Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 47:11
And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
11. placed ] Lit. “caused to dwell”; as we should say, “settled.”
the land of Rameses ] This description of the land of Goshen appears only here, and in the LXX of ch. Gen 46:28. A town named Rameses is mentioned in Exo 1:11; Exo 12:37; Num 33:3; Num 33:5. In Exo 1:11 Rameses is the name of one of the two store cities built by the children of Israel on the east of the Delta, according to Petrie = Tel er-Reabeh. The name given to it was probably that of the Pharaoh of the oppression, Rameses II. If so, the description of this region, where Joseph’s brethren are settled, by the name of “the land of Rameses,” is, strictly speaking, an anachronism, i.e. a chronological anticipation of facts, the country being denoted by a name which it came to bear two centuries later. It is a very natural thing for the Israelite writer to do; and can hardly be regarded in the light of a literary error.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The land of Rameses; a part of the land of Goshen, possibly that part where afterwards the city Rameses was built by the Israelites, Exo 1:11; 12:37, whence it is so called here by anticipation; for the Israelites were not now numerous enough to possess the whole land of Goshen, which was given to them, but contented themselves with a part of it, leaving the rest to the management of the Egyptians; and therefore when they increased greatly, they were forced to spread their habitations amongst the Egyptians. See Exo 12:7,23,35,37.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. Joseph placed his father and hisbrethren . . . in the best of the landbest pasture landin lower Egypt. Goshen, “the land of verdure,” lay alongthe Pelusiac or eastern branch of the Nile. It included a part of thedistrict of Heliopolis, or “On,” the capital, and on theeast stretched out a considerable length into the desert. The groundincluded within these boundaries was a rich and fertile extent ofnatural meadow, and admirably adapted for the purposes of the Hebrewshepherds (compare Gen 49:24;Psa 34:10; Psa 78:72).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt,…. Houses to dwell in, lands to till, and pastures to feed their flocks and herds in:
in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh commanded; according to Jarchi and Aben Ezra, the land of Rameses was a part of the land of Goshen: Jerom o says, that Rameses was a city the children of Israel built in Egypt, and that the province was formerly so called in which Jacob and his sons dwelt; but if it is the same with the city which was built by them, it is here called so by anticipation: but Aben Ezra is of opinion that it is not the same, and indeed the names are differently pointed and pronounced; that built by the Israelites is Raamses, and was one of the treasure cities of Pharaoh, and never inhabited by the Israelites; the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem call this land the land of Pelusium; but this part of the country lay not in the Pelusiac, but rather in the Heliopolitan home: Sir John Marsham is of opinion p that Rameses is the name of Pharaoh, the then present king of Egypt, as there were several of the kings of Egypt of that name; and therefore he thinks this land was the king’s land, the land of King Rameses, which Joseph placed his father and brethren in by the order of Pharaoh: but it seems rather to be the name of a place, and is thought by Dr. Shaw q to be the same with Cairo: a very learned man r takes this to be the name of the land of Goshen, after the coming of the Israelites into it, and observes, that, in the Egyptian language, “Remsosch” signifies men that live a pastoral life, and so this country was called Ramses or Remsosch, as being the country of the shepherds; and the same learned writer s is of opinion, that the land of Goshen is the same with the Heracleotic nome, or district, which lies in the great island the Nile makes above Memphis, and which is now called by the Arabs Fioum, it being the best and most fruitful part of all Egypt; which is confirmed by the testimony of Strabo, who says t it excels all the rest of the nomes, or districts; that it is the only one that produces olives, large and perfect, with fine fruit, which, if well gathered, make good oil, but all the rest of Egypt is without oil; moreover it produces wine not a little (whereas Herodotus says u vines were wanting in Egypt, i.e. in other parts of it), also corn and pulse, and other seeds: and that Fioum, as it is now called, is the most fruitful, and is the most pleasant part of all Egypt, having vines, olives, figs, and fruits of all sorts, the most excellent, and some of which are not to be found in other parts of the country, the same, writer proves from various travellers and historians w; particularly Leo Africanus says x, that the Sahidic nome, in which he places Fium, excels all the other parts of Egypt in plenty of pulse, as peas, beans, c. and of animals and linen, though all Egypt is very fruitful: and Vansleb y says, the province of Fium has been always esteemed one of the most excellent in all Egypt, because of its fruitful fields, its great riches, and pleasant gardens,–all that grows here is of a better taste than in other provinces: here are fields full of rose trees, and woods of fig trees, which are not in other parts of Egypt the gardens are full of all manner of trees, pears, oranges, lemons, peaches, plums, and apricots:–in Fium only, says he, of all the provinces of Egypt, are vineyards–nor is any province so much cut into channels as this: they all proceed from Joseph’s river, and have bridges over them, made with burnt bricks very strong; and tradition says they were built in the days of the Pharaohs; and it is the opinion of the Coptics, that these kings employed the Israelites in making: bricks for those bridges, which is very probable, from the infinite number of men needful to make such a prodigious quantity: this part of Egypt where Israel dwelt, by all relations, being so excellent, the impudence of Celsus z the Heathen is very surprising, when he affirms that the nation of the Jews, becoming numerous in Egypt, were ordered to dwell apart as sojourners, and to feed their flocks in places vile and despicable.
