Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 47:6

The land of Egypt [is] before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest [any] men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.

6. in the test ] Cf. Exo 22:4. The land of Goshen was fertile and good for grazing: but only by Oriental courtesy could it be called “the best” land in Egypt.

able men ] So LXX . Cf. Exo 18:21; Exo 18:25. R.V. marg. men of activity as Lat. viri industrii.

rulers over my cattle ] Pharaoh is ready to confer positions of authority, without further enquiry, upon the most capable of Joseph’s brothers. The mention of the royal herds shews us that the position of herdsmen was fully recognized among the Egyptians: see note on Gen 46:34.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Verse 6. In the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell] So it appears that the land of Goshen was the best of the land of Egypt.

Men of activity] anshey chayil, stout or robust men – such as were capable of bearing fatigue, and of rendering their authority respectable.

Rulers over my cattle.] mikneh signifies not only cattle, but possessions or property of any kind; though most usually cattle are intended, because in ancient times they constituted the principal part of a man’s property. The word may be taken here in a more extensive sense, and the circumstances of the case seem obviously to require it. If every shepherd was an abomination to the Egyptians, however we may understand or qualify the expression, is it to be supposed that Pharaoh should desire that the brethren of his prime minister, of his chief favourite, should be employed in some of the very meanest offices in the land? We may therefore safely understand Pharaoh as expressing his will, that the brethren of Joseph should be appointed as overseers or superintendents of his domestic concerns, while Joseph superintended those of the state.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

The land of Egypt is before thee, to view it, and take thy choice where thou pleasest, it is in thy power. See Gen 13:9.

Any man of activity, or, of strength, or vigour of body and mind, fit for the employment. By which expression it seems probable that those five presented to Pharaoh were of the meanest sort of them. See Poole on “Gen 47:2“.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

The land of Egypt [is] before thee,…. To choose what part of it he should judge most suitable and agreeable to his father and brethren:

in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell, in the land of Goshen let them dwell; as is requested; and which was, as Pharaoh here suggests, the best part of the land, the most fertile and fruitful, and the fittest for cattle, being full of pastures through the river Nile and the canals of it, and Goshen being the most fertile portion in the land of Rameses, as in Ge 47:11; this, Dr. Shaw observes k, could be no other than what lay within two or three leagues at the most from the Nile, because the rest of the Egyptian Arabia, which reaches beyond the influence of this river to the eastward, is a barren inhospitable wilderness:

and if thou knowest [any] man of activity among them; strong in body, and of great parts, and endowments of mind, and of great skill, and diligence, and industry in the management of flocks and herds:

then make them rulers over my cattle; or “rulers of cattle over those that are mine” l: that is, over his shepherds, to take care that they do their work well and faithfully: from whence it appears that Pharaoh had flocks and herds and shepherds; and therefore it cannot be thought that the Egyptians in those times abstained from eating of animals, or that all shepherds, without exception, were an abomination to them, only foreign ones that lived on spoil and plunder, and made excursions into their country for such purposes: the office he assigned to men of skill and industry was like that which Doeg the Edomite was in, who was the chief of the herdsmen of Saul, 1Sa 21:7.

k Travels, p. 306. l “magistros pecuariae super illos, qui sunt mihi”, Junius Tremellius, Piscator so Schmidt and Answorth.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

6. The land of Egypt. This is recorded not only to show that Jacob was courteously received, but also, that nothing was given him by Joseph but at the command of the king. For the greater was his power, the more strictly was he bound to take care, lest, being liberal with the king’s property, he might defraud both him and his people. And I would that this moderation so prevailed among the nobles of the world, that they would conduct themselves, in their private affairs, no otherwise than if they were plebeians: but now, they seem to themselves to have no power, unless they may prove it by their license to sin. And although Joseph, by the king’s permission, places his family amidst the best pastures; yet he does not avail himself of the other portion of the royal beneficence, to make his brethren keepers of the king’s cattle; not only because this privilege would have excited the envy of many against them, but because he was unwilling to be entangled in such a snare.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

6. The land of Egypt is before thee “Although they belonged to the abominated caste, all Egypt was at their disposal for Joseph’s sake .

In the land of Goshen let them dwell Since this is your petition .

And if thou knowest any men of activity among them Rather, men of ability, namely, for such office.

Make them rulers over my cattle Literally, princes of (the shepherds or herdsmen of) my cattle. Not overseers of his household, (as A. Clarke,) for the word signifies only property in cattle. (Gesenius; Knobel.) Pharaoh would make Joseph’s brethren, as far as they were competent, overseers of his herdsmen and shepherds. So Doeg, the Edomite, was overseer of Saul’s herdsmen. (1Sa 21:7. )” Newhall .

“The land where Israel was to dwell is here called Goshen, and in Gen 47:11, Rameses. In Exo 12:37, Israel is said to have set out from Rameses. This place was near the seat of government, since Joseph told his father that he would there dwell near him, (Gen 45:10,) and apparently between Palestine and Joseph’s residence, (Gen 46:28-29,) which was probably usually at Memphis, although sometimes, perhaps, at Zoan. See note on Exo 1:8. It was under the government of Egypt, and yet hardly reckoned a part of the country, and appears not to have been occupied to any great extent by the native inhabitants, as the reason assigned for settling the Israelites there is, that they might not come in contact with the Egyptians . Gen 46:33-34. Every thing thus indicates that Goshen, or Rameses, was the frontier province, nearest to Palestine, lying along the Pelusiac arm of the Nile, and stretching from thence eastward to the desert . The Israelites may have spread eastward as they multiplied, across the Pelusiac to or across the Tanitic arm . This was the best of the land for a pastoral people like Israel, although not so fertile as the country nearer the Nile; yet it was well irrigated from Egypt’s great river . It was traversed by an ancient canal, which, according to Strabo, once carried the Nile water into the Red Sea, and on the banks of which it is probable that the Israelites built the treasure-city Raamses or Rameses. Exo 1:11. This canal traversed the wadies Tumeylat and Seven Wells, which was the richest portion of Goshen, although the Israelites doubtless drove their flocks up the water-courses into fertile tracts of the desert. The present Sweet-water Canal of M. Lesseps has simply reopened the works of the Pharaohs, carrying the Nile water through these broad wadies to Lake Timsah, and thence south through the Bitter Lakes to the Red Sea at Suez.

“Robinson made careful inquiries concerning the fertility of this province at present, and found that it now ‘bears the highest valuation, yields the largest revenue,’ and that ‘there are here more flocks and herds than anywhere else in Egypt, and also more fishermen.’ Biblical Researches, 1: 54. This country now produces, according to Lane, ( Modern Egyptians, 1: 242,) cucumbers and melons, gourds, onions, leeks, beans, chick-peas and lupins; and the inhabitants also make use of small salted fish for food; a list of productions closely corresponding with that given in Num 11:5, where the murmuring Israelites say, ‘We remember the fish that we did eat in Egypt freely, the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic.’ The opening of the Suez Canal has increased the fertility of the land since the visits of Robinson and Lane.

“Large heaps of ruins are now found south-west of Belbeis, which are called by the Arabs the hills or graves of the Jews, ( Tel el Jehud, Turbeh el Jehud,) which may be memorials of the Israelitish sojourn. Many traces of ancient sites are scattered along the Wady Tumeylat. The geographical position of Goshen was such that the plagues of hail and darkness might sweep down the Nile valley, and even cover Zoan, while Goshen (on the east) was left untouched.” Newhall.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments