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Please read the Introductory Notes to this commentary.

WARNING: The text used for my commentary is my own paraphrase and must not be
considered “a translation” or authorative in any way. It is, in fact, simply my commentary.
Maps, when used, are from BibleAtlas.org. Created using BibleMapper 3.0.
Additional data from OpenBible.info. Source of Dates Used

בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית • B'resheet
(“In Beginning” or “At First”)
The First Book of Moses,
Commonly Called
Genesis

Genesis: Introduction • Videos
1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24  25 
26  27  28  29  30  31  32  33  34  35  36  37  38  39  40  41  42  43  44  45  46  47  48  49  50
Yosef as a type of Yeshua    Source of Dates Used

Parashot: Index   1. B'resheet   2. Noach   3. Lech Lecha   4. Vayera   5. Chayei Sarah
6. Toldot   7. VaYetze   8. VaYishlach   9. VaYeshev   10. Miketz   11. Vayigash   12. Vayechi
 

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~ 47 ~

[Goshen, Egypt [MAP] 1523 BCE, 2238 AC]

Parashah 11: Vayigash (continued)
“He approached” • 44:18–47:27
(Small Roman numerals in the text indicate each 'aliyah.)

2. Isra'el Settles in Goshen (46:28-47:27) [1677 BCE]

1Then Yosef went and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own, have come from the land of Kena'an, and they are now in the land of Goshen.” 2From among his brothers he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh. 3Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?”

“Your servants are shepherds,” they answered, “both we and our fathers.” 4Then they told Pharaoh, “We have come to live in the land for a while because there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Kena'an. So please let your servants settle in the land of Goshen.”

5Pharaoh said to Yosef, “Now that your father and your brothers have come to you, 6the land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and your brothers settle in the best part of the land. They can live in the land of Goshen. If you know any capable men among them, then put them in charge of my livestock.”

7Yosef brought in Ya'akov, his father, and set him before Pharaoh; and Ya'akov blessed Pharaoh. 8Pharaoh said to Ya'akov, “How old are you?”

9Ya'akov answered, “My pilgrimage has lasted one hundred thirty years. My years have been few and hard, and they have not attained the years my fathers lived during the days of their pilgrimages.” 10Then Ya'akov blessed Pharaoh and left his presence.

 
[TO PARASHAH TOP] 
 

(vii) 11So Yosef settled his father and his brothers and gave them property in best of the land of Egypt, the area of Rameses,[11] [MAP] as Pharaoh had commanded. 12And Yosef provided his father, his brothers, and all of his father’s household with food for their families.

 [1676 BCE]

13But there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Kena'an fhad been exhausted by the famine. 14Yosef collected all the money to be found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Kena'an in exchange for the grain they bought. And Yosef brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. 15When all the money in the land of Egypt and in the land of Kena'an had been spent, all the Egyptians came to Yosef and said, “Give us food, for why should we die in your presence? Our money is all gone.”

16Yosef said, “Give me your livestock. Since your money is gone I will give you food en exchange for your livestock.”

17So they brought their livestock to Yosef, and Yosef gave them food in exchange for their horses, their sheep, their cattle, and their donkeys. And for that year he provided them with cood in exchange for all their livestock. 18When that year was over, they came to him the next year and told him, “We can’t hide from our lord that our money is all spent and that all of our livestock belongs to our lord. There is nothing left for our lord but our bodies and our lands. 19Why should we die in front of you, both us and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food and we and our land will become Pharaoh’s servants. Give us seed so that we may live and not die, and so that the land won’t become desolate.”

20So Yosef bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for every Egyptian sold his field since the famine was severe for them. And so all the land became Pharaoh’s. 21And Yosef moved all the people to the cities from one end of Egypt to the other. 22However, he didn’t buy the land of the priests, for the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh, and they lived off the allotment that Pharaoh had gaven them. That is why they didn’t sell their land.[22] 23Then Yosef said to the people, “Understand that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh. Here is seed for you, and you may sow the land. 24Then at harvest time, you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths will be your own for field seed and for your food, for those of your households, and for food for your little ones.”[24]

 
[TO PARASHAH TOP] 
 

(Maftir) 25“You have saved our lives!” they said. “Let us find favor in our lord’s sight, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.”

26Yosef made it a statute in the land of Egypt that is still to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth of the produce. Only the land of the priests didn’t become Pharaoh’s.

[Birth of Beriah, Ephraim’s son, ca 1665 BCE]

27Thus the people of Isra'el lived in the land of Egypt, in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and became fruitful and very numerous.

[Continue reading this chapter]

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Now that you’ve read Vayigash,
watch Rabbi Greg Hershberg’s teaching

 
[TO PARASHAH TOP] 
 

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Haftarah

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Haftarah Vayigash is Y’chezki’el (Ezekiel) 37:15–28
Listen to it read from the Complete Jewish Bible

15  Y^ehovah’s word came again to me, saying, 16 “You, son of man, take one stick and write on it, ‘For Judah, and for the children of Isra'el his companions.’ Then take another stick, and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Isra'el his companions.’ 17 Then join them for yourself to one another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand.

