Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 47:17
And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread [in exchange] for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year.
17. horses flocks, and for the herds ] Heb. cattle of the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds. Observe here the mention of horses first in the list, followed by sheep, cattle, and asses. Compare the list of the live stock belonging to the nomad Abraham in Gen 12:16, “sheep, oxen, he-asses, men-servants, maid-servants, she-asses, camels.” Camels are not mentioned here. Egyptologists inform us that the inscriptions do not record the mention of horses before the New Monarchy, circa 1530 b.c.: see note on Gen 12:16. The Egyptians owed to the Hyksos the introduction of horses and chariots.
fed them ] Heb. led them as a shepherd. The same word as in Gen 33:14, “lead on softly,” and in Psa 23:2, “he leadeth me beside the still waters.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And they brought their cattle unto Joseph,…. Which they might the more readily do, since there was scarce any grass to feed them with; and though some of them were creatures used for food, yet might be so lean and poor for want of grass, as not to be fit to eat; and besides, they could do better without flesh than without bread:
and Joseph gave them bread [in exchange] for horses; with which Egypt abounded, to which many places of Scripture have respect, De 17:16;
and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds; the sheep and the oxen; which shows that these creatures were bred and fed by them, and were, no doubt, slain, and used for food:
and for the asses; which were used for carrying burdens:
and he fed them with bread for all their cattle, for that year; which seems to be the sixth year of the famine: one would wonder what Joseph should do with all their cattle, where put them, and feed them, in such a time of drought; though it is probable the number was not exceeding large, since they only fetched one year’s provision of bread.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(17) Horses . . . flocks . . . herds . . . asses.The mention of horses is a most important fact in settling the much-debated question as to the dynasty under which Joseph became governor of Egypt. When Abram went there, horses do not seem as yet to have been known (see Note on Gen. 12:16), but oxen and asses were common, and the former indigenous in the country (Maspero, Histoire Ancienne, pp. 11, 12). The horse was introduced by the Hyksos, according to Lenormant, Les Prem. Civilisations, i., 306 ff.; Rawlin-son, Egypt, i., 74; and the first representation of one is drawing the war-chariot of the king who expelled them. The flocks are expressly said in the. Hebrew to be sheep. This, too, is important; for while goats were indigenous in Egypt, sheep do not appear in the most ancient monuments, though they were introduced at an earlier date than horses.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 47:17 And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread [in exchange] for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year.
Ver. 17. And Joseph gave them bread in exchange, ] An ancient and yet usual way of traffic, with savages and barbarians especially; as in Virginia, &c., where they usually change, as Glaueus did with Diomedes, . a
a Homeri Ilias, lib. vi.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
for horses: Exo 9:3, 1Ki 10:28, Job 2:4, Isa 31:1, Mat 6:24
fed them: Heb. led them