# Genesis 47 📖: Joseph Rules During the Famine [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Genesis Overview]] | [[Genesis 46]] | [[Genesis 48]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### Joseph’s Wise Administration [[#Verse 01.]] Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father, my brothers, their flocks and herds, and all that they own have arrived from the land of Canaan. They are now in the land of Goshen.”  [[#Verse 02.]] He took five of his brothers and introduced them to Pharaoh. [[#Verse 03.]] Pharaoh said to Joseph’s brothers, “What is your occupation?” They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants take care of flocks, just as our ancestors did.” [[#Verse 04.]] Then they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live as temporary residents in the land. There is no pasture for your servants’ flocks because the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. So now, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen.” [[#Verse 05.]] Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you.  [[#Verse 06.]] The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best region of the land. They may live in the land of Goshen. If you know of any highly capable men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.” [[#Verse 07.]] Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and presented him before Pharaoh. Jacob blessed Pharaoh. [[#Verse 08.]] Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How long have you lived?”  [[#Verse 09.]] Jacob said to Pharaoh, “All the years of my travels are 130. All the years of my life have been few and painful; the years of my travels are not as long as those of my ancestors.” [[#Verse 10.]] Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence. [[#Verse 11.]] So Joseph settled his father and his brothers. He gave them territory in the land of Egypt, in the best region of the land, the land of Rameses, just as Pharaoh had commanded.  [[#Verse 12.]] Joseph also provided food for his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household, according to the number of their little children. [[#Verse 13.]] But there was no food in all the land because the famine was very severe; the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan wasted away because of the famine.  [[#Verse 14.]] Joseph collected all the money that could be found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan as payment for the grain they were buying. Then Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s palace.  [[#Verse 15.]] When the money from the lands of Egypt and Canaan was used up, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food! Why should we die before your very eyes because our money has run out?” [[#Verse 16.]] Then Joseph said, “If your money is gone, bring your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock.”  [[#Verse 17.]] So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for their horses, the livestock of their flocks and herds, and their donkeys. He got them through that year by giving them food in exchange for all their livestock. [[#Verse 18.]] When that year was over, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We cannot hide from our lord that the money is used up and the livestock and the animals belong to our lord. Nothing remains before our lord except our bodies and our land.  [[#Verse 19.]] Why should we die before your very eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we, with our land, will become Pharaoh’s slaves. Give us seed that we may live and not die. Then the land will not become desolate.” [[#Verse 20.]] So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. Each of the Egyptians sold his field, for the famine was severe. So the land became Pharaoh’s.  [[#Verse 21.]] Joseph made all the people slaves from one end of Egypt’s border to the other end of it.  [[#Verse 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. [[#Verse 23.]] Joseph said to the people, “Since I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you. Cultivate the land. [[#Verse 24.]] When the crop comes in, give 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.”  [[#Verse 25.]] They replied, “You have saved our lives! You are showing us favor, and we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.” [[#Verse 26.]] So Joseph made it a statute, which is in effect to this day throughout the land of Egypt: One-fifth belongs to Pharaoh. Only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh’s. [[#Verse 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. [[#Verse 28.]] Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; the years of Jacob’s life were 147 in all.  [[#Verse 29.]] The time for Israel to die approached, so he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt,  [[#Verse 30.]] but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.” Joseph said, “I will do as you say.” [[#Verse 31.]] Jacob said, “Swear to me that you will do so.” So Joseph gave him his word. Then Israel bowed down at the head of his bed. ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. ###### Verse 24. ###### Verse 25. ###### Verse 26. ###### Verse 27. ###### Verse 28. ###### Verse 29. ###### Verse 30. ###### Verse 31. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. Joseph presented five of his brothers to Pharaoh (47:2). 2. Pharaoh put Joseph's brothers in charge of his own livestock (47:6). 3. Jacob was 130 years old when he met Pharaoh (47:9). 4. The Egyptians traded money, then livestock, then land for food (47:14-20). 5. The priests kept their land because Pharaoh provided for them (47:22). 6. Joseph made a law that one fifth of the harvest went to Pharaoh (47:26). 7. Jacob lived in Egypt for seventeen years (47:28). 8. Jacob had Joseph for the first seventeen years of Joseph's life (37:2), and Joseph had Jacob for the last seventeen years of Jacob's life. 9. Placing a hand under the thigh was a serious oath (47:29), as with Abraham's servant (24:2). 10. Jacob worshiped while leaning on his staff (47:31; Hebrews 11:21). ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the One who gives bread to the hungry and life to the dying. Joseph preserved the lives of Egypt and his family (47:25), and Jesus is the bread of life (John 6:35). ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. Jacob blessed Pharaoh (47:7, 10). What does it mean that the lesser blessed the greater? 2. Jacob described his years as few and hard (47:9). How honest are you with God about the hard parts of your story? 3. Jacob asked to be buried in Canaan (47:29-30). How do our final wishes reveal where our hope is? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 7: Jacob blesses Pharaoh. - 📖 verse 9: Jacob calls his days few and difficult. - 📖 verse 27: Israel settles in Goshen and grows very numerous. ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 [[Hebrews 11#Verse 21.|Hebrews 11:21-22]] - Jacob and Joseph acted by faith. - 🔗 [[Genesis 24#Verse 02.|Genesis 24:2-4]] - An oath under the thigh. - 🔗 [[John 06#Verse 35.|John 6:35]] - I am the bread of life. - 🔗 [[Psalm 90#Verse 10.|Psalm 90:10-12]] - Teach us to number our days. - 🔗 [[Genesis 50#Verse 12.|Genesis 50:12-13]] - Jacob buried in Canaan. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Genesis 47- SOAP|Prospering In Problem Times]] ## 📂 Internal Notes