o De locis Heb. fol. 94. A. p Canon. Chron. Aegypt, &c. p. 90. q Travels, p. 307. Ed. 2. r Jablonski de Terra Goshen, Dissert. 4. sect. 7. s Ib. Dissert. 3. sect. 2. t Geograph. l. 17. p. 556. u Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 77. w Paulus Lucas, Wilhelm. Tyrius, &c. apud Jablonski, ibid. sect. 7. x Descriptio Africae, l. 8. p. 666, 669. y Relation of a Voyage to Egypt, p. 148, 154, 155. z Apud Origen. contr. Cels. l. 4. p. 195.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Joseph assigned to his father and his brethren, according to Pharaoh’s command, a possession ( ) for a dwelling-place in the best part of Egypt, the land of Ramses, and provided them with bread, “ according to the mouth of the little ones, ” i.e., according to the necessities of each family, answering to the larger or smaller number of their children. with a double accusative ( Ges. 139). The settlement of the Israelites is called the land of Ramses ( , in pause Exo 1:11), instead of Goshen, either because the province of Goshen ( , lxx) is indicated by the name of its former capital Ramses (i.e., Heroopolis, on the site or in the immediate neighbourhood of the modern Abu Keisheib, in Wady Tumilat (vid., Exo 1:11), or because Israel settled in the vicinity of Ramses. The district of Goshen is to be sought in the modern province of el Sharkiyeh (i.e., the eastern), on the east side of the Nile, towards Arabia, still the most fertile and productive province of Egypt (cf. Robinson, Pal. i. 78, 79). For Goshen was bounded on the east by the desert of Arabia Petraea, which stretches away to Philistia (Exo 13:17, cf. 1Ch 7:21) and is called in the Septuagint in consequence (Gen 45:10; Gen 46:34), and must have extended westwards to the Nile, since the Israelites had an abundance of fish (Num 11:5). It probably skirted the Tanitic arm of the Nile, as the fields of Zoan, i.e., Tanis, are said to have been the scene of the mighty acts of God in Egypt (Psa 78:12, Psa 78:43, cf. Num 13:22). In this province Joseph assigned his relations settlements near to himself (Gen 45:10), from which they could quickly and easily communicate with one another (Gen 46:28; Gen 48:1.). Whether he lived at Ramses or not, cannot be determined, just because the residence of the Pharaoh of that time is not known, and the notion that it was at Memphis is only based upon utterly uncertain combinations relating to the Hyksos.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Verses 11, 12:
Joseph gave a settlement to his father and brothers, by allowing them to acquire property in the district of Egypt best suited to their lifestyle. This was in the district of Goshen, in the area of the city of Rameses. This city was later fortified and enlarged by the forced labor of the Israelites, long after Joseph’s death.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
11. Rameses See notes on Gen 47:6, and Exo 1:11.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Consequences of the Severe Famine.
