New King James Version
Genesis 47:3
3Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers.”
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 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
1Then Joseph went and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers, their flocks and their herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; and indeed they are in the land of Goshen.” 2And he took five men from among his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh. 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.” 4And 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.” 5Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, “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 46:33So it shall be, when Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’
- Amos 7:14Then Amos answered, and said to Amaziah: “I was no prophet, Nor was I a son of a prophet, But I was a sheepbreeder And a tender of sycamore fruit.
- Jonah 1:8Then they said to him, “Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble 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 commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.
- Genesis 4:2Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, 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
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries