Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 47:4

They said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we come; for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks; for the famine [is] sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen.

4. And they said unto Pharaoh ] Joseph’s brethren were the speakers in the last clause of Gen 47:3: it is natural to suppose that a question from Pharaoh has dropped out, to which they now give answer. They would hardly make the request in this verse without some invitation.

5, 6 (P). These verses interrupt the sequence of the narrative. They represent the account in P of the occupation of Goshen. The structure of the verses is a little different in LXX, where 5a is followed by 6b. 5a (J) “And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Let them dwell in the land of Goshen, 6b and if thou knowest any able men among them, then make them rulers over my cattle. 5b (P) And Jacob and his sons came into Egypt unto Joseph. And Pharaoh king of Egypt heard of it. And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee to dwell. 7 And Joseph brought in Jacob, &c.” This probably represents an earlier text, combining J and P; and the obvious discrepancy between the accounts was subsequently modified.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

To sojourn in the land are we come; not to defraud thy people of their lands and habitations, but only to be here for a season, as strangers and sojourners, till we can conveniently return to our own land.

Canaan being a higher ground than Egypt, and watered in a manner only by rain from heaven, must needs sooner and sorer feel the effects of a drought and scarcity than Egypt, which had relief from Nilus in that kind.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

4. For to sojourn . . . are wecomeThe royal conversation took the course which Joseph hadanticipated (Ge 46:33), andthey answered according to previous instructionsmanifesting,however, in their determination to return to Canaan, a faith andpiety which affords a hopeful symptom of their having become all, ormost of them, religious men.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

They said moreover unto Pharaoh, for to sojourn in the land are we come,…. Not to obtain possessions and inheritances, as if natives, and to abide there always, but to continue for a little time; for they kept in mind that the land of Canaan was given to them as an inheritance, and would be possessed by then, in due time, and therefore had no thought for the present of continuing here long:

for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine [is] sore in the land of Canaan: they say nothing of the want of corn for themselves, because they could have it from Egypt, fetching it, and paying a price for it, but of pasture for their cattle; for the land of Canaan lying higher, was so scorched with the heat of the sun, and parched with drought, that scarce any grass grew upon it; whereas Egypt, and especially the land of Goshen, lying lower, and being marshy and fenny places, near the Nile, had some grass growing on it, even when the Nile did not overflow to make it so fruitful as it sometimes was:

now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen: which request Joseph, no doubt, directed them to make, it being the spot he had chosen for them in his own mind, and even had promised it to his father; and which his brethren, by their short stay in it as they came along, saw would be very convenient for them, and was the true reason why Joseph instructed them to be particular in the account of their trade and business, that Pharaoh might be inclined of himself to propose it to them or however to grant it when requested.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(4) To sojourn.Josephs brethren ask for permission only for a temporary stay. Apparently, too, in spite of the famine, there was pasture for cattle in Goshen. They had been able hitherto to keep them alive even in Canaan; and probably the Nile, though it did not overflow, yet on reaching the delta lost itself in swamps, which produced a great quantity of the marsh grass described in Gen. 41:2. We find in this chapter that not only were Pharaohs herds intact, but also those of the people.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

4. To sojourn in the land are we come “Not to dwell there, for Canaan was ever their home, the land of promise . Yet this ‘sojourning’ lasted more than two, if not more than four, centuries.” Newhall.

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