Genesis 47:3

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.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)Pharaoh said to his brothers, "What is your occupation?" And they said to Pharaoh, "Your servants are shepherds, 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.”

Context of Genesis 47:3

1Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers and their flocks and their herds and all that they have, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen.” 2He took five men from among his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” So they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and our fathers.” 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. Now, therefore, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen.” 5Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you.

Genesis 47:3 word by word

וַיֹּ֧אמֶר פַּרְעֹ֛ה אֶל־אֶחָ֖יו מַה־מַּעֲשֵׂיכֶ֑ם וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֗ה רֹעֵ֥ה צֹאן֙ עֲבָדֶ֔יךָ גַּם־אֲנַ֖חְנוּ גַּם־אֲבוֹתֵֽינוּ׃Read the interlinear

• Then Pharaohפַּרְעֹהpar‛ôh · PharaohH6547
• saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• to his brothersאָח'âch · brother: male-siblingH251
• Whatמָהmâh mah mâ ma meh · what?H4100
• is your occupationמַעֲשֶׂהma‛ăώeh · deed: workH4639
• Your servantsעֶ֫בֶד‛ebed · servant/slaveH5650
• shepherdsרָעָהrâ‛âh · to pastureH7462
• bothגַּםgam · alsoH1571
• we and 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 replied to Amaziah, “I am not a prophet, nor am I the son of a prophet; for I am a herdsman and a grower of sycamore figs.
• Jonah 1:8Then they said to him, “Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”
• 2 Thessalonians 3:10For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.
• Genesis 4:2Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller 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

• Jacob
• Joseph

In the dictionaries

• Pharaoh
• Pharaoh, king of Egypt
• Building
• City
• Exchange
• Fail
• House
• Nourish
• Pilgrimage
• Portion

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