v. 11. And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, v. 12. And Joseph nourished his father and his brethren and all his father’s household with bread, according to their families, v. 13. And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine, v. 14. And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan For the corn which they bought; and Joseph brought the money in to Pharaoh’s house. v. 15. And when money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph and said, Give us bread; for why should we die in thy presence? For the money faileth. v. 16. And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail.
v. 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. v. 18. When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, v. 19. Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? v. 20. And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them; so the land became Pharaoh’s. v. 21. And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof. v. 22. Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them; wherefore they sold not their lands. v. 23. Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh, v. 24. And it shall come to pass in the increase that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones. v. 25. And they said, thou hast saved our lives; let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants. v. 26. And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day that Pharaoh should have the fifth part,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
Gen 47:11
And Joseph placed his father and his brethren (i.e. gave them a settlement, the import of which the next clause explains), and gave them a possession (i.e. allowed them to acquire property) in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses,either that district of Goshen in which Jacob and his family first settled (Michaelis, Rosenmller), or, what seems more probable, the land of Goshen itself (LXX; Keil, Hengstenberg, Kalisch, et alii), being so named proleptically from the town Rameses, which was subsequently built (Exo 1:11), or, if the town existed in the time of Joseph, and was only afterwards fortified by the Israelites, deriving its designation from the name of its chief city’as Pharaoh had commanded.
Gen 47:12
And Joseph nourished (LXX.), i.e. gave them their measure of cornhis father, and his brethren, and all his father’s household, with bread, according to their familiesliterally, to, or according to, the mouth of the little ones, meaning either in proportion to the size of their families (LXX; Keil, Kalisch, Murphy), or with all the tenderness with which a parent provides for his offspring (Murphy), or the whole body of them, from the greatest even to the least (Calvin), or completely, down even to the food for their children (‘Speaker’s Commentary’).
Gen 47:13
And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore (literally, heavy), so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted (literally, was exhausted, had become languid and spiritless) by reason of the famine. The introduction of the present section, which first depicts the miseries of a starving population, and then circumstantially describes a great political revolution forced upon them by the stern necessity of hunger, may have been due to a desire
(1) to exhibit the extreme urgency which existed for Joseph’s care of his father and brethren (Bush),
(2) to show the greatness of the benefit conferred on Joseph’s house (Baumgarten, Keil, Lange), and perhaps also
(3) to foreshadow the political constitution afterwards bestowed upon the Israelites (Gerlach).
Gen 47:14
And Joseph gathered upthe verb, used only here of collecting money, usually signifies to gather things lying on the ground, as, e.g; ears of corn (Rth 2:3), stones (Gen 31:46), manna (Exo 16:14), flowers (Son 6:2)all the money (literally, silver) that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and Joseph (who in this matter was simply Pharaoh’s steward) brought the money into Pharaoh’s house (i.e. deposited it in the royal treasury).
Gen 47:15
And when money failed (literally, and the silver was consumed, or spent) in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all (literally, and all) the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for the money faileth (literally, and why should we die in thy presence because silver faileth? i.e. seeing that thou art able to support us).
Gen 47:16, Gen 47:17
And Joseph said, Give (literally, bring) your cattle; and I will give you (sc. bread) for your cattle, if money fail. And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks (literally, and for cattle of the flocks), and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses (the severity of these terms of sale and purchase was not so great as at first sight appears, since to a famishing people under-fed cattle and starving horses must have been comparatively worthless): and he fed themliterally, led, in the sense of cared for and maintained, them (cf. Psa 23:2; Isa 40:11)for all their cattle for that yearthis was the sixth year of the famine (vide Gen 47:23).
Gen 47:18, Gen 47:19
When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year (not the second from the commencement of the dearth, but the second from the consumption of their money), and said unto him, We will not hide it from my lord, how thatliterally, for if (so we should speak openly), hence equivalent to an intensified butour money (literally, the silver) is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle;literally, our herds of cattle also (sc. have come) to my lordthere is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands: wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may (literally, and we shall) live, and not die, that the land be not desolate (literally, and the land shall not be desolate).
