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).