Genesis 47:4

WEB · Bible Passage

Bible Text

They said to Pharaoh, "We have come to live as foreigners in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants' flocks. For the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen."

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Maps for this passage

Canaan in the Patriarchal AgeCanaan during the patriarchal period, before the Israelite conquest.

The Ancient Near East (Fertile Crescent)The ancient Near East and Fertile Crescent, from Mesopotamia to Egypt, the world of the patriarchs.

Historical maps are public-domain atlas plates, digitized by Wikimedia Commons.

Canaan was the promised land Jacob’s family left because of famine; Egypt was the land where Joseph had authority to provide food. Goshen, apparently in the Rameses region of northeastern Egypt, was fertile pastureland suitable for the family’s flocks and became their designated place of settlement.

Places in this passage

Genesis 47:4 mentions Canaan, Egypt, Goshen and Rameses.

Photo of Egypt — Egypt · Ricardo Liberato