Genesis 47:3

Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What work do you do?” “Your servants are shepherds, just like our fathers before us,” they replied.

Free Bible Version

In The King James Version

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.

In Context

2Joseph took five of his brothers to go with him and introduced them to Pharaoh.

4“We have come to live in Egypt because there's no grass left in Canaan for our flocks to eat,” they explained. “The famine is really bad in Canaan. So we would like to please ask permission to live in Goshen.”

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Cross References

Genesis 4:2Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Abel became a shepherd, while Cain was a crop farmer.

Amos 7:14But Amos replied, “I'm not a trained prophet, or the son of a prophet. I was just a shepherd, and also took care of fig trees.

2 Thessalonians 3:10Even while we were with you we gave strict instructions that anybody who didn't want to work shouldn't eat.

Matthew Henry on Genesis 47:2-13

Pharaoh's Generosity; Jacob Presented to Pharaoh. ( b. c. 1706.) 1 Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen. 2 And he took some of his brethren, even five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh. 3 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. 4 They… Read the whole commentary →

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