Genesis · chapter 47 of 50
Updated on
Genesis 47 tells how Joseph presents his brothers and Jacob to Pharaoh, who settles them in Goshen. During the famine, Joseph buys the livestock, land and freedom of the Egyptians for Pharaoh in exchange for grain, and the Egyptians say he saved their lives. Israel multiplies in Goshen, and Jacob, now old, makes Joseph swear to bury him in Canaan.
Genesis 46 ended with Joseph's instructions to his brothers on how to present themselves to Pharaoh. Genesis 47 alternates between two settings: the reception of Jacob's family and Joseph's management of the famine. It is a chapter about God's provision for Israel in a foreign country, and about an old man who looks back and toward the promised land.
Joseph tells Pharaoh that his father and brothers have come to Goshen, and presents five of them. Pharaoh asks about their occupation, and they answer that they are shepherds, as their fathers were, and have come to stay in the land because there is no pasture in Canaan. Pharaoh tells Joseph to settle them in the best of the land, in Goshen, and to put the most capable among them in charge of his livestock.
Joseph then brings Jacob in before Pharaoh, and Jacob blesses him. When Pharaoh asks his age, Jacob answers that he is one hundred and thirty years old, few and hard years, fewer than those of his fathers. He blesses Pharaoh again and goes out. Joseph settles his family in the land of Rameses and provides them with food.
The famine is so severe that the Egyptians and Canaanites spend all their money. Joseph gathers the money and brings it to Pharaoh's house. Then the Egyptians give their livestock for bread, and the next year they sell their land and themselves to be Pharaoh's servants. Joseph buys all the land, except that of the priests, and distributes seed on the condition that a fifth goes to Pharaoh. The Egyptians say Joseph saved their lives and declare themselves Pharaoh's servants. Meanwhile, Israel lives in Goshen, acquires property and multiplies greatly.
Jacob lives seventeen years in Egypt and reaches the age of one hundred and forty-seven. As his death draws near, he calls Joseph and makes him swear not to bury him in Egypt but in the burial place of his fathers. Joseph promises, and Jacob bows in worship at the head of his bed.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Jacob comes in before Pharaoh and blesses him. The old shepherd, a foreigner without power, blesses the mightiest king of his day. The text suggests that the one who blesses is the greater, and that God's promise to Abraham, to be a blessing to the nations, is being fulfilled on a small scale.
Jacob says the years of his sojourning have been one hundred and thirty, few and hard. He speaks honestly of a life of struggle, but also understands it as a journey toward God's promise, not as a possession.
The Egyptians tell Joseph that he has saved their lives and that they wish to be Pharaoh's servants. It is a moment when Joseph's wisdom saves a nation, and the text also shows the political cost of the administration, since the people come to depend on Pharaoh.
Jacob asks Joseph not to bury him in Egypt but with his fathers. Although he lives well in Egypt, his hope is in the promised land, and that request prepares the end of the book.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Shepherds, as their fathers were. — Genesis 47:3
Answer: The best of the land, in the region of Goshen, also called the land of Rameses. — Genesis 47:6, 11
Answer: He blessed him, both on entering and on leaving. — Genesis 47:7, 10
Answer: One hundred and thirty years, few and hard. — Genesis 47:9
Answer: First their money, then their livestock, and finally their land and themselves. — Genesis 47:14-19
Answer: That he would not bury him in Egypt but in the burial place of his fathers. — Genesis 47:29-30
Genesis 47 shows an old man who, at the end of his life, blesses the most powerful and asks to be buried in the land of the promise. In a Sunday school class, the chapter invites us to think about how we want to end our lives: blessing others and with our eyes on what God has promised, not on what we own.
It also shows that wisdom has a cost. Joseph manages the crisis well, but the people end up dependent on Pharaoh. Ask how to exercise authority and manage resources with justice and compassion, and how to remember that all provision ultimately comes from God.
Genesis 47 ends with Joseph's promise to bury Jacob in Canaan. In Genesis 48 Jacob, now ill, will bless Joseph's two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and adopt them as his own.
Jacob, who is older and carries God's promise, pronounces a blessing on the king. According to Hebrews 7:7, the lesser is blessed by the greater. Here the blessing shows that Israel is a channel of God's blessing to the nations.
The text reports the facts and records the Egyptians' gratitude, since they say he saved their lives. At the same time, the chapter shows that the people came under Pharaoh's control. The Bible presents it without comment, and each reader must weigh that nuance.
Because the land of Canaan was God's promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Being buried there expressed his faith that God would keep his promise and bring his descendants back to that land.