Gen 47:20
And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so (literally, and) the land became Pharaoh’s. From this it may be concluded that originally Pharaoh had no legal claim to the soil, but that the people had a valid title to its absolute possession, each man being regarded as the legitimate proprietor of the portion on which he had expended the labor of cultivation.
Gen 47:21
And as for the people, he removed themnot enslaved them, converted them into serfs and bondmen to Pharaoh (LXX; Vulgate), but simply transferred them, caused them to pass overto citiesnot from cities to cities, as if changing their populations (Onkelos, Rosenmller, Kalisch), but either from the country districts to the towns (Targums Jonathan and Jerusalem, Lange, Schumann, Gerlach, Murphy), or according to the cities, i.e. in which the grain had been previously collected (Keil)from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof. Not that the people were transported from one side of the country to the other as a high stroke of policy to complete their subjugation (Jarchi, Grotius, Rosenmller, Kalisch, and others), but that throughout the land they were moved into the nearest cities, as a considerate and even merciful arrangement for the more efficiently supplying them with food (Calvin, Keil, Lange, Wordsworth, Speaker’s Commentary).
Gen 47:22
Only the land of the priests (so the LXX; Vulgate, and Chaldee render cohen, which, however, sometimes signifies a prince) bought he not; for the priests had a portionnot of land (Lange, Kalisch), but of food (Keil, Murphy)assigned them of Pharaoh (not of Joseph, who must not, therefore, be charged with the sin of extending a State allowance to an idolatrous priesthood), and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they sold not their lands,that is, in consequence of the State aliment which they enjoyed (during the period of the famine) they did not require to alienate their lands.
Gen 47:23, Gen 47:24
Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land. This proves the time to have been the last year of the famine; and since the people obtained seed from the viceroy, it is reasonable to suppose that they would also have their cattle restored to them to enable them to till the ground. And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones. This verse is a sufficient refutation of the oft-preferred charge that Joseph had despoiled the Egyptians of their liberties, and converted a free people into a horde of abject slaves. Slave-owners are not usually content with a tax of only twenty percent on the gross revenues of their estates. Nor does it seem reasonable to allege that this was an exorbitant demand on the part either of Joseph or of Pharaoh. If in the seven years of plenty the people could afford to part with a fifth part of their produce, might not an improved system of agriculture enable them, under the new regulations, to pay as much as that in the shape of rent, and with quite as much ease? At all events the people themselves did not consider that they were being subjected to any harsh or unjust exaction.
Gen 47:25
And they said, Thou hast saved our lives (literally, thou hast kept us alive): let us find grace in the sight of my lord (i.e. let us have the land on these favorable terms), and we will be Pharaoh’s servants. “That a sort of feudal service is here intendedthe service of free laborers, not bondmenwe may learn from the relationship of the Israelites to God, which was formed after the plan of this Egyptian model” (Gerlach).
Gen 47:26
And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day (i.e. the day of the narrator), that Pharaoh should have the fifth part; except the land of the priests only, which became not Pharaoh’s. The account here given of the land tenure in Egypt, viz.,
(1) that after the time of Joseph the kings of Egypt became lords paramount of the soil,
(2) that the only free landholders in the country were the members of the priestly caste, and
(3) that the population generally occupied their farms at the uniform fixed rent of one fifth of their yearly produce, is abundantly corroborated by the statements of Herodotus, that Sesostris divided the soil of Egypt among the inhabitants, “assigning square plots of equal size to all, and obtaining his chief revenue from the rent which the holders were required to pay him year by year; of Diodorus Siculus (1. 73), that the land in Egypt belonged either to the priests, to the king, or to the military order; and of Strabo, that the peasants were not landowners, but occupiers of ratable land; as also by the monuments, which represent the king, priests, and warriors alone as having landed property (Wilkinson, Ken). Dr. Robinson quotes a modern parallel to this act of Joseph’s, which both illustrates its nature and by way of contrast exhibits its clemency. Up to the middle of the present century the people of Egypt had been the owners as well as tillers of the soil. “By a single decree the Pasha (Mohammed Ali) declared himself to be the sole owner of all lands in Egypt; and the people of course became at once-only his tenants at will, or rather his slaves.” “The modern Pharaoh made no exceptions, and stripped the mosques and other religious and charitable institutions of their landed endowments as mercilessly as the rest. Joseph gave the people seed to sow, and required for the king only a fifth of the produce, leaving four-fifths to them as their own; but now, though seed is in like manner given out, yet every village is compelled to cultivate two-thirds of its lands with corn and other articles for the Pasha, and also to render back to him, in the form of taxes and exactions in kind, a large proportion of the produce remaining after” (‘Biblical Researches,’ 1.42).
