them with interest as the brothers of his vizier, grants their request for leave to dwell in Goshen, and even empowers Joseph to make the ablest of them chief herdsmen over the royal cattle. But Jacob had attained to an age which gave h...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21. Joseph gave them wagons--**which must have been novelties in Palestine; for wheeled carriages were almost unknown there.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-12**
With the gravity of old age, the piety of a true believer, and the authority of a patriarch and a prophet, Jacob besought the Lord to bestow a blessing upon Pharaoh. He acted as a man not ashamed of his religion; and who would express gratitude to the benefactor of himself and his family. We have here a very uncommon answer given to a very common question. Jacob calls his life ...
Read full commentary →And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou? How: Heb. How many are the days of the years of thy life?
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou?...</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments of salvation.<br><br>Central themes include divine pro...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**22. changes of raiment--**It was and is customary, with great men, to bestow on their friends dresses of distinction, and in places where they are of the same description and quality, the value of these presents consists in their number. The great number given to Benjamin bespoke the warmth of his brother's attachment to him; and Joseph felt, from the amiable temper they now all displayed, he mi...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-12**
With the gravity of old age, the piety of a true believer, and the authority of a patriarch and a prophet, Jacob besought the Lord to bestow a blessing upon Pharaoh. He acted as a man not ashamed of his religion; and who would express gratitude to the benefactor of himself and his family. We have here a very uncommon answer given to a very common question. Jacob calls his life ...
Read full commentary →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.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years:...</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **My pilgrimage.**—Heb., *my sojournings; *and so at end of verse. The idea of a pilgrimage is a modern one. Even in 1Peter 2:11 “pilgrim” means in the Greek a stranger who has settled in a country of which he is not a native. So, too, here Jacob was not a pilgrim, for he was no traveller bound for religious motives to some distant shrine, but he was a sojourner, because Canaan was not the nat...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**23. to his father he sent--**a supply of everything that could contribute to his support and comfort--the large and liberal scale on which that supply was given being intended, like the five messes of Benjamin, as a token of his filial love [see on Ge 43:34].
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-12**
With the gravity of old age, the piety of a true believer, and the authority of a patriarch and a prophet, Jacob besought the Lord to bestow a blessing upon Pharaoh. He acted as a man not ashamed of his religion; and who would express gratitude to the benefactor of himself and his family. We have here a very uncommon answer given to a very common question. Jacob calls his life ...
Read full commentary →And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh....</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments of salvation.<br><br>Central themes incl...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**24. so he sent his brethren away--**In dismissing them on their homeward journey, he gave them this particular admonition:
**See that ye fall not out by the way--**a caution that would be greatly needed; for not only during the journey would they be occupied in recalling the parts they had respectively acted in the events that led to Joseph's being sold into Egypt, but their wickedness would s...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-12**
With the gravity of old age, the piety of a true believer, and the authority of a patriarch and a prophet, Jacob besought the Lord to bestow a blessing upon Pharaoh. He acted as a man not ashamed of his religion; and who would express gratitude to the benefactor of himself and his family. We have here a very uncommon answer given to a very common question. Jacob calls his life ...
Read full commentary →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.
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in t...</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-12**
With the gravity of old age, the piety of a true believer, and the authority of a patriarch and a prophet, Jacob besought the Lord to bestow a blessing upon Pharaoh. He acted as a man not ashamed of his religion; and who would express gratitude to the benefactor of himself and his family. We have here a very uncommon answer given to a very common question. Jacob calls his life ...
Read full commentary →And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with bread, according to their families. according: or, as a little child is nourished: Heb. according to the little ones
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with bread, accor...</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **According to their families.**—Heb., *according to the *“*taf” *This, as we have seen above, means “according to the clan or body of dependants possessed by each one.” Dan, with his one child, would have been starved to death if the allowance for himself and his household had depended upon the number of his “little ones,” which is the usual translation of this word in the Authorised Version...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-12**
With the gravity of old age, the piety of a true believer, and the authority of a patriarch and a prophet, Jacob besought the Lord to bestow a blessing upon Pharaoh. He acted as a man not ashamed of his religion; and who would express gratitude to the benefactor of himself and his family. We have here a very uncommon answer given to a very common question. Jacob calls his life ...
Read full commentary →Joseph and the Famine
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.
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and ...</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 13-26**
Care being taken of Jacob and his family, which mercy was especially designed by Providence in Joseph's advancement, an account is given of the saving the kingdom of Egypt from ruin. There was no bread, and the people were ready to die. See how we depend upon God's providence. All our wealth would not keep us from starving, if rain were withheld for two or three years. See how...
Read full commentary →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.
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan,...</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 13-26**
Care being taken of Jacob and his family, which mercy was especially designed by Providence in Joseph's advancement, an account is given of the saving the kingdom of Egypt from ruin. There was no bread, and the people were ready to die. See how we depend upon God's providence. All our wealth would not keep us from starving, if rain were withheld for two or three years. See how...
