Skip to main content
Psalmlog Logo

Genesis 47

Joseph preserves lives through famine while Pharaoh gains land and servants, and Jacob’s household prospers without making Egypt its final home.

Joseph presents five of his brothers and then his father Jacob to Pharaoh after famine has driven the family from Canaan. Pharaoh grants them land in Goshen, and Joseph supplies their households with bread. Across Egypt, the famine forces people to exchange their money, livestock, and land for food, bringing them into Pharaoh’s service. Meanwhile, Jacob’s household grows in Egypt. As death draws near, Jacob asks Joseph to swear that he will bury him with his fathers outside Egypt.

job loss or money fearagingdeath and what comes after
Read
1Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen.”
2From among his brothers he took five men, and presented them to Pharaoh.
4They also said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live as foreigners in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks. For the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.”
6The land of Egypt is before you. Make your father and your brothers dwell in the best of the land. Let them dwell in the land of Goshen. If you know any able men among them, then put them in charge of my livestock.”
7Joseph brought in Jacob, his father, and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
9Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are one hundred thirty years. The days of the years of my life have been few and evil. They have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.”
10Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.
11Joseph placed his father and his brothers, 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.
12Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all of his father’s household with bread, according to the sizes of their families.
13There was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.
14Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.
15When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, “Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For our money fails.”
16Joseph said, “Give me your livestock; and I will give you food for your livestock, if your money is gone.”
17They brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, and for the flocks, and for the herds, and for the donkeys: and he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock for that year.
18When that year was ended, they came to him the second year, and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord how our money is all spent, and the herds of livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands.
19Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh. Give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land won’t be desolate.”
22Only he didn’t buy the land of the priests, for the priests had a portion from Pharaoh, and ate their portion which Pharaoh gave them. That is why they didn’t sell their land.
23Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh. Behold, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land.
24It will happen at the harvests, that you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four parts will be your own, for seed of the field, for your food, for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.”
25They said, “You have saved our lives! Let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.”
27Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they got themselves possessions therein, and were fruitful, and multiplied exceedingly.
28Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were one hundred forty-seven years.
30but when I sleep with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place.” Joseph said, “I will do as you have said.”
31Israel said, “Swear to me,” and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself on the bed’s head.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Genesis 47:9Jacob describes his long life as a troubled pilgrimage, placing his arrival before Pharaoh within the limits of human life.
Genesis 47:29Jacob’s burial request shows that seventeen years in Egypt have not severed his ties to his fathers’ burial place.
Genesis 47:12Joseph’s provision for each household establishes his family’s security before the account turns to Egypt’s mounting losses.
Where this chapter reaches

Exodus continues the account of Israel’s growth in Egypt, while Acts recounts the famine and the family’s move to join Joseph there. Hebrews shares the language of pilgrimage and recounts Jacob’s worship near death, linking his final days with faith.

Genesis 47's chapter linksAll strongest linksHover or tap a book
Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What stands out when you compare Joseph’s care for his household with the Egyptians’ cost of survival?

Write on this

How do Jacob’s words about his life and his burial request shape your thoughts about home?

Write on this

Questions people ask about Genesis 47

Why does Jacob call his years few and evil in Genesis 47?

Jacob is 130 when he speaks to Pharaoh. He calls his years few in comparison with the lifespans of his fathers. In this context, evil describes the hardship of his days. The statement is a sober assessment of a troubled life; it does not mean every part of his life was wicked.

Did Joseph make the Egyptians slaves in Genesis 47?

The Egyptians offer themselves and their land to Pharaoh in exchange for food. Joseph buys them and their land, moves the people to cities, and establishes a fifth of the harvest as Pharaoh’s share. The supplied translation calls them servants. Their lives are preserved, but they lose land ownership and independence.

Why did Jacob ask Joseph not to bury him in Egypt?

Jacob asks to be buried with his fathers, showing his enduring attachment to their burial place despite years of security in Egypt. He requires Joseph to swear to carry out the request. The chapter states his wish and records the oath, but does not explain all his reasons.

Read it. Now write it.

Start an entry on Genesis 47. Your words go beside the text, and you get one next step for the week.

Genesis · 50 chapters
1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738394041424344454647484950
What the Bible says about money →What the Bible says about death →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).