Chapter 47

1 Joseph presenteth five of his brethren, 7 and his father, before Pharaoh. 11 He giveth them habitation and maintenance. 13 He getteth all the Egyptians’ money, 16 their cattle, 18 their lands to Pharaoh. 22 The priests’ land was not bought. 23 He letteth the land to them for a fifth part. 28 Jacob’s age. 29 He sweareth Joseph to bury him with his fathers.

2. Took some of his brethren. Having previously informed Pharaoh of the arrival of his relatives in Goshen, Joseph presented five of his brothers to the king. The Hebrew expression correctly translated “some of his brethren” in the KJV was misunderstood by earlier commentators, who gave unwarranted interpretations of it. It is simply a Hebrew idiom meaning “out of the whole number of his brothers.”

6. The land of Egypt is before thee. They had come to sojourn in the land (not to settle there) because there was no pasture for their flocks in the land of Canaan, owing to the drought. The king then authorized Joseph to give his father and brothers a dwelling in the best part of the country, the land of Goshen.

7. Joseph brought in Jacob. Joseph then presented his father to Pharaoh, once royal permission had already been given for settling in the region of Goshen. It has been suggested that the interview granted Joseph’s brothers was of an official nature, whereas Jacob’s audience with the monarch was of a purely private character. The king may have requested the opportunity of meeting the father of his first minister.

Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Jacob did not extend to Pharaoh the customary salutation accorded kings, such as, “May the king live forever!” (2 Sam. 16:16; 1 Kings 1:25; Dan. 2:4; etc.). Conscious of his own dignity as a prophet of Jehovah, Jacob pronounced upon him a heavenly benediction.

9. The years of my pilgrimage. Jacob referred to his own life and that of his father as a “pilgrimage.” They had not come into actual possession of Canaan, but had been obliged to wander about, unsettled and homeless, in the land promised them as an inheritance. This “pilgrimage” was at the same time a figurative representation of the inconsistency and weariness of the earthly life, in which man does not attain to that true rest for which he was created and for which his soul continually longs (see Heb. 4:8, 9). Paul could therefore appropriately regard these words of Jacob as a declaration of the yearning of the patriarchs for the eternal rest of the heavenly Canaan (Heb. 11:13–16).

An hundred and thirty years. Joseph had been 30 years old at the time of his appointment to office (Gen. 41:46), and since that time the 7 plentiful years (ch. 41:47–49) and 2 years of famine had passed (ch. 45:6). Now he had reached the age of 39, and his father was 130 years of age. It is evident from these figures that Joseph was born when his father was 91 years old. Since his birth occurred at the close of Jacob’s 14 years of residence in Padan-aram (ch. 30:25), the patriarch’s age upon arrival there must have been 77.

Few and evil. Jacob’s evaluation of his life was only too true when compared with that of his fathers. Abraham had lived to be 175 years old, and Isaac 180. Neither had led so uncertain a life, so full of distress and danger, of tribulation and anguish, as had Jacob. From his flight to Haran to the time of his removal to Egypt, his life had been nothing but one long succession of troubles (ch. 42:36).

11. The land of Rameses. Two views concerning this statement are held by critical scholars. According to some, it constitutes strong evidence for a variant tradition regarding the settlement of the Israelites in Egypt, inasmuch as the land has thus far been called Goshen (vs. 1, 6). Others have drawn the conclusion that it indicates the time when the children of Israel were in Egypt as that of the Ramessides. The first Ramses began to reign in 1320 b.c. The first argument is unacceptable because Moses was sole author of Genesis, and the book is a historical narrative and not a collection of traditions. Neither can the second argument be accepted, for it would bring chronological confusion to this section of the OT narrative. It must therefore be assumed that the term “land of Rameses” was a later name for the older term “and of Goshen,” and accordingly represents the effort of a copyist to identify “Goshen” for his readers. By the same procedure we might say today that New York was founded by the Dutch, although the city they founded was known as New Amsterdam. Our statement would nevertheless be considered not only correct but even desirable, for the name New Amsterdam would have no meaning for many modern readers.

12. According to their families. Literally, “according to the mouth of the little ones.” It probably means “in proportion to the size of their families.” Some commentators, however, have thought that it refers to Joseph as providing food for his relatives as a father would for his offspring, and others, that it means all were fed, from the greatest to the least. The benefits Joseph was in a position to confer upon his family become all the more apparent from the description of the distress into which the inhabitants of Egypt and Canaan were plunged by the continuation of the famine for five years more.

13. Fainted. This verse introduces a great social revolution forced upon Egypt by the stern necessity of famine, which had by now reduced the entire nation to a state of utter misery.

16. Give your cattle. The animals that thus became Pharaoh’s property were probably left in the care of their owners. These terms, therefore, were not so severe as it would appear. A famishing people could expect no profit from starving cattle and dying herds. Now they were to receive fodder for their animals, and probably enjoy a partial profit on them, by analogy to what happened to their land and its produce the next year (see vs. 23, 24).

17. For horses. The existence of horses in Egypt proves that the Joseph narrative may not be dated earlier than the Hyksos period, since the horse was unknown there until the Hyksos introduced it (see on ch. 41:43).

For that year. It is not certain which of the seven years of famine is here meant. Some commentators think that the distribution of seed to farmers the following year (v. 23) shows that that was the seventh year of the famine, and the year in which the cattle were exchanged for food consequently the sixth year. However, it is probable that some planting had been carried on during all the years of famine in fields bordering on the Nile, which would render the reference to seed in vs. 23, 24 of no value as evidence that the last year is here meant. Nevertheless, the year referred to in v. 17 probably fell in the latter part of the period of famine.

