Genesis 47:27

Observe, 1. The comfort Jacob lived in (Gen 47:27, Gen 47:28); while the Egyptians were impoverished in their own land, Jacob was replenished in a strange land. He lived seventeen years after he came into Egypt, far beyond his own expectation. Seventeen years he had nourished Joseph (for so old he was when he was sold from him, Gen 37:2), and now, by way of requital, seventeen years Joseph nourished him. Observe how kindly Providence ordered Jacob's affairs, that when he was old, and least able to bear care or fatigue, he had least occasion for it, being well provided for by his son without his own forecast. Thus God considers the frame of his people. 2. The care Jacob died in. At last the time drew nigh that Israel must die, Gen 47:29. Israel, a prince with God, that had power over the angel and prevailed, yet must yield to death. There is no remedy, he must die: it is appointed for all men, therefore for him; and there is no discharge in that war. Joseph supplied him with bread, that he might not die by famine; but this did not secure him from dying by age or sickness. He died by degrees; his candle was not blown out, but gradually burnt down to the socket, so that he saw, at some distance, the time drawing nigh. Note, It is an improvable advantage to see the approach of death before we feel its arrests, that we may be quickened to do what our hand finds to do with all our might: however, it is not far from any of us. Now Jacob's care, as he saw the day approaching, was about his burial, not the pomp of it (he was no way solicitous about that), but the place of it. (1.) He would be buried in Canaan. This he resolved on, not from mere humour, because Canaan was the land of his nativity, but in faith, because it was the land of promise (which he desired thus, as it were, to keep possession of, till the time should come when his posterity should be masters of it), and because it was a type of heaven, that better country which he that said these things declared plainly that he was in expectation of, Heb 11:14. He aimed at a good land, which would be his rest and bliss on the other side death. (2.) He would have Joseph sworn to bring him thither to be buried (Gen 47:29, Gen 47:31), that Joseph, being under such a solemn obligation to do it, might have that to answer to the objections which otherwise might have been made against it, and for the greater satisfaction of Jacob now in his dying minutes. Nothing will better help to make a death-bed easy than the certain prospect of a rest in Canaan after death. (3.) When this was done Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head, yielding himself, as it were, to the stroke of death ("Now let it come, and it shall be welcome"), or worshipping God, as it is explained, Heb 11:21, giving God thanks for all his favours, and particularly for this, that Joseph was ready, not only to put his hand upon his eyes to close them, but under his thigh to give him the satisfaction he desired concerning his burial. Thus those that go down to the dust should, with humble thankfulness, bow before God, the God of their mercies, Psa 22:29.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Gen 47:27 And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly.

Ver. 27. Grew and multiplied exceedingly.] Here that promise in Gen 46:3 began to be accomplished. God dies not in any man’s debt.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Gen_47:27-28

And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen

The children of Israel in Goshen

I.

THEIR QUIET POSSESSION OF THE LAND.

1. They had the means and appliances of prosperity,

2. They enjoyed their freedom by a firm and honourable tenure.

II. THEIR PROSPERITY, (T. H. Leale.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Gen_47:27-28

THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL IN GOSHEN

I. Their quiet possession of the land.

1. They had the means and appliances of prosperity. They were saved from great privations, and they dwelt in a fertile land, most favourably suited to their industry.

2. They enjoyed their freedom by a firm and honourable tenure. They were hampered by no relations of dependence upon Pharaoh that would be irksome to them.

II. Their prosperity. By the peculiar blessing of God, this people grew into the promise of a great nation. Several things contributed to this. They had a definite territory exactly suited to their calling. They were free from moral contamination by intermarriages with an idolatrous nation. But above all, God bestowed upon them the blessing of an extraordinary fruitfulness. Old Jacob lived with them for seventeen years, and saw the commencement of this wonderful history. Thus he survived the famine by twelve years, and saw prosperity with his children.

SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES

Gen_47:27-28. It is a remarkable circumstance that until now we read of only two daughters in the family of Jacob. The brothers could not marry their sisters, and it was not desirable that the females should form affinity with the heathen, as they had in general to follow the faith of their husbands.—(Murphy.)

Seventeen years. So long he had nourished Joseph; and so long Joseph nourished him. These were the sweetest days that ever Jacob saw. God reserved his best to the last. “Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for”—be his beginning, and his middle never so troublesome—“the end of that man is peace.” (Psa_37:37). A Goshen he shall have, either here or in heaven.—(Trapp.)

