Genesis 47, Shepherds in Egypt

Jacob's tribe has arrived in Egypt.

Genesis 47: 1-10, Jacob meets Pharaoh
Joseph went and told Pharaoh, "My father and brothers, with their flocks and herds and everything they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in Goshen." He chose five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh.

    

Pharaoh asked the brothers, "What is your occupation?" 

    

"Your servants are shepherds," they replied to Pharaoh, "just as our fathers were." They also said to him, "We have come to live here awhile, because the famine is severe in Canaan and your servants' flocks have no pasture. So now, please let your servants settle in Goshen."

    

Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Your father and your brothers have come to you, and the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land. Let them live in Goshen. And if you know of any among them with special ability, put them in charge of my own livestock."

    

Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in and presented him before Pharaoh. After Jacob blessed Pharaoh, Pharaoh asked him, "How old are you?"

    

And Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers." Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence.

Following the lead of Joseph, Jacob and his family explain that they are herders and are given area in Goshen to take their herds. Goshen (see this Wikipedia entry) is likely to have been a fertile part of the Nile delta. Pharaoh seems to have some of his own livestock in the region.

The Pharaoh welcomes and rewards Jacob's clan.  But looking back at the covenant, YHWH has promised to use the descendants of Abraham to bless all people groups and, through Joseph, the Egyptian people have avoided starvation and even prospered.

Jacob has been a wanderer (Hebrew maw-goor'), on a "pilgrimage" for 130 years.  The terms "wanderer", "sojourner", "pilgrim", easily apply to the life of this crafty fox, now the mature leader of a large and prosperous clan.

Genesis 47: 11-12, Joseph settle Jacob and family
So Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh directed. Joseph also provided his father and his brothers and all his father's household with food, according to the number of their children.

Jacob and his family are welcomed as prominent citizens.

The Pharaohs Rameses I and Rameses II lived in the 13th Century BC, much later than the time of Joseph.  It is likely that our narrator is using the term "district of Rameses" from his own time.

Genesis 47: 13-19, Joseph grows in power as the famine persists
There was no food, however, in the whole region because the famine was severe; both Egypt and Canaan wasted away because of the famine. Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan in payment for the grain they were buying, and he brought it to Pharaoh's palace.         

When the money of the people of Egypt and Canaan was gone, all Egypt came to Joseph and said, "Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? Our money is used up."

    

"Then bring your livestock," said Joseph. "I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock, since your money is gone." So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their sheep and goats, their cattle and donkeys. And he brought them through that year with food in exchange for all their livestock. 

    

When that year was over, they came to him the following year and said, "We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money is gone and our livestock belongs to you, there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land.  Why should we perish before your eyes--we and our land as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh. Give us seed so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate."

By careful administration during the famine, Joseph provides power and wealth to the Pharaoh.

Genesis 47: 20-26, Joseph develops a fifth
So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh's, and Joseph reduced the people to servitude, from one end of Egypt to the other. However, he did not buy the land of the priests, because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.

    

Joseph said to the people, "Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you so you can plant the ground. But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children." 

    

"You have saved our lives," they said. "May we find favor in the eyes of our lord; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh."

   

So Joseph established it as a law concerning land in Egypt--still in force today--that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. It was only the land of the priests that did not become Pharaoh's.

(NIV footnotes: The phrase "Joseph reduced the people to servitude" in verse 21 follows the Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint (also the Vulgate.)  The Masoretic text translates as "he moved the people into cities.")

Joseph seems pretty oppressive?  Is the point that he is a capable administrator for the Pharaoh?

Note the phrase "still in force today" in verse 26.  Presumable "today" refers to the time of the writing about this passage, presumably some centuries later.

Genesis 47: 27-31, Jacob's last request
Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number.

    

Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, and the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven. When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, "If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise that you will show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt, but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried." 

    "

I will do as you say," he said.

    

"Swear to me," he said. 

Then Joseph swore to him, and Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

In verse 31, "leaned on the top of his staff" could be translated "bowed down at the head of his bed."  In the ancient near east it was apparently customary to have one's idols at the head of the bed and to bow down at the head of the bed was to worship.

By putting his hand under his father's thigh, Joseph is indicating the strength of the promise he is about to make.  A similar oath was made by a servant of Abraham (see Genesis 24:9) two generations back.

Jacob is dying.  His final wishes and blessings are the subject of the next two chapters, as we close out the book of Genesis.