Genesis 47:29 | 89 in the best part of the land . Let them live in Goshen . And if you know of any among them with spe cial abil i ty , put them in charge of my own live stock .”
7
Then Jo seph brought his fa ther Ja cob in and pre sent ed him be fore Phar aoh . Af ter Ja cob blessed a Phar aoh , 8 Phar aoh asked him , “ How old are you ?”
9
And Ja cob said to Phar aoh , “ The years of my pil grim age are a hun dred and thir ty . My years have been few and dif fi cult , and they do not equal the years of the pil grim age of my fa thers .” 10 Then Ja cob blessed b Phar aoh and went out from his pres ence .
11
So Jo seph set tled his fa ther and his broth ers in Egypt and gave them prop er ty in the best part of the land , the dis trict of Ram e ses , as Phar aoh di rect ed . 12 Jo seph also pro vid ed his fa ther and his broth ers and all his fa ther ’ s house hold with food , ac cord ing to the num ber of their chil dren .
Joseph and the Famine
13
There was no food , how ev er , in the whole region be cause the fam ine was se vere ; both Egypt and Ca naan wast ed away be cause of the fam ine .
14
Jo seph col lect ed all the mon ey that was to be found in Egypt and Ca naan in pay ment for the grain they were buy ing , and he brought it to Pharaoh ’ s pal ace . 15 When the mon ey of the peo ple of Egypt and Ca naan was gone , all Egypt came to Jo seph and said , “ Give us food . Why should we die be fore your eyes ? Our mon ey is all gone .”
16
“ Then bring your live stock ,” said Jo seph . “ I will sell you food in ex change for your live stock , since your mon ey is gone .” 17 So they brought their livestock to Jo seph , and he gave them food in ex change for their hors es , their sheep and goats , their cat tle and don keys . And he brought them through that year with food in ex change for all their live stock .
18
When that year was over , they came to him the fol low ing year and said , “ We can not hide from our lord the fact that since our mon ey is gone and our live stock be longs to you , there is noth ing left for our lord ex cept our bod ies and our land . 19 Why should we per ish be fore your eyes — we and our land as well ? Buy us and our land in ex change for food , and we with our land will be in bond age to Phar aoh . Give us seed so that we may live and not die , and that the land may not be come des o late .”
20
So Jo seph bought all the land in Egypt for Phar aoh . The Egyp tians , one and all , sold their fields , be cause the fam ine was too se vere for them . The land be came Phar aoh ’ s , 21 and Jo seph re duced the peo ple to ser vi tude , c from one end of Egypt to the oth er . 22 How ev er , he did not buy the land of the priests , be cause they re ceived a reg u lar al lot ment from Phar aoh and had food enough from the al lot ment Phar aoh gave them . That is why they did not sell their land .
23
Jo seph said to the peo ple , “ Now that I have bought you and your land to day for Phar aoh , here is seed for you so you can plant the ground . 24 But when the crop comes in , give a fifth of it to Pharaoh . The oth er four fifths you may keep as seed for the fields and as food for your selves and your house holds and your chil dren .”
25
“ You have saved our lives ,” they said . “ May we find fa vor in the eyes of our lord ; we will be in bond age to Phar aoh .”
26
So Jo seph es tab lished it as a law con cern ing land in Egypt — still in force to day — that a fifth of the pro duce be longs to Phar aoh . It was only the land of the priests that did not be come Phar aoh ’ s .
27
Now the Is ra el ites set tled in Egypt in the region of Go shen . They ac quired prop er ty there and were fruit ful and in creased great ly in num ber .
28
Ja cob lived in Egypt sev en teen years , and the years of his life were a hun dred and for ty-sev en .
29
When the time drew near for Is ra el to die , he called for his son Jo seph and said to him , “ If I have
a
7 Or greeted b
10 Or said farewell to c
21 Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint ( see also Vulgate ); Masoretic Text and he moved the people into the cities
47:11 district of Rameses Another name for Goshen . The city of Rameses ( Pi-Ramesses ) — the capital under Pharaoh Rameses II — was located within this region . That city has been identified as Qantir ( which is also called Avaris and Tell ed-Dabʾa ). The presence of the name Rameses here and elsewhere in the Pentateuch is a focal point in the debate over the chronology of Joseph ’ s time in Egypt and the exodus ( see note on Ex 1:11 ; compare note on Ge 41:14 – 57 ).
47:13 – 31 Joseph initiates and manages a harsh set of reforms , as the severity of the famine requires . The Egyptian people surrender their money , livestock and farmland in exchange for the food necessary for their survival ( Ge 47:14 – 21 ).
These circumstances ultimately resulted in landowners becoming tenant farmers under the authority of Pharaoh — paying him one-fifth of the produce of the land ( vv . 20 – 26 ). This was neither serfdom nor slavery , since the people kept 80 percent of the produce . The people express gratitude for the reforms ( v . 25 )— which were continued after Joseph ’ s death ( as indicated by the editorial comment of v . 26 )— likely because it gave them a chance to survive , not necessarily because they were pleased with the reforms . A consensus has not been reached on what period in Egypt ’ s history best reflects these reforms .
47:29 put your hand under my thigh The exact Hebrew expression used here only occurs here and in 24:2 . The Hebrew word commonly translated as “ thigh ” ( yerekh ) is used elsewhere as a euphemism for genitalia — in reference to where children come from ( 46:26 ; Ex 1:5 ; Jdg 8:30 ). This makes sense , since Ge 24:2 involves the fate of Abraham ’ s child , Isaac . It is unclear precisely what this particular action involved — since there are no ancient Near Eastern parallels — but it seems that one man placed his hand near or on another man ’ s genitalia , perhaps in reference to the sign of the covenant with Yahweh , circumcision ( 17:1 – 14 ).