18 “When the children of your people speak to you, saying, ‘Won’t you show us what you mean by these?’ 19 tell them, ‘Adonai Y^ehovah says: “Hinneh, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Isra'el his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in my hand. 20 The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes.” ’ 21 Say to them, ‘Adonai Y^ehovah says: “Behold, I will take the children of Isra'el from among the nations where they have gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Isra'el. One king will be king to them all. They will no longer be two nations. They won’t be divided into two kingdoms any more at all. 23 They won’t defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. So they will be my people, and I will be their God.

24 “ ‘ “My servant David will be king over them. They all will have one shepherd. They will also walk in my ordinances and observe my statutes, and do them. 25 They will dwell in the land that I have given to Ya'akov my servant, in which your fathers lived. They will dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children’s children, forever. David my servant will be their prince forever. 26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them. It will be an everlasting covenant with them. I will place them, multiply them, and will set my sanctuary among them forever more. 27 My tent also will be with them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28 The nations will know that I am Y^ehovah who sanctifies Isra'el, when my sanctuary is among them forever more.” ’”

 
[TO PARASHAH TOP] 
 

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Ketuvei HaShalichim (Apostolic Writings)

The Gospel reading is Lukas (Luke) 24:30-48

24: 30When he had reclined at the table with them, He took the matzahunbleavened bread; it was Passover week and said the ha-motzi.[30] Then He broke it and gave it to them. 31Their eyes were opened, they recognized Him, and then He vanished from their sight. 32They said to each other, “Weren’t our hearts burning inside us while He spoke to us along the way, and while He opened up the Tanakh to us?”

Yeshua reveals Himself to the eleven talmidimdisciples (vv 33-43) (Mk 16:14; Jn 20:19-25)

33They got up at once, returned to YerushalayimJerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together with their friends, 34who told them, “The Lord has really risen! He appeared to Simon!” 35They began telling about what had happened on the road, and how they recoognized Him by the breaking of the matzah.

36While yhey were talking about it, Yeshua Himself suddenly was standing among them and He said to them, “Shalom aleichemPeace be unto you.”

37But they were startled and terrified. They thought they were seeing a ghost.

38He said to them, “Why are you troubled? Why are your hearts filled with doubt? 39Look at My hands and My feet; it’s really Me. Touch Me and see for yourself; a ghost doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you can see that I have.” 40When He had said this, He showed them His hands and feet. 41They still weren’t able to believe it for all their joy, and they stood dumbfounnded. He asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”

42They gave him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb, 43and He took them and ate in front of them.[43]

The Kingdom offered to all (vv 44-49) (Mt 28:18-20; Mk 16:15-18; Jn 17:18; Jn 20:21; Acts 1:8)

44Yeshua told them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you; everything written about Me in the Torah of Moshe, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

45Then He opened their minds so they could understand the Tanakh. 46He told them, “Here is what is written: it was necessary for the Mashiach to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47and that repentance that leads to forgiveness of sins through His Name should be proclaimed to people from every nation, beginning at YerushalayimJerusalem. 48You are witnesses to these things,” He said.

Kepherim: Letters (optional)

P’yilut HaSh'liakim (Acts of the Emissaries) 7:9-16 (specifically vv. 13-15)

9 “The patriarchs, because of their jealousy of YosefJoseph, sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him, 10 rescued him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him governor over Egypt and all his household. 11 Then a famine came over all the land of Egypt and Kena'anCanaan, causing great suffering, and our fahers couldn’t find food. 12 But when Ya'akov heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time. 13 The second time, Yosef identified himself to his brothers, and Yosef’s family was introduced to Pharaoh. 14 Yosef then sent for his father Ya'akov and all his relatives, seventy-five people in all. 15 So Ya'akov went down into Egypt, shere he and our fathers died. 16 Their bones were brought back to Shechem, [MAP] and buried in the tomb that Avraham had bought from from the family of Hamor of Shechem for a certain price he paid in silver.

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The Blessing After the Ketuvei HaShalichim Click here to listen to this canted by Jeremiah Greenberg of Messianic Liturgical Resources. Page numbers refer to his Messianic Shabbat Siddur.
Ba-rookh ah-tah, Adonai Eh-lo-hay-noo, meh-lekh hah-oh-lahm, ah-sher na-tahn la-noo Ha-d'var Ha-eh-met v'cha-yaye oh-lahm na-ta b'toe-chey-noo. Ba-rooch ah-ta Adonai, no-tain Ha-breet Ha-cha-da-sha. Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has given us the Word of Truth and has planted life everlasting in our midst. Blessed are you O Lord, Giver of the New Covenant.

The Blessing of the Messiah Click here to listen to this canted by Jeremiah Greenberg of Messianic Liturgical Resources. Page numbers refer to his Messianic Shabbat Siddur.
Ba-rookh ah-tah Adonai Eh-lo-hay-noo, meh-lekh hah-oh-lahm, ah-sher na-tahn la-noo ha-deh-rech l'y'shoo-ah b'ma-she-ahch Yeshua. Ah-mein. Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has given us the way to salvation in Messiah Yeshua. Amen.

