1. MoseKapitel 47

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Joseph came and told Pharaoh, "My father and my brothers have come from the land of Canaan with their flocks and herds and everything they own, and they are now in the land of Goshen."

He had taken five of his brothers with him, and he presented them to Pharaoh.

Pharaoh asked his brothers, "What is your occupation?" They answered Pharaoh, "Your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were before us."

They said to Pharaoh, "We have come to live in this land for a while, because there is no pasture for your servants' flocks; the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Please, let your servants settle in the land of Goshen."

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Your father and your brothers have come to you.

The land of Egypt lies open before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land; let them live in the land of Goshen. And if you know of capable men among them, put them in charge of my own livestock."

Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and presented him to Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

Pharaoh asked Jacob, "How many are the years of your life?"

Jacob answered Pharaoh, "The years of my sojourning are a hundred and thirty. Few and hard have been the years of my life, and they do not measure up to the years of my fathers during their sojourning."

Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence.

So Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them property in the best part of the land of Egypt, in the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.

And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father's household with food, according to the number of their children.

There was no food anywhere in the land, for the famine was severe. Egypt and Canaan alike wasted away because of it.

Joseph collected all the money to be found in Egypt and Canaan in payment for the grain the people were buying, and he brought it into Pharaoh's palace.

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

Joseph said, "Bring your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for it, since your money is gone."

So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their flocks and herds, and their donkeys. That year he carried them through with food in exchange for all their livestock.

When that year had ended, they came to him the next year and said, "We cannot hide it from my lord: our money is gone, and our herds belong to my lord. Nothing is left for my lord but 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 servants to Pharaoh. Give us seed, so that we may live and not die, and the land may not become desolate."

So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. Every Egyptian sold his field, because the famine pressed hard upon them, and the land became Pharaoh's.

As for the people, he moved them into the cities, from one end of Egypt to the other.

Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh and lived on the allowance Pharaoh gave them; that is why they did not sell their land.

Then Joseph said to the people, "Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you. Sow the land.

At harvest time you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh. The other four fifths will be yours as seed for the fields and as food for yourselves, your households, and your children."

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

So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, still in force today, that a fifth belongs to Pharaoh. Only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh's.

Israel settled in Egypt, in the land of Goshen. They acquired property there, and they were fruitful and increased greatly in number.

Jacob lived seventeen years in the land of Egypt, so that the years of his life came to 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 deal with me in kindness and faithfulness: do not bury me in Egypt.

When I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried." Joseph said, "I will do as you say."

"Swear it to me," he said. So Joseph swore to him, and Israel bowed down at the head of his bed.

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Zusammenfassung2

Kapitel 47

Main Theme: Jacob and his family settle in Egypt, where Joseph administers the famine and secures Pharaoh's authority over the land.

Content: Joseph presents five of his brothers to Pharaoh, followed by his father Jacob, who blesses Pharaoh twice. Pharaoh grants them permission to live in the fertile region of Goshen. During the ongoing famine, Joseph buys all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh in exchange for grain, except for the priests' land, and institutes a law requiring one-fifth of the harvest to go to Pharaoh. Jacob lives 17 years in Egypt, and before he dies, he makes Joseph swear to bury him in Canaan with his ancestors.

Key Words/Images:

Goshen: The fertile region in Egypt where Israel's family is allowed to live and thrive.
Jacob's Blessing: Jacob blesses Pharaoh twice—the seemingly subordinate one blesses the world's most powerful ruler, showing that God's people possess spiritual authority that surpasses earthly power.
The Fifth: The tax system Joseph establishes whereby the people give 20% of their harvest to Pharaoh.
Hand under the Thigh: An oath-taking gesture in which Jacob asks Joseph to place his hand under his thigh and swear to bury him in Canaan, symbolizing the promise that God's people belong in the Promised Land.

Historischer Kontext

Historical and Cultural Context for Genesis 47

Places

Goshen (גֹּשֶׁן) – In this chapter, Goshen is confirmed as the dwelling place of Jacob’s family (verses 1, 4, 6, 27). Pharaoh offers them "the best of the land" in this region. Goshen was located in the eastern Nile Delta, ideal for livestock grazing and somewhat separate from the Egyptian heartland.

