New International Version
Genesis 47:3
3Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What is your occupation?” “Your servants are shepherds,” they replied to Pharaoh, “just 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.
- 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.”
- 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
1Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father and brothers, with their flocks and herds and everything they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in Goshen.” 2He chose five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh. Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What is your occupation?” “Your servants are shepherds,” they replied to Pharaoh, “just as our fathers were.” 4They also said to him, “We have come to live here for a while, because the famine is severe in Canaan and your servants’ flocks have no pasture. So now, please let your servants settle in Goshen.” 5Pharaoh 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 in and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’
- Amos 7:14Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees.
- Jonah 1:8So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? 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 gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”
- Genesis 4:2Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.
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
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