Read full commentary →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.
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto J...</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 13-26**
Care being taken of Jacob and his family, which mercy was especially designed by Providence in Joseph's advancement, an account is given of the saving the kingdom of Egypt from ruin. There was no bread, and the people were ready to die. See how we depend upon God's providence. All our wealth would not keep us from starving, if rain were withheld for two or three years. See how...
Read full commentary →And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail....</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments of salvation.<...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
JOSEPH’S POLICY IN EGYPT.
(16) **Give your cattle.**—As the people were in want of food, and their land incapable of cultivation as long as the Nile ceased to overflow, this was a merciful arrangement, by which the owners were delivered from a burden, and also a portion of the cattle saved for the time when they would be needed again for agricultural purposes. As the charge of so many cattle in ti...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 46 Ge 46:1-4. Sacrifice at Beer-sheba.
**1. Israel took his journey with all that he had--**that is, his household; for in compliance with Pharaoh's recommendation, he left his heavy furniture behind. In contemplating a step so important as that of leaving Canaan, which at his time of life he might never revisit, so pious a patriarch would ask the guidance and counsel of God. With all his...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 13-26**
Care being taken of Jacob and his family, which mercy was especially designed by Providence in Joseph's advancement, an account is given of the saving the kingdom of Egypt from ruin. There was no bread, and the people were ready to die. See how we depend upon God's providence. All our wealth would not keep us from starving, if rain were withheld for two or three years. See how...
Read full commentary →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. fed: Heb. led them
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and fo...</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **Horses . . . flocks . . . herds **. . . **asses.**—The mention of horses is a most important fact in settling the much-debated question as to the dynasty under which Joseph became governor of Egypt. When Abram went there, horses do not seem as yet to have been known (see Note on Genesis 12:16), but oxen and asses were common, and the former indigenous in the country (Maspero, *Histoire Anci...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2. God spake unto Israel--**Here is a virtual renewal of the covenant and an assurance of its blessings. Moreover, here is an answer on the chief subject of Jacob's prayer and a removal of any doubt as to the course he was meditating. At first the prospect of paying a personal visit to Joseph had been viewed with unmingled joy. But, on calmer consideration, many difficulties appeared to lie in t...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 13-26**
Care being taken of Jacob and his family, which mercy was especially designed by Providence in Joseph's advancement, an account is given of the saving the kingdom of Egypt from ruin. There was no bread, and the people were ready to die. See how we depend upon God's providence. All our wealth would not keep us from starving, if rain were withheld for two or three years. See how...
Read full commentary →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:
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide it...</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18) **The second year.**—Not the second year of the famine, but the year following that in which they had given up their cattle.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3. I will there make of thee a great nation--**How truly this promise was fulfilled, appears in the fact that the seventy souls who went down into Egypt increased [Ex 1:5-7], in the space of two hundred fifteen years, to one hundred eighty thousand.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 13-26**
Care being taken of Jacob and his family, which mercy was especially designed by Providence in Joseph's advancement, an account is given of the saving the kingdom of Egypt from ruin. There was no bread, and the people were ready to die. See how we depend upon God's providence. All our wealth would not keep us from starving, if rain were withheld for two or three years. See how...
Read full commentary →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.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and w...</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. I will also surely bring thee up again--**As Jacob could not expect to live till the former promise was realized, he must have seen that the latter was to be accomplished only to his posterity. To himself it was literally verified in the removal of his remains to Canaan; but, in the large and liberal sense of the words, it was made good only on the establishment of Israel in the land of promi...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 13-26**
Care being taken of Jacob and his family, which mercy was especially designed by Providence in Joseph's advancement, an account is given of the saving the kingdom of Egypt from ruin. There was no bread, and the people were ready to die. See how we depend upon God's providence. All our wealth would not keep us from starving, if rain were withheld for two or three years. See how...
Read full commentary →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.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, bec...</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **So the land became Pharaoh’s.**—Joseph has been accused of reducing a free people to slavery by his policy. Undoubtedly he did vastly increase the royal power; but from what we read of the vassalage under which the Egyptians lived to a multitude of petty sovereigns, and also to their wives, their priests, and their embalmers, an increase in the power of the king, so as to make it predominan...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Ge 46:5-27. Immigration to Egypt.
**5. And Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba--**to cross the border and settle in Egypt. However refreshed and invigorated in spirit by the religious services at Beer-sheba, he was now borne down by the infirmities of advanced age; and, therefore, his sons undertook all the trouble and toil of the arrangements, while the enfeebled old patriarch, with the wives and chil...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 13-26**
Care being taken of Jacob and his family, which mercy was especially designed by Providence in Joseph's advancement, an account is given of the saving the kingdom of Egypt from ruin. There was no bread, and the people were ready to die. See how we depend upon God's providence. All our wealth would not keep us from starving, if rain were withheld for two or three years. See how...
