15 And when money H3701 failed H8552 in the land H776 of Egypt, H4714 and in the land H776 of Canaan, H3667 all the Egyptians H4714 came H935 unto Joseph, H3130 and said, H559 Give H3051 us bread: H3899 for why should we die H4191 in thy presence? for the money H3701 faileth. H656
16 And Joseph H3130 said, H559 Give H3051 your cattle; H4735 and I will give H5414 you for your cattle, H4735 if money H3701 fail. H656
17 And they brought H935 their cattle H4735 unto Joseph: H3130 and Joseph H3130 gave H5414 them bread H3899 in exchange for horses, H5483 and for the flocks, H6629 and for the cattle H4735 of the herds, H1241 and for the asses: H2543 and he fed H5095 them with bread H3899 for all their cattle H4735 for that year. H8141
18 When that year H8141 was ended, H8552 they came H935 unto him the second H8145 year, H8141 and said H559 unto him, We will not hide H3582 it from my lord, H113 how that our money H3701 is spent; H8552 my lord H113 also hath H413 our herds H4735 of cattle; H929 there is not ought left H7604 in the sight H6440 of my lord, H113 but our bodies, H1472 and our lands: H127
19 Wherefore shall we die H4191 before thine eyes, H5869 both we and our land? H127 buy H7069 us and our land H127 for bread, H3899 and we and our land H127 will be servants H5650 unto Pharaoh: H6547 and give H5414 us seed, H2233 that we may live, H2421 and not die, H4191 that the land H127 be not desolate. H3456
20 And Joseph H3130 bought H7069 all the land H127 of Egypt H4714 for Pharaoh; H6547 for the Egyptians H4714 sold H4376 every man H376 his field, H7704 because the famine H7458 prevailed H2388 over them: so the land H776 became Pharaoh's. H6547
21 And as for the people, H5971 he removed H5674 them to cities H5892 from one end H7097 of the borders H1366 of Egypt H4714 even to the other end H7097 thereof.
22 Only the land H127 of the priests H3548 bought he H7069 not; for the priests H3548 had a portion H2706 assigned them of Pharaoh, H6547 and did eat H398 their portion H2706 which Pharaoh H6547 gave H5414 them: wherefore they sold H4376 not their lands. H127
23 Then Joseph H3130 said H559 unto the people, H5971 Behold, I have bought H7069 H853 you this day H3117 and your land H127 for Pharaoh: H6547 lo, H1887 here is seed H2233 for you, and ye shall sow H2232 the land. H127
24 And it shall come to pass in the increase, H8393 that ye shall give H5414 the fifth H2549 part unto Pharaoh, H6547 and four H702 parts H3027 shall be your own, for seed H2233 of the field, H7704 and for your food, H400 and for them of your households, H1004 and for food H398 for your little ones. H2945
25 And they said, H559 Thou hast saved our lives: H2421 let us find H4672 grace H2580 in the sight H5869 of my lord, H113 and we will be Pharaoh's H6547 servants. H5650
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Genesis 47
Commentary on Genesis 47 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 47
Ge 47:1-31. Joseph's Presentation at Court.
1. Joseph … told Pharaoh, My father and my brethren—Joseph furnishes a beautiful example of a man who could bear equally well the extremes of prosperity and adversity. High as he was, he did not forget that he had a superior. Dearly as he loved his father and anxiously as he desired to provide for the whole family, he would not go into the arrangements he had planned for their stay in Goshen until he had obtained the sanction of his royal master.
2. he took some of his brethren—probably the five eldest brothers: seniority being the least invidious principle of selection.
4. For to sojourn … are we come—The royal conversation took the course which Joseph had anticipated (Ge 46:33), and they answered according to previous instructions—manifesting, however, in their determination to return to Canaan, a faith and piety which affords a hopeful symptom of their having become all, or most of them, religious men.
7. Joseph brought in Jacob his father—There is a pathetic and most affecting interest attending this interview with royalty; and when, with all the simplicity and dignified solemnity of a man of God, Jacob signalized his entrance by imploring the divine blessing on the royal head, it may easily be imagined what a striking impression the scene would produce (compare Heb 7:7).
8. Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou?—The question was put from the deep and impressive interest which the appearance of the old patriarch had created in the minds of Pharaoh and his court. In the low-lying land of Egypt and from the artificial habits of its society, the age of man was far shorter among the inhabitants of that country than it had yet become in the pure bracing climate and among the simple mountaineers of Canaan. The Hebrews, at least, still attained a protracted longevity.
9. The days of the years of my pilgrimage, &c.—Though a hundred thirty years, he reckons by days (compare Ps 90:12), which he calls few, as they appeared in retrospect, and evil, because his life had been one almost unbroken series of trouble. The answer is remarkable, considering the comparative darkness of the patriarchal age (compare 2Ti 1:10).
11. Joseph placed his father and his brethren … in the best of the land—best pasture land in lower Egypt. Goshen, "the land of verdure," lay along the Pelusiac or eastern branch of the Nile. It included a part of the district of Heliopolis, or "On," the capital, and on the east stretched out a considerable length into the desert. The ground included within these boundaries was a rich and fertile extent of natural meadow, and admirably adapted for the purposes of the Hebrew shepherds (compare Ge 49:24; Ps 34:10; 78:72).
13-15. there was no bread in all the land—This probably refers to the second year of the famine (Ge 45:6) when any little stores of individuals or families were exhausted and when the people had become universally dependent on the government. At first they obtained supplies for payment. Before long money failed.
16. And Joseph said, Give your cattle—"This was the wisest course that could be adopted for the preservation both of the people and the cattle, which, being bought by Joseph, was supported at the royal expense, and very likely returned to the people at the end of the famine, to enable them to resume their agricultural labors."
21. as for the people, he removed them to cities—obviously for the convenience of the country people, who were doing nothing, to the cities where the corn stores were situated.
22. Only the land of the priests bought he not—These lands were inalienable, being endowments by which the temples were supported. The priests for themselves received an annual allowance of provision from the state, and it would evidently have been the height of cruelty to withhold that allowance when their lands were incapable of being tilled.
23-28. Joseph said, Behold, &c.—The lands being sold to the government (Ge 47:19, 20), seed would be distributed for the first crop after the famine; and the people would occupy them as tenants-at-will on the payment of a produce rent, almost the same rule as obtains in Egypt in the present day.
29-31. the time drew nigh that Israel must die—One only of his dying arrangements is recorded; but that one reveals his whole character. It was the disposal of his remains, which were to be carried to Canaan, not from a mere romantic attachment to his native soil, nor, like his modern descendants, from a superstitious feeling for the soil of the Holy Land, but from faith in the promises. His address to Joseph—"if now I have found grace in thy sight," that is, as the vizier of Egypt—his exacting a solemn oath that his wishes would be fulfilled and the peculiar form of that oath, all pointed significantly to the promise and showed the intensity of his desire to enjoy its blessings (compare Nu 10:29).
31. Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head—Oriental beds are mere mats, having no head, and the translation should be "the top of his staff," as the apostle renders it (Heb 11:21).