Genesis 47:12
in Genesis 47Joseph also provided his father and brothers and all his father’s household with food for their families.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father’s household, with bread, according to their families.
KJV
And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father’s household, with bread, according to their families.
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This verse in Genesis 47
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
gave them property
on Genesis 47:11-12
The Hebrew for this property is the word used of Machpelah at Genesis 23:20, the one field Abraham owned. The family's first secure holding is Egyptian ground, better land than anything their fathers held in Canaan. Jacob answers that by making Joseph swear to carry him back to Canaan.
This site's exposition
Joseph also provided his father and brothers
The Hebrew closes the verse with according to the little ones, food measured out by the number of children in each house. Joseph keeps his promise of 45:11 to provide for them through the famine. The rest of Egypt pays for bread from verse 13 on.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"He gave everybody rations individually," the text says. What is meant by "everybody individually"? Enough for everyone. You see, it is customary with Scripture to refer to every person sometimes as a soul and sometimes as a body. As it said previously, "Jacob's company traveling to Egypt numbered seventy-five souls" so as to describe seventy-five men and women, so here too "everybody individually," that is, each person. Even though the whole of Egypt and Canaan was laid waste with famine, these people were comfortable through having a supply of grain flowing as if from a spring.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And. Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and his father's household, with bread,....
Care being taken of Jacob and his family, the preservation of which was especially designed by Providence in Joseph's advancement, an account is now given of the saving of the kingdom of Egypt too from ruin; for God is King of nations as well as King of saints, and provideth food for all flesh.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
AND JOSEPH SETTLED HIS FATHER AND HIS BRETHREN AND GAVE THEM A POSSESSION, etc. The meaning thereof is that he settled them in the choicest land and with the possession which he gave them since he did not want them to be as strangers in the land.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְכַלְכֵּ֤ל | vaykhalkel | and he provided for | H3557 → | 38 times |
| יוֹסֵף֙ | yosef | Joseph | H3130 → | 213 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אָבִ֣יו | ʾaviv | father his | H1 → | 1212 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֶחָ֔יו | ʾechav | brothers his | H251 → | 630 times |
| וְאֵ֖ת | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| בֵּ֣ית | beit | [the] household of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| אָבִ֑יו | ʾaviv | father his | H1 → | 1212 times |
| לֶ֖חֶם | lechem | food | H3899 → | 298 times |
| לְפִ֥י | lefi | to [the] mouth of | H6310 → | 498 times |
| הַטָּֽף׃ | hataf | the little one[s] | H2945 → | 42 times |
וַיְכַלְכֵּ֤לand he provided for
vaykhalkelH3557 →38 times
יוֹסֵף֙Joseph
yosefH3130 →213 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אָבִ֣יוfather his
ʾavivH1 →1212 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
אֶחָ֔יוbrothers his
ʾechavH251 →630 times
וְאֵ֖תand <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
בֵּ֣ית[the] household of
beitH1004 →2046 times
אָבִ֑יוfather his
ʾavivH1 →1212 times
לֶ֖חֶםfood
lechemH3899 →298 times
לְפִ֥יto [the] mouth of
lefiH6310 →498 times
הַטָּֽף׃the little one[s]
hatafH2945 →42 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Exodus 20:12Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
it leads to
- Ephesians 6:1–3
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
- Colossians 3:20
Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.
- Deuteronomy 5:16
Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the…
- Mark 7:10
For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’
- Ephesians 6:1–3
Through
1 Timothy 4:8For physical exercise is of limited value, but godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for the present life and for the one to come.
it leads to
- Matthew 6:33
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
- 1 Timothy 6:6
Of course, godliness with contentment is great gain.
- Matthew 6:33
Through
1 Timothy 5:8If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
it leads to
- Galatians 6:10
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to the family of faith.
- 2 Corinthians 12:14
See, I am ready to come to you a third time, and I will not be a burden, because I am not seeking your possessions, but you. For children should not have to save…
- Galatians 6:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
On this chapter
About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 65.11; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.