하나님나라를 꿈꾸며(Kingdom of God)

47 So Joseph qwent in and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan. They are now in rthe land of Goshen.” 2 And from among his brothers he took five men and spresented them to Pharaoh. 3 Pharaoh said to his brothers, t“What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, u“Your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were.” 4 They said to Pharaoh, v“We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. And now, please let your servants dwell win the land of Goshen.” 5 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6 The land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers xin the best of the land. yLet them settle in the land of Goshen, and if you know any zable men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.”

7 Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and stood him before Pharaoh, aand Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8 And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?” 9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my bsojourning are 130 years. cFew and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and dthey have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their bsojourning.” 10 And Jacob eblessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. 11 Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of fRameses, gas Pharaoh had commanded. 12 And Joseph hprovided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their dependents.

q ch. 46:31

r See ch. 45:10

s Acts 7:13

t ch. 46:33

u ch. 46:32, 34

v ch. 15:13; Deut. 26:5

w ch. 46:34

x ch. 45:18

y ver. 4

z Ex. 18:21, 25

a ver. 10

b 1 Chr. 29:15; Ps. 39:12; 119:19, 54; Heb. 11:9, 13

c Job 14:1; [Ps. 39:4, 5; James 4:14]

d ch. 11:32; 25:7; 35:28

b 1 Chr. 29:15; Ps. 39:12; 119:19, 54; Heb. 11:9, 13

e