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Joseph in Egypt- The Research and Discoveries of Ron Wyatt

 

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Listen to Vayechi read from the CJB

XII. Parashah 12: Vayechi (“He lived”) 47:28–50:26

A. Ya'akov Lives in Egypt (47:28-31)

(i) 28Ya'akov lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years, so Ya'akov lived a total of one hundred forty-seven years. 29When the time came near for him to die, Isra'el called his son Yosef, and said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh[29]  and promise me that will deal with me in kindness and faithfulness. Please don’t bury me in Egypt. 30When I lie down with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.”

Yosef said, “I will do as you have said.”

31Isra'el said, “Swear to me.” And Yosef swore to him. Then Isra'el bowed in worship at the head of his bed.

Chapter 48

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11. Critics claim that Isra'el could not have settled in the area of Rameses in 1523 BCE because Ramesses I did not come to power until three hundred years later, or about 1292–1290 BCE. Those same critics have no problem with historical accounts that say the Dutch West India Company purchased Manhattah Island from the Lenape Indians for 60 guilders. Just as Manhattan Island wasn’t called that until years after the purchase, so the area of Egypt where Isra'el settled wasn’t called Rameses until some time after Rameses came to power, so it wasn’t called Rameses at the time Moshe lived there. Moshe Rabeinu didn’t write this account until some time after 1313 BCE, and Ezra the Scribe is credited with restoring the text of the Torah. He:

… meticulously established a model text for the Torah, writing a scroll against which all other Torah scrolls were to be checked for accuracy. It was kept in the Temple throughout the Second Temple period. It is due to his diligence that our Torah scrolls have remained invariably and remarkably accurate until today. (“Ezra the Scribe” at Chabad.org, accessed 14 Dec 2021)

Notice that Ezra the priest is called, “the scribe of the law of the God” (Ezra 7:12) which is a direct confirmation that Ezra was involved in the process of copying and transmitting scripture. The Quattuordecim (XIV) is the autograph copy of the Hebrew proto-Masoretic script from which the Septuagint and most of the Dead Sea Scrolls have their origin. The Quattuordecim was a conversion/translation of the Paleo-Hebrew Bible manuscripts into Aramaic “Square” Hebrew by 14 men starting in 458 BC until the official unveiling at a public reading on New years day 1 Nisan 445 BC. The result was a near perfect replica of the Paleo-Hebrew Tanakh, which the exception of 4 deliberate but minor anti-Samaritan changes in the text to counter their claim that Mt. Gerizim and not Jerusalem was God’s holy mountain. Here are the names of the 14 translators:

The 14 translators of the Quattuordecim: Ezra, Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, Maaseiah, Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, Meshullam (Nehemiah 8:4) … On New years Day, Wednesday October 8, 445 BC Ezra, flanked by the other 13 translators, had a grand unveiling of the brand new Quattuordecim translation… (Nehemiah 8:1-8) (“Ezra’s Quattuordecim (XIV)” at www.bible.ca, accessed 14 Dec 2021

It is not unreasonable to suppose that the clarification of the place names occurred during this translation process. Modern translators often change the wording of the text for clarification, and that does not change either the validity of the message being translated or the accuracy of the translation. [BACK]

22. Yosef bought up all the land in Egypt except for the land that had been granted to the priests. Watch the video for the supporting archaeological evidence. [BACK]

24. Yosef levied a 20% tax on all the produce of the land. [BACK]

29. “The thigh was considered the source of posterity in the ancient world. Or, more properly, the ‘loins’ or the testicles. The phrase ‘under the thigh’ could be a euphemism for ‘on the loins.’ There are two reasons why someone would take an oath in this manner: 1) Abraham had been promised a ‘seed’ by God, and this covenantal blessing was passed on to his son and grandson. Abraham made his trusted servant swear ‘on the seed of Abraham’ that he would find a wife for Yutz'chak. 2) Abraham had received circumcision as the sign of the covenant (Gen 17:10). Our custom is to swear on a Bible; the Hebrew custom was to swear on circumcision, the mark of God’s covenant. The idea of swearing on one’s loins is found in other cultures, as well. The English word testify is directly related to the word testicles.” (https://www.gotquestions.org/hand-under-thigh.html accessed 26 July 2021.) [BACK]

Notes on the Luke passage

30. The traditional blessing recited before eating any food, particularly bread: “Baruch etah Y^ehovah Eloheinu, Melekh ha-olam, ha-matzi lechem min ha-aretz. Omein. Blessed are you Y^ehovah, our God, King of the Universe, Who brings forth our bread from the ground. Amen.” [BACK]

43. To show that he was real. Ghosts don’t eat food. [BACK]

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Other commentaries on Genesis 47
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
Pulpit Commentary
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Page originally posted on Tuesday, 12 October 2021
Revised on Monday 07 November 2022

Page last updated on Monday, 02 October 2023 12:52 PM (Updates are generally minor formatting or editorial changes. Major content changes are identified as "Revisions”) ANXIOUSLY WATCHING FOR MASHIACH’S RETURN, SPEEDILY AND IN OUR DAY. MARANA, TA!

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