Read full commentary →And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the ot...</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21) **He removed them to cities.**—Joseph’s object in this measure was most merciful. As the corn was stored up in the cities, the people would be sure of nourishment only if they were in the immediate neighbourhood of the food. As a consequence, possibly, of Joseph’s policy, the number of cities in the Valley of the Nile became so enormous that Herodotus computes them at 20,000. Thus the people ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. goods, which they had gotten in the land--**not furniture, but substance--precious things.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 13-26**
Care being taken of Jacob and his family, which mercy was especially designed by Providence in Joseph's advancement, an account is given of the saving the kingdom of Egypt from ruin. There was no bread, and the people were ready to die. See how we depend upon God's providence. All our wealth would not keep us from starving, if rain were withheld for two or three years. See how...
Read full commentary →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. priests: or, princes
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh, ...</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(22) **The priests had a portion assigned to them of Pharaoh.**—Herodotus (ii. 37) mentions that it was still the custom in Egypt for the priests to have a daily allowance of’ cooked food. Very probably this usage began in Joseph’s time; but it is not here ascribed to him, but to the king himself. Being thus supplied with food, they did not sell their lands; and with this, again, the Greek account...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7. daughters--**As Dinah was his only daughter, this must mean daughters-in-law.
**all his seed brought he with him--**Though disabled by age from active superintendence, yet, as the venerable sheik of the tribe, he was looked upon as their common head and consulted in every step.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 13-26**
Care being taken of Jacob and his family, which mercy was especially designed by Providence in Joseph's advancement, an account is given of the saving the kingdom of Egypt from ruin. There was no bread, and the people were ready to die. See how we depend upon God's providence. All our wealth would not keep us from starving, if rain were withheld for two or three years. See how...
Read full commentary →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.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, ...</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(23) **Lo, here is seed for you.**—As Joseph would give them seed wherewith to sow their fields only when the famine was nearly over, these arrangements seem to have been completed shortly before the end of the seventh year; and then, with seed it would be necessary also to supply them with oxen to plough the soil, and swine wherewith to trample in the seed (Rawlinson, *Egypt, *i. 76). A fifth par...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8-27. all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten--**Strictly speaking, there were only sixty-six went to Egypt; but to these add Joseph and his two sons, and Jacob the head of the clan, and the whole number amounts to seventy. In the speech of Stephen (Ac 7:14) the number is stated to be seventy-five; but as that estimate includes five sons of Ephraim and...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 13-26**
Care being taken of Jacob and his family, which mercy was especially designed by Providence in Joseph's advancement, an account is given of the saving the kingdom of Egypt from ruin. There was no bread, and the people were ready to die. See how we depend upon God's providence. All our wealth would not keep us from starving, if rain were withheld for two or three years. See how...
Read full commentary →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.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four ...</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8-27. all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten--**Strictly speaking, there were only sixty-six went to Egypt; but to these add Joseph and his two sons, and Jacob the head of the clan, and the whole number amounts to seventy. In the speech of Stephen (Ac 7:14) the number is stated to be seventy-five; but as that estimate includes five sons of Ephraim and...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 13-26**
Care being taken of Jacob and his family, which mercy was especially designed by Providence in Joseph's advancement, an account is given of the saving the kingdom of Egypt from ruin. There was no bread, and the people were ready to die. See how we depend upon God's providence. All our wealth would not keep us from starving, if rain were withheld for two or three years. See how...
Read full commentary →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.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be ...</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(25) **Thou hast saved our lives.**—The people were more than satisfied with Joseph’s regulations; and if he had made them dependent upon the Pharaoh, apparently he had broken the yoke of the smaller lords, the hereditary princes of the districts into which Egypt was parcelled out; and they were more likely to be well-treated by the ruler of the whole land than by men of inferior rank. On these he...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8-27. all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten--**Strictly speaking, there were only sixty-six went to Egypt; but to these add Joseph and his two sons, and Jacob the head of the clan, and the whole number amounts to seventy. In the speech of Stephen (Ac 7:14) the number is stated to be seventy-five; but as that estimate includes five sons of Ephraim and...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 13-26**
Care being taken of Jacob and his family, which mercy was especially designed by Providence in Joseph's advancement, an account is given of the saving the kingdom of Egypt from ruin. There was no bread, and the people were ready to die. See how we depend upon God's providence. All our wealth would not keep us from starving, if rain were withheld for two or three years. See how...