Gen 47:27
And Israel (i.e. the people) dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein (i.e. acquired holdings in it), and grew (or became fruitful), and multiplied exceedinglyor became very numerous. This was the commencement of the promise (Gen 46:3).
HOMILETICS
Gen 47:11-27
Joseph’s policy in Egypt.
I. TOWARDS THE ISRAELITES.
1. He gave them a settlement in Goshen. Though in one sense the land of Goshen was Pharaoh’s grant, it is apparent from the story that they owed it chiefly to the wise and prudent management of Joseph that they found themselves located in the fattest corner of the land. In thus providing for them Joseph had without doubt an eye to their enrichment, to their separation as a people from the Egyptian inhabitants of the land, and to their convenience when the day came for their return. Thus we see an evidence of Joseph’s fervent piety.
2. He supplied them with food while the famine lasted. That he did so without charges to them the narrative explicitly asserts. Nor can Joseph’s right so to provide for his own household be legitimately challenged, the more especially that it was owing purely to his wise administration that the king’s granaries were filled with corn. That Joseph did so was a proof of his natural affection.
3. He allowed them to acquire possessions. That is to say, he secured them in their rights of property while they resided among strangers. He cast around them the protection of the law all the same as if they had been Egyptians. This was a testimony to Joseph’s political equity.
II. TOWARDS THE EGYPTIANS.
1. Joseph’s policy described.
(1) Before the coming of the famine. Joseph gathered up a fifth part of the produce of the land and stored it up in granaries against the succeeding years of famine, paying doubtless for what he took, and affording the inhabitants of the country an example of economy and foresight.
(2) During the continuance of the famine he resold the grain which he had previously collected; in the first instance, for money; in the second instance, when the money failed, for horses and cattle; and in the third instance) when nothing remained between the people and starvation, for their lands and their persons.
(3) At the close of the famine Joseph returned to the people their lands, along with seed, and of necessity also cattle for its cultivation, exacting from them in return as rent a fifth part of the produce, the same proportion that he had lifted from them during the seven prosperous years.
2. Joseph‘s policy challenged. It has been vigorously assailed,
(1) for its severity; eloquent writers dilating with much indignation on its arbitrary, oppressive, tyrannical, and ferocious character, representing Joseph as little other than a semi-royal despot who little wrecked of the lives and liberties of his groveling subjects so long as he could aggrandize himself and his royal patron;
(2) for its injustice, being very different treatment from that which had been measured out to the Israelites, who were strangers and foreigners in the land, while they (the Egyptians) were the native population; and
(3) for its impiety, Joseph having sinfully taken advantage of the necessities of the people to reduce them by one bold stroke to a condition of abject and helpless slavery.
3. Joseph‘s policy defended.
(1) The alleged severity is greater in appearance than reality, since it is certain that Joseph did nothing harsh in selling corn for money so long as people had it, or horses and cattle when money failed, and it cannot be fairly proved that Joseph did not give them full value for their lands.
(2) The imputation of partiality will disappear if it be remembered that Joseph’s brethren were only expected to be temporary settlers in Egypt, and besides were few in number, so that a gratuitous distribution of corn amongst them was not at all an unwarrantable exercise of philanthropy, whereas to have pauperized a whole nation would have been to inflict upon them the greatest possible injury.
(3) The charge of having enslaved a free people may be answered by stating first that the narrative when fairly construed implies nothing more than that Joseph changed the land tenure from that of freehold to a rent charge, and that for the convenience of supporting the people while the famine lasted he distributed them (i.e. the country folks) among the cities where the grain was stored; and secondly, that instead of complaining against Joseph as the destroyer of their liberties, the people applauded him as the savior of their lives.
