Genesis 47:3

The king asked the brothers, “What work do you do?” They replied, “We are shepherds, just as our ancestors were.”

Translation for Translators

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

4They also said to him, “We have come here to live for a while in this land, because the famine is very severe in Canaan, and our animals have no ◄pasture/grass to eat► there. So now, please let us live in the Goshen region.”

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Cross References

Genesis 4:2After those boys grew up, Abel ◄tended/took care of► sheep and goats, and Cain became a farmer.

Amos 7:14I replied to Amaziah, “I was previously not a prophet, and my father was not a prophet; I was a shepherd. I also took care of sycamore-fig trees.

2 Thessalonians 3:10Remember that when we were there with you, we kept commanding you that if any fellow believer refuses to work, you should not give him food to 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 →

This Verse In Other Editions

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