Read full commentary →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. priests: or, princes
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth pa...</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8-27. all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten--**Strictly speaking, there were only sixty-six went to Egypt; but to these add Joseph and his two sons, and Jacob the head of the clan, and the whole number amounts to seventy. In the speech of Stephen (Ac 7:14) the number is stated to be seventy-five; but as that estimate includes five sons of Ephraim and...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 13-26**
Care being taken of Jacob and his family, which mercy was especially designed by Providence in Joseph's advancement, an account is given of the saving the kingdom of Egypt from ruin. There was no bread, and the people were ready to die. See how we depend upon God's providence. All our wealth would not keep us from starving, if rain were withheld for two or three years. See how...
Read full commentary →Jacob's Final Years
And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, a...</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8-27. all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten--**Strictly speaking, there were only sixty-six went to Egypt; but to these add Joseph and his two sons, and Jacob the head of the clan, and the whole number amounts to seventy. In the speech of Stephen (Ac 7:14) the number is stated to be seventy-five; but as that estimate includes five sons of Ephraim and...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 27-31**
At last the time drew nigh that Israel must die. Israel, a prince with God, had power over the Angel, and prevailed, yet must die. Joseph supplied him with bread, that he might not die by famine, but that did not secure him from dying by age or sickness. He died by degrees; his candle gradually burnt down to the socket, so that he saw the time drawing nigh. It is an advantage ...
Read full commentary →And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years. the whole: Heb. the days of the years of his life
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty...</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8-27. all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten--**Strictly speaking, there were only sixty-six went to Egypt; but to these add Joseph and his two sons, and Jacob the head of the clan, and the whole number amounts to seventy. In the speech of Stephen (Ac 7:14) the number is stated to be seventy-five; but as that estimate includes five sons of Ephraim and...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 27-31**
At last the time drew nigh that Israel must die. Israel, a prince with God, had power over the Angel, and prevailed, yet must die. Joseph supplied him with bread, that he might not die by famine, but that did not secure him from dying by age or sickness. He died by degrees; his candle gradually burnt down to the socket, so that he saw the time drawing nigh. It is an advantage ...
Read full commentary →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:
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now...</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
ISRAEL IN EGYPT.
(29) **The time drew nigh that Israel must die—**For seventeen years Jacob lived in Egypt, and saw the growing prosperity of his race under the fostering hand of Joseph. Placed at the entrance of Egypt, on the side of Arabia and Palestine, the clans of his sons would daily grow in number by the addition of Semitic immigrants, by whose aid they would make the vast and fertile regio...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8-27. all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten--**Strictly speaking, there were only sixty-six went to Egypt; but to these add Joseph and his two sons, and Jacob the head of the clan, and the whole number amounts to seventy. In the speech of Stephen (Ac 7:14) the number is stated to be seventy-five; but as that estimate includes five sons of Ephraim and...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 27-31**
At last the time drew nigh that Israel must die. Israel, a prince with God, had power over the Angel, and prevailed, yet must die. Joseph supplied him with bread, that he might not die by famine, but that did not secure him from dying by age or sickness. He died by degrees; his candle gradually burnt down to the socket, so that he saw the time drawing nigh. It is an advantage ...
Read full commentary →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.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingpl...</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8-27. all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten--**Strictly speaking, there were only sixty-six went to Egypt; but to these add Joseph and his two sons, and Jacob the head of the clan, and the whole number amounts to seventy. In the speech of Stephen (Ac 7:14) the number is stated to be seventy-five; but as that estimate includes five sons of Ephraim and...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 27-31**
At last the time drew nigh that Israel must die. Israel, a prince with God, had power over the Angel, and prevailed, yet must die. Joseph supplied him with bread, that he might not die by famine, but that did not secure him from dying by age or sickness. He died by degrees; his candle gradually burnt down to the socket, so that he saw the time drawing nigh. It is an advantage ...
Read full commentary →And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head....</strong> This passage is part of the Joseph narrative, a masterfully crafted account demonstrating God's sovereign providence working through human choices and circumstances to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The Joseph cycle shows how God transforms evil intentions into instruments of s...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(31) **Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head.**—The LXX., followed by the Epistle to the Hebrews (Genesis 11:21) and the Syriac, read, “on the top of his staff.” The word in the Hebrew, without vowels, may mean either *bed *or *staff, *and as we have mentioned above (Genesis 22:14), the points indicating the vowels were added in later times, and while valuable as representing a very ancient tra...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8-27. all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten--**Strictly speaking, there were only sixty-six went to Egypt; but to these add Joseph and his two sons, and Jacob the head of the clan, and the whole number amounts to seventy. In the speech of Stephen (Ac 7:14) the number is stated to be seventy-five; but as that estimate includes five sons of Ephraim and...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 27-31**
At last the time drew nigh that Israel must die. Israel, a prince with God, had power over the Angel, and prevailed, yet must die. Joseph supplied him with bread, that he might not die by famine, but that did not secure him from dying by age or sickness. He died by degrees; his candle gradually burnt down to the socket, so that he saw the time drawing nigh. It is an advantage ...
Read full commentary →