English Standard Version
Genesis 47:3
3Pharaoh said to his brothers, "What is your occupation?" And they said to Pharaoh, "Your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were."
Genesis 47:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and also our fathers.
- New International Version (NIV)Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What is your occupation?” “Your servants are shepherds,” they replied to Pharaoh, “just as our fathers were.”
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers.”
- New Living Translation (NLT)And Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What is your occupation?” They replied, “We, your servants, are shepherds, just like our ancestors.
Context of Genesis 47:3
1So 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." 2And from among his brothers he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to his brothers, "What is your occupation?" And they said to Pharaoh, "Your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were." 4They 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." 5Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Your father and your brothers have come to you.
Read all of Genesis 47Genesis 47:3 word by word
וַיֹּ֧אמֶר פַּרְעֹ֛ה אֶל־אֶחָ֖יו מַה־מַּעֲשֵׂיכֶ֑ם וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֗ה רֹעֵ֥ה צֹאן֙ עֲבָדֶ֔יךָ גַּם־אֲנַ֖חְנוּ גַּם־אֲבוֹתֵֽינוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And Pharaohפַּרְעֹהpar‛ôh · PharaohH6547
- saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- unto his brethrenאָח'âch · brother: male-siblingH251
- your occupationמַעֲשֶׂהma‛ăώeh · deed: workH4639
- Thy servantsעֶ֫בֶד‛ebed · servant/slaveH5650
- shepherdsצֹאןtsô'n tse'ôn · flockH6629
- shepherdsרָעָהrâ‛âh · to pastureH7462
- also our fathersאָב'âb · fatherH1
Cross-references for Genesis 47:3
- Genesis 46:33When Pharaoh calls you and says, 'What is your occupation?'
- Amos 7:14Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, "I was no prophet, nor a prophet's son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs.
- Jonah 1:8Then they said to him, "Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?"
- 2 Thessalonians 3:10For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.
- Genesis 4:2And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground.
Commentaries on Genesis 47:3
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-31Verses 1-31 - Jacob in Goshen 11. רעמסס ra‛mesês Rameses “son of the sun.” 31. מטה mı̂ṭṭāh “bed.” מטה maṭṭeh “staff.” Arrangements are now made for the settlement of Israel in Goshen. The administration of Joseph during the remaining years of the famine is then recorded. For the whole of this period his father and brothers are subject to him, as their political superior, according to the reading of his early dreams. We then approach to the death-bed…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-6Pharaoh responded as Joseph hoped by giving Jacob’s family the best part of the land; he even gave some of the brothers oversight of his own livestock (47:6).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-311. Joseph ... told Pharaoh, My father and my brethren--Joseph furnishes a beautiful example of a man who could bear equally well the extremes of prosperity and adversity. High as he was, he did not forget that he had a superior. Dearly as he loved his father and anxiously as he desired to provide for the whole family, he would not go into the arrangements he had planned for their stay in Goshen until he had obtained the sanction of his royal master.Read the comment
Topics related to Genesis 47:3
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Genesis 47
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries