Genesis 47:4
in Genesis 47Then they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live in the land for a time, because there is no pasture for the flocks of your servants, since the famine in the land of Canaan has been severe. So now, please allow your servants to settle in the land of Goshen.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they said unto Pharaoh, To sojourn in the land are we come; for there is no pasture for thy servants’ 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.
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.
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This verse in Genesis 47
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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.
This site's exposition
So Joseph went and told Pharaoh
on Genesis 47:1-4
Joseph brings five of his brothers before Pharaoh, and they ask leave to stay in the land for a time. The Hebrew behind it is the word Abraham used of himself at Genesis 23:4, a man living among people who own the ground. They name their trade as shepherds, as Joseph told them to at Genesis 46:34, where every shepherd is detestable to the Egyptians. That contempt keeps Israel in Goshen and apart.
This site's exposition
there is no pasture for the flocks of your servants
The brothers give pasture as the reason for the move, and the famine in Canaan as its cause. Grain could travel home on donkeys, while grazing for the flocks had to be found where it grew. Goshen is a request for grass.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), not to settle there for ever, only to sojourn there for a time, while the famine so prevailed in Canaan, which lay high, that it was not habitable for shepherds, the grass being burnt up much more than in Egypt, which lay low, and where the corn chiefly failed, while there was tolerably good pasture.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
They said moreover unto Pharaoh, for to sojourn in the land are we come,....
The words behind it
23 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| פַּרְעֹ֗ה | paroh | Pharaoh | H6547 → | 274 times |
| לָג֣וּר | lagur | to sojourn | H1481 → | 97 times |
| בָּאָרֶץ֮ | baaretz | in the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| בָּאנוּ֒ | banu | we have come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֵ֣ין | ʾein | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| מִרְעֶ֗ה | mireh | [is] pasture | H4829 → | |
| לַצֹּאן֙ | latzon | for the sheep | H6629 → | 274 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לַעֲבָדֶ֔יךָ | laavadeikha | [belongs] to servants your | H5650 → | 799 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כָבֵ֥ד | khaved | [was] heavy | H3515 → | 41 times |
| הָרָעָ֖ב | haraav | the famine | H7458 → | 101 times |
| בְּאֶ֣רֶץ | beeretz | in [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| כְּנָ֑עַן | kenaan | Canaan | H3667 → | 94 times |
| וְעַתָּ֛ה | veatah | and therefore | H6258 → | 433 times |
| יֵֽשְׁבוּ־ | yeshevu- | let them dwell | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| נָ֥א | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| עֲבָדֶ֖יךָ | ʾavadeikha | servants your | H5650 → | 799 times |
| בְּאֶ֥רֶץ | beeretz | in [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| גֹּֽשֶׁן׃ | goshen | Goshen | H1657 → | 15 times |
וַיֹּאמְר֣וּand they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
פַּרְעֹ֗הPharaoh
parohH6547 →274 times
לָג֣וּרto sojourn
lagurH1481 →97 times
בָּאָרֶץ֮in the land
baaretzH776 →2504 times
בָּאנוּ֒we have come
banuH935 →2568 times
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אֵ֣יןthere not
ʾeinH369 →789 times
מִרְעֶ֗ה[is] pasture
mirehH4829 →
לַצֹּאן֙for the sheep
latzonH6629 →274 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לַעֲבָדֶ֔יךָ[belongs] to servants your
laavadeikhaH5650 →799 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
כָבֵ֥ד[was] heavy
khavedH3515 →41 times
הָרָעָ֖בthe famine
haraavH7458 →101 times
בְּאֶ֣רֶץin [the] land of
beeretzH776 →2504 times
כְּנָ֑עַןCanaan
kenaanH3667 →94 times
וְעַתָּ֛הand therefore
veatahH6258 →433 times
יֵֽשְׁבוּ־let them dwell
yeshevu-H3427 →1079 times
נָ֥אplease
na'H4994 →404 times
עֲבָדֶ֖יךָservants your
ʾavadeikhaH5650 →799 times
בְּאֶ֥רֶץin [the] land of
beeretzH776 →2504 times
גֹּֽשֶׁן׃Goshen
goshenH1657 →15 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
Genesis 15:13Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
it leads to
- Acts 7:6–7
God told him that his descendants would be foreigners in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
- Exodus 1:11
So the Egyptians appointed taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. As a result, they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.
- Exodus 12:40–41
Now the duration of the Israelites’ stay in Egypt was 430 years.
- Acts 7:6–7
Through
Deuteronomy 26:5and you are to declare before the LORD your God, “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt few in number and lived there and became a great nation, mighty…
it leads to
- Genesis 46:27
And with the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob’s family who went to Egypt were seventy in all.
- Deuteronomy 10:22
Your fathers went down to Egypt, seventy in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.
- Genesis 43:1–2
Now the famine was still severe in the land.
- Genesis 46:27
Through
Psalms 105:23Then Israel entered Egypt; Jacob dwelt in the land of Ham.
it leads to
- Acts 7:11–15
Then famine and great suffering swept across Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers could not find food.
- Acts 13:17
The God of the people of Israel chose our fathers. He made them into a great people during their stay in Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He led them out of that land.
- Acts 7:11–15
About Genesis

Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