The Land of Rameses (אֶרֶץ רַעְמְסֵס) is mentioned in verse 11 as the area where Jacob’s family received property (אֲחֻזָּה). This name likely reflects a later place designation from the time when the text reached its final form, since the city of Rameses was built during the reign of Ramesses II (c. 1279–1213 BC). The area is identical with Goshen.

Events and Customs

Jacob’s Blessing of Pharaoh (verses 7, 10) is remarkable from a cultural perspective. That a foreign nomad would bless the world’s most powerful ruler twice would normally have been unthinkable in Egyptian protocol. Hebrews 7:7 expresses the principle that "the lesser is blessed by the greater," which in this context suggests that Jacob here acts in a spiritual role surpassing Pharaoh’s earthly power.

The Tax System of One-Fifth (verses 24–26) established that Egyptians were to give twenty percent of their harvest to Pharaoh. Compared with other tax systems of the time, this was actually moderate—many feudal systems required up to half. Joseph’s economic policy in this chapter—collecting money, then livestock, and finally land (verses 14–20)—represents a systematic centralization of resources.

The Special Status of the Priests (verses 22, 26) reflects the privileged position of the Egyptian priestly class. Pharaoh provided the priests with fixed rations (חֹק), so they did not need to sell their land. This is the only group exempted from Joseph’s purchase of all the land.

Key Terms

"Years of My Sojourn" (שְׁנֵי מְגוּרַי) – In verse 9, Jacob uses the root ג-ו-ר (gur, "to dwell as a foreigner"), which gives the noun מְגוּרִים (megurim), meaning "temporary residence" or "sojourn," not permanent settlement. He states his age as 130 years and describes his days as "few and evil" compared with those of his fathers.

"Put Your Hand Under My Thigh" (שִׂים־נָא יָדְךָ תַּחַת יְרֵכִי) in verse 29 was a solemn oath-taking custom in the patriarchal period. The gesture was connected to offspring and the future of the family line, emphasizing the seriousness of the oath. The same ritual is used by Abraham in Genesis 24:2–3.

"Bowed at the Head of the Bed" (וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל עַל־רֹאשׁ הַמִּטָּה) in verse 31 shows Jacob’s worship or gratitude. The Septuagint translates this differently ("at the top of his staff"), which Hebrews 11:21 follows, based on an alternative reading of the Hebrew consonants.

Chapter-Specific Findings

Egyptian administrative texts document the practice of allowing Semitic nomads to settle in the Delta region during drought periods. A well-known example is Papyrus Anastasi VI (c. 13th century BC), which describes how Shasu Bedouins from Edom were permitted to pass through border fortresses to sustain themselves and their flocks at water pools in the area of Pithom.

The chapter covers a significant period: from the family’s arrival in Egypt, through the hardest years of famine with Joseph’s economic reforms, to Jacob’s final 17 years in Egypt (verse 28). Jacob’s total lifespan is given as 147 years.

Personen3

Pharaoh (Pharaoh in Abram's time (Gen 12))6 Joseph7 Jacob6

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Schlüsselwörter10

Jacob — Grandfather of the twelve tribes of Israel and son of Isaac. He moved to Egypt with his family.
Egypt — A country in North Africa where Jacob's family settled during the famine.
Joseph — Jacob's eldest son by Rachel, who became vizier in Egypt and helped his family during the famine.
Pharaohs — The title for the Egyptian king who allowed Jacob's family to live in Egypt.
Goshen — The region in Egypt where Jacob's family settled, a fertile land suitable for sheep farming.
Famine — A prolonged shortage of food that affected both Egypt and Canaan, leading Jacob's family to move to Egypt.
Land — A fundamental resource that people in this time fought over and traded, especially agricultural land.
Buy — The act of acquiring something, often land, by paying a certain sum of money or through barter.
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