HOMILIES BY R.A. REDFORD
Gen 47:11, Gen 47:12
The settlement of the children of Israel in Goshen.
I. A CONSUMMATION. Distinctly the act of Joseph, under the command of Pharaoh.
1. The fruit of righteousness reaped.
2. The fulfillment of God’s word.
II. A NEW LIFE BASED UPON THE TESTIMONY OF DIVINE GRACE. The weak things have been proved mighty, the elect of God has been exalted. The “best of the land“ is for the seed of the righteous: “The meek shall inherit the earth.” Goshen the type of the Divine kingdom.
Gen 47:13-26
The policy of Joseph is faithfully employed for his monarch. The advantage taken of the people’s necessities to increase the power of the throne is quite Eastern in its characternot commended to general imitation, but permitted to be carded out through Joseph, because it gave him greater hold upon the government, and perhaps wrought beneficially on the whole in that early period of civilization. The honor of the priesthood is a testimony to the sacredness which the Egyptians attached to religious persons and things. The earliest nations were the most religious, and there is no doubt that the universality of religion can be traced among the tribes of the earth. An atheistic nation never has existed, and never can exist, except as in France, at a revolutionary period, and for a short time.R.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Gen 47:11. In the land of Rameses Some great writers are of opinion, that Rameses is the name of a king, and that the part assigned to the family of Jacob belonged to the royal territories. There was certainly a king of this name among the kings of AEgypt. Others suppose, that this was the name of a province in the land of Goshen, assigned to Joseph’s family, and that the city mentioned, Exo 1:11 was denominated from the province. The former opinion, however, which is Sir John Marsham’s, seems most probable; for it appears from the sequel of the chapter, that, at this time, king, priests, and people, had their lands independent of each other; so that it is reasonable to think that this land, where the Israelites were settled, was a part of the king’s domains.
REFLECTIONS.Jacob’s family being arrived, Joseph acquaints Pharaoh. Whereupon,
1. We have their introduction to Pharaoh. Joseph was not, like many a great man now-a-days, ashamed of his poor relations: he calls them brethren, and presents them at court. Note; Christ is not ashamed of the meanest of his brethren, nor will refuse to present them before the throne of God, with exceeding great joy.
2. Pharaoh’s kind reception of them. He inquires their occupation: and having received their answer, and heard the design of their coming, he appoints them the land of Goshen for their flocks, and bids Joseph prefer any man among them who was active, over the royal herds. Note; (1.) For our Jesus’s sake, we shall find favour in the presence of the heavenly King. (2.) Every member of the commonwealth must by his occupation contribute to its welfare: no idle vagrants, no drones should live in the hive. (3.) Activity and ingenuity in our profession, is the way to preferment in it.
3. The particular regard paid to old Jacob. Pharaoh kindly inquires after his age, for hoary locks engage respect. Jacob replies with the submission of an inferior; and with the piety of a patriarch blesses Pharaoh. Note; (1.) Every Christian counts his life a pilgrimage. (2.) The longest age is but a few days compared with eternity; and the happiest life has a great alloy of evil. (3.) Our days are considerably shortened: they are now, compared with those of old, but a span long. (4.) An old man’s benediction is to be revered; and the prayers of aged ministers and saints much to be valued.
4. By Joseph’s care, they are settled in the best of the land, and supplied abundantly with every necessary. Blessed be God for that better Jesus, who satisfies the souls of his people with plenteousness.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Heb 7:7 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 47:11 And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
Ver. 11. In the land of Rameses. ] That is, in the whole territory where Rameses was afterwards built. Exo 1:11
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Rameses. Later name of Goshen. See Exo 1:11.
as = according as.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Rameses: Gen 47:6, Exo 1:11, Exo 12:37, Joh 10:10, Joh 10:28, Joh 14:2, Joh 14:23, Joh 17:2, Joh 17:24
Reciprocal: Gen 47:26 – made it a law Gen 47:27 – dwelt Num 33:3 – they departed 1Sa 22:3 – Let my father Isa 22:24 – hang
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
47:11 And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of {c} Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
(c) Which was a city in the country of Goshen, Exo 1:11.