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

47:27 God blessed his people according to his promise to Abraham that his descendants would be innumerable (15:5; 22:17). They had to wait for the fulfillment of the second promise, that they would own the land of Canaan (17:8).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

27. And Israel dwelt in the land. Moses does not mean that Jacob and his sons were proprietors of that land which Pharaoh had granted them as a dwelling-place, in the same manner in which the other parts of Egypt were given to the inhabitants for a perpetual possession: but that they dwelt there commodiously for a time, and thus were in possession by favor, provided they continued to be peaceable. Hence the cause that they so greatly increased, in a very short space of time. Therefore, what is here related by Moses belongs to the history of the following period; and he now returns to the proper thread of his narrative, in which he purposed to show how God protected his Church from many deaths; and not that only, but wonderfully exalted it by his own secret power.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

27. and they gat them, &c.] This clause concludes P’s narrative of the settlement of Jacob and his sons in Egypt.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years,.... He lived just the same term of years with Joseph in Egypt as he had lived with him in Syria and Canaan, Gen 37:2; about two hours' walk from Fium are now to be seen the ruins of an ancient town, which the Coptics say was inhabited by the patriarch Jacob, and for this cause they name it, yet, Modsellet Jacub, or the tabernacle of Jacob (n), which place is supposed to be in the land of Goshen, see Gen 47:11,

so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years; he was one hundred and thirty when he stood before Pharaoh, Gen 47:9; and now had lived in Egypt seventeen years, as in the above clause, which together make up the sum; and this exact time of the years of his life is given by Polyhistor from Demetrius, an Heathen writer (o).

(n) Vansleb's Relation of a Voyage to Egypt, p. 167. (o) Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 21. p. 425.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

They had possessions, i.e. lands, not for the dominion or propriety of them, for that rested in Pharaoh, but for the use and profit of them for their present subsistence.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And Israel (i.e. the people) dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein (i.e. acquired holdings in it), and grew (or became fruitful), and multiplied exceedingly or became very numerous. This was the commencement of the promise. (Gen_46:3)

HOMILIES BY R.A. REDFORD Vers. 27-31.

The sunset of a long life.

There is a touching beauty in this scene between the veteran Israel and the prosperous Joseph.

I An illustration of HUMAN INFIRMITY. The supplanter, the prince of God, must succumb at last to the King of Terrors. Israel must die." Yet he is not afraid of death.

II STRENGTH IS MADE PERFECT IN WEAKNESS. Grace appears brightest at the end. His gray hairs have not been "brought with sorrow to the grave," although he feared they would. The lost son is the comforter of his last days; to him he commits his dust-to be laid with his fathers.

III PERSEVERANCE IS NOT THE FRUIT OF MAN"S PERFECTION, BUT OF GOD"S MERCY. Jacob is faithful to the covenant spirit to the end, although in many respects his character was a mingled one. Yet he clung to the Divine word. Seventeen years could not wear out his love for the promised land. He knew the Solemnity of an oath, for had he not himself sworn and changed not? He would leave behind him in his last wishes a testimony which would help to keep his children faithful. And Israel bowed himself upon the becks head." The LXX, and the Syriac, and the Itala versions, with the reference in Heb_11:21; by a slight change in the Hebrew vowels, have rendered the words "he worshipped upon the top of his staff" i.e. leaning on that which had borne him through his pilgrimage, and thus, as it were, declaring the long journey at an end. But whether he turned towards the bed"s head, as it were away from the world towards God, or leaned on his staff, the idea is the same he bowed himself, like Simeon, saying, "Now, Lord, lettest thou thy servant depart in peace." It was a lovely sunset after a day of many clouds and much weariness and fear. R.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joseph’s Promise to Jacob

v. 27. And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew and multiplied exceedingly. This statement summarizes the history of the children of Israel for the next four hundred years.

v. 28. And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years, so long the Lord permitted him to share the happiness of his children; so the whole age of Jacob was one hundred forty and seven years.

v. 29. And the time drew nigh that Israel must die; and he called his son Joseph and said unto him, if now I have found grace in thy sight, if Joseph was willing to do him a last great favor, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, in a gesture accompanying a solemn oath, and deal kindly and truly with me; it would be an act of kindness and of faithfulness. Bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt;

v. 30. but I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying-place, in the cave in the field of Machpelah, which Abraham had bought after Sarah’s death, Gen 23:17-20. And he said, I will do as thou hast said. Joseph solemnly obligated himself to carry out this earnest wish of his father.

v. 31. And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head. He was apparently sitting up on his couch and leaning on his staff, Heb 11:21. He now turned to the head of the bed in a prayer of thanksgiving that his last wish was to be fulfilled. Even on his death-bed Jacob did not forget the Land of Promise and the Messianic prophecy. Thus will Christians keep God’s Word and promise before their eyes especially at the time when death is near.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They were fruitful and multiplied greatly

The word "multiplied" explains how they were "fruitful." AT: "They had very many children" (See: Doublet)

were fruitful

Here "fruitful" means to prosper or to have children. (See: Idiom)

seventeen years

"17 years" (See: Numbers)

so the years of Jacob's life were one hundred forty-seven years

"so Jacob lived to be 147 years old" (See: Numbers)

translationWords

Jacob

Goshen

possess

fruit

multiply

year

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

וישב ישראל בארץ מצרים AND ISRAEL ABODE IN THE LAND OF EGYPT — and where in the land of Egypt? בארץ גשן IN THE LAND OF GOSHEN which is a part of the land Egypt.

ויאחזו בה means THEY ACQUIRED POSSESSIONS.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

וישב ישראל, the term is used to describe the entire family of Yaakov, as if the Torah had written בני ישראל.

ויאחזו בה, they bought land in it, additional to that which Joseph had allocated to them.

ויפרו וירבו מאד, both in children and in property.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.