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Genesis 46:33

in Genesis 46

When Pharaoh summons you and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation?

KJV

And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation?

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This verse in Genesis 46

Commentary

4 notes on this verse
And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you,.... Order them to come before him, to see them, and have some conversation with them: and shall say, what is your occupation? or your works (c), their business and employment, whether they exercised any manufacture or handicraft, and what it was. (c) מעשיכם "opus vestrum", Pagninus, Montanus, "opera vestra", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius.

This site's exposition

What is your occupation

on Genesis 46:33-34

Joseph coaches them to answer with the plain fact, that they have raised livestock since their youth. Abraham and Isaac had each shaded the truth about a wife before a foreign king, and here the truth is told, and the household is given ground of its own in Goshen. Shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

3 And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation: 4 I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes. The divine precept is, In all thy ways acknowledge God; and the promise annexed to it is, He shall direct thy paths.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-run:54w-of-76

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

I will go up, and show Pharaoh--It was a tribute of respect due to the king to inform him of their arrival. And the instructions which he gave them were worthy of his character alike as an affectionate brother and a religious man.

The words behind it

8 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְהָיָ֕הand it will be

    vehayahH1961 →3559 times

  • כִּֽי־that

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • יִקְרָ֥אhe will summon

    yikra'H7121 →733 times

  • לָכֶ֖ם<to> you

    lakhem

  • פַּרְעֹ֑הPharaoh

    parohH6547 →274 times

  • וְאָמַ֖רand he will say

    veamarH559 →5305 times

  • מַה־what?

    mah-H4100 →752 times

  • מַּעֲשֵׂיכֶֽם׃[are] work<s> your

    maaseikhemH4639 →236 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

3 in all, six open

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Jonah 1:8

    “Tell us now,” they demanded, “who is to blame for this calamity that is upon us? What is your occupation, and where have you come from? What is your country, and who are your…

    it leads to

    • Genesis 47:3

      “What is your occupation?” Pharaoh asked Joseph’s brothers. “Your servants are shepherds,” they replied, “both we and our fathers.”

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 1 Samuel 30:13

      Then David asked him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?” “I am an Egyptian,” he replied, “the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me three days ago when I…

    • Joshua 7:19

      So Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and make a confession to Him. I urge you to tell me what you have done; do not…

    • James 5:16

      Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.

    • 1 Samuel 14:43

      “Tell me what you have done,” Saul commanded him. So Jonathan told him, “I only tasted a little honey with the end of the staff that was in my hand. And now I must…

  • Through

    Genesis 46:32

    The men are shepherds; they raise livestock, and they have brought their flocks and herds and all that they own.’

    it leads to

    • 1 Kings 18:5–6

      Then Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go throughout the land to every spring and every valley. Perhaps we will find grass to keep the horses and mules alive so that we will not have to…

    • Genesis 9:20

      Now Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard.

    • 1 Samuel 17:15

      but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep in Bethlehem.

About Genesis

Jacob Goes to Egypt — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Jacob Goes to Egypt — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Genesis: the study guide →Read Genesis 46 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Genesis 46 →