New International Version
Genesis 47:4
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.”
Genesis 47:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)They said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we come; for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen.
- English Standard Version (ESV)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."
- New King James Version (NKJV)And they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to dwell in the land, because your servants have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.”
- New Living Translation (NLT)We have come to live here in Egypt for a while, for there is no pasture for our flocks in Canaan. The famine is very severe there. So please, we request permission to live in the region of Goshen.”
Context of Genesis 47:4
2He chose five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh. 3Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What is your occupation?” “Your servants are shepherds,” they replied to Pharaoh, “just as our fathers were.” They 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, 6and the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land. Let them live in Goshen. And if you know of any among them with special ability, put them in charge of my own livestock.”
Read all of Genesis 47Genesis 47:4 word by word
וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֗ה לָג֣וּר בָּאָרֶץ֮ בָּאנוּ֒ כִּי־אֵ֣ין מִרְעֶ֗ה לַצֹּאן֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר לַעֲבָדֶ֔יךָ כִּֽי־כָבֵ֥ד הָרָעָ֖ב בְּאֶ֣רֶץ כְּנָ֑עַן וְעַתָּ֛ה יֵֽשְׁבוּ־נָ֥א עֲבָדֶ֖יךָ בְּאֶ֥רֶץ גֹּֽשֶׁן׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- They saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- moreover unto Pharaohפַּרְעֹהpar‛ôh · PharaohH6547
- For to sojournגּוּרgûr · to sojournH1481
- in the landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- are we comeבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
- for thy servantsעֶ֫בֶד‛ebed · servant/slaveH5650
- have no pastureמִרְעֶהmir‛eh · pastureH4829
- for their flocksצֹאןtsô'n tse'ôn · flockH6629
- for the famineרָעָבrâ‛âb · famineH7458
- soreכָּבֵדkâbêd · heavyH3515
- of Canaanכְּנַ֫עַןkena‛an · CanaanH3667
- dwellיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427
- of Goshenגֹּ֫שֶׁןgôshen · GoshenH1657
Cross-references for Genesis 47:4
- Genesis 12:10Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.
- Genesis 15:13Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there.
- Deuteronomy 26:5Then you shall declare before the Lord your God: “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous.
- Psalms 105:23Then Israel entered Egypt; Jacob resided as a foreigner in the land of Ham.
- Isaiah 52:4For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “At first my people went down to Egypt to live; lately, Assyria has oppressed them.
- Acts 7:6God spoke to him in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated.
- Genesis 43:1Now the famine was still severe in the land.
- Acts 7:11“Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food.
- Genesis 46:34you should answer, ‘Your servants have tended livestock from our boyhood on, just as our fathers did.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the region of Goshen, for all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.”
Commentaries on Genesis 47:4
- 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. 44. For to sojourn ... are we come--The royal conversation took the course which Joseph had anticipated (Ge 46:33), and they answered according to previous instructions--manifesting, however, in their determination to return to Canaan, a faith and piety which affords a hopeful symptom of their having become all, or most of them, religious men.Read the comment
Topics related to Genesis 47:4
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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