Genesis 47:3

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

Majority Standard Bible

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

2And he chose five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh.

4Then 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.”

Read all of Genesis 47

Cross References

Genesis 4:2Later she gave birth to Cain’s brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, while Cain was a tiller of the soil.

Amos 7:14“I was not a prophet,” Amos replied, “nor was I the son of a prophet; rather, I was a herdsman and a tender of sycamore-fig trees.

2 Thessalonians 3:10For even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “If anyone is unwilling to work, he shall not 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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Study Genesis 47:3