18. The second year. That is, the second year after their money was gone, not the second year of famine.

19. Buy us and our land. Realizing that their lot as Pharaoh’s serfs would be preferable to that of free but starving citizens, they considered this solution advantageous to themselves as well as to the king. A full stomach was a far happier prospect than starvation.

Although no contemporary non-Biblical records have survived to corroborate the Bible account of the famine, the fact remains that the kings of Egypt enjoyed sole possession of all nonecclesiastical properties after the expulsion of the Hyksos, a situation that did not exist before their arrival. Prior to the Hyksos invasion of Egypt a great proportion of the land was owned by the people, being in the hands of large and small landowners. Concerning conditions during the Hyksos period no records exist, but when that period ended and the monuments began to shed light on the existing situation once more, it is found that all lands and practically all the other property of Egypt had become the monopoly of the crown and the priesthood. The best explanation for this radical change in the social structure of the nation is the Biblical record of Joseph’s administrative measures during the seven years of famine.

21. He removed them to cities. This statement is an accurate translation of the Hebrew text as we know it today. It seems to mean that Joseph distributed, or organized, the population of the land according to the cities in which grain was stored, placing them either in the cities or in their immediate vicinity. However, the LXX and the Vulgate may reflect the original more accurately: “He brought the people into bondage to him for servants.” Since the Hebrew text presumably underlying these early translations would represent the exchange of but two very similar Hebrew letters, the equivalents of d and r, and the addition of another letter, b, it is possible that the LXX and the Vulgate are closer to the original text. Their rendition certainly seems more appropriate to the context. Until the recovery of an ancient Hebrew text of this passage may decide the problem one way or the other, however, it is best to withhold judgment.

22. The land of the priests. The priests formed a most influential and powerful segment of Egyptian society. No Pharaoh ever succeeded in permanently breaking their power, and very few dared to arouse their hatred or even lose their good will. More than half of all the wealth of Egypt was in the hands of the priests. They were tax-exempt throughout Egypt’s ancient history. Even the Hyksos kings did not openly fight the priesthood, though in general they did not worship the national gods. Joseph, who personally did not sympathize with the Egyptian priests, was wise enough not to interfere with the long-established priestly privileges, which guaranteed their support at public expense.

24. Ye shall give the fifth part. The levy of 20 per cent collected during the 7 plentiful years, as an exceptional measure, had not seemed an excessive burden because of the tremendous amount of produce. Henceforth it was to be perpetuated as the regular tax rate, inasmuch as all lands had become the property of the crown.

25. Saved our lives. This acknowledgment by the people shows clearly that the new regulation was not considered harsh or unjust. It is an adequate refutation of the oft-repeated charge that Joseph despoiled the Egyptians of their liberties and reduced a free people to slavery. Slave-owners are usually not content with a tax of 20 per cent on the gross income of their estates. Except for the tax, royal ownership of the lands was more nominal than real. At all events, the tax was not considered exorbitant by the people themselves. They were grateful to be able to remain alive and to retain the use of their animals, houses, and lands, even though it be under the nominal lordship of Pharaoh.

27. Multiplied exceedingly. Since Jacob’s family lived in a fertile region and were amply supplied by Joseph (v. 12), it is not astonishing that they enjoyed an unprecedented period of prosperity. The result was not only an accumulation of wealth but also a rapid increase in population. Thus began the fulfillment of the promise made by God to Jacob at Beersheba (ch. 46:3).

28. Seventeen years. In these verses and in the following chapters the patriarch Jacob’s last days are described. He had lived 77 years in Canaan, 20 in Padan-aram, 33 more in Canaan, and finally 17 in Egypt, in all 147 years.

29. Thy hand under my thigh. Concerning this ancient custom, see on ch. 24:2.

30. Bury me. Though Jacob’s request was due in part to a deep-seated attachment to the ground where his ancestors lay buried, it was chiefly inspired by clear faith that Canaan was the true inheritance of Israel. He knew that his descendants would eventually return to the Land of Promise as their permanent home, and that Egypt offered them but a temporary refuge for the time of their necessity.

31. Upon the bed’s head. This is an accurate translation of the Hebrew text as vocalized by the Jewish scholars, the Masoretes, in the 7th century of our era. The Jewish translators of the LXX of the 3d century b.c., however, whose Hebrew text contained no vowels, took the word mt\h, vocalized by the Masoretes as mit\t\ah, “bed,” to be mat\t\ah, “staff.” Accordingly, they translated the passage, “Israel bowed himself on the top of his staff.” Since the action of leaning on his staff while doing obeisance to God would be quite as suitable to Jacob’s age and infirmity as turning over and bowing on the head of his bed, and inasmuch as Heb. 11:21 reflects the LXX reading of Gen. 47:31, the latter is probably closer to the meaning of the original than the extant vocalized Hebrew text, and therefore preferable. Whatever the exact position of the patriarch, it was a posture of devotion in which he poured out his soul in grateful adoration to God.

Ellen G. White comments

1-31PP 233-234

2-4PP 233

6 PP 233, 241; SR 104; 5T 180

7 PP 233

11, 12 SR 104

12, 23, 24 PP 241

28 PP 233

29, 30 PP 234