GENESIS 47: BEFORE PHARAOH

A little while after having arrived at Egypt, Joseph introduced his family to Pharaoh who had just come from Canaan.

(Genesis 47:1-2) So Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan. They are now in the land of Goshen.” (2) And from among his brothers he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh.

Interestingly, he did not take everyone before the king, but only five of them. But even before doing that, Joseph instructed them in what to do.

(Gen. 47:3-4) Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were.” (4) They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. And now, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.”

Joseph had won Pharaoh’s favor. The king was willing to give him anything he wanted as a way to say thank you for everything Joseph had done for him and for the Egyptians.

(Gen. 47:5-6) Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. (6) The land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. Let them settle in the land of Goshen, and if you know any able men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.”

Joseph’s good past in Egypt had opened opportunities for his brothers, and Pharaoh offered them a job – with the understanding that they would be as responsible as Joseph had been.

HE INTRODUCES JACOB

After the conversation with Pharaoh and the brothers, Joseph also introduced his father, Jacob.

(Gen. 47:7-10) Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and stood him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. (8) And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?” (9) And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.” (10) And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.

Jacob doesn’t only measure the length of his physical years, but also their quality. The truth is that he had suffered a lot throughout his life. All the time thinking that Joseph was not alive, he was “as a living dead”. It was only until he found out that his son lived that he felt alive again (Gen. 45:26-28).

Some commentators say that in this scene it is evident that Jacob was spiritually superior, since he was the one who blessed Pharaoh, and not the other way around (47:7,10).

IN THE MIDST OF HUNGER

In the midst of everyone being hungry, Jacob’s family always had provisions and never lacked anything.

(Gen. 47:11-12) Then Joseph settled 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. (12) And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their dependents.

But not everyone was as fortunate as Jacob’s family…

(Gen. 47:13-17) Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished by reason of the famine. (14) And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, in exchange for the grain that they bought. And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. (15) And when 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 food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone.” (16) And Joseph answered, “Give your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock, if your money is gone.” (17) So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the donkeys. He supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year.

During the years of abundance in Egypt, Pharaoh stored grains as a reserve for the years of famine, just as it had been revealed to him in his dreams. Joseph was placed in charge of the reserve, and later of the distribution of those grains. But, as it was mentioned before, Pharaoh did not “give away” what he had kept, but he sold it to Egyptians and foreigners alike.

During the first year, the Egyptians gave all their money, in exchange of food. When their money ran out, they began to give their livestock. That is why Pharaoh asked Joseph’s brothers to help him keep his livestock (47:6).

But the famine continued…

(Gen. 47:18-22) And when that year was ended, they came to him the following year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent. The herds of livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our land. (19) Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.” (20) So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for all the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe on them. The land became Pharaoh’s. (21) As for the people, he made servants of them from one end of Egypt to the other. (22) Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh and lived on the allowance that Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land.

All of Egypt was indebted to Pharaoh. In other words, they were enslaved to him. They owed their lives to Pharaoh and to Joseph, who provided them with food in the time of their greatest need.

But their goal was not to have a nation of slaves, but a productive nation. For that to happen, Joseph came up with a plan to have everyone working.

(Gen. 47:23-26) Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. (24) And at the harvests you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones.” (25) And they said, “You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh.” (26) So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, and it stands to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; the land of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh’s.

In other words, Joseph established a tax system in Egypt. Joseph’s good leadership helped Pharaoh to prosper greatly.

THE ISRAELITES IN EGYPT

Meanwhile, what happened to the sons of Israel in Egypt?

(Gen. 47:27) Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly.

As the Egyptians were indebted, the Israelites prospered. Most likely the Egyptians resented this, and maybe that is why they later made them into slaves, after Joseph died (Exo. 1:6-14).

JACOB’S YEARS

The bible says that Jacob lived another 17 years, after arriving at Egypt. You could say that God gave to Jacob the years he had lost with Joseph.

(Gen. 47:28) And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were 147 years.

Jacob did not go back to the Promised Land. However, he wanted to make sure that he would be buried along the patriarchs. So he made Joseph promise him that he would take his bones to Hebron.

(Gen. 47:29-31) And when the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and promise to deal kindly and truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt, (30) but let me lie with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place.” He answered, “I will do as you have said.” (31) And he said, “Swear to me”; and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself upon the head of his bed.

A BETTER LAND

One could think that God did not keep his promise of bringing Jacob back to the Promised Land. But we know that God is faithful and always keeps his promises, but he doesn’t always do it in the way that we “interpret” his words. The book of Hebrews clearly explains it for us to better understand…

(Hebrews 11:13-16) These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. (14) For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. (15) If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. (16) But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

The City to which he refers is the New Jerusalem. The patriarchs saw that goal with their spiritual eyes. We also have to put our eyes in it, because this is our inheritance and our eternal destiny.

In the next chapter we will begin to see the blessing Jacob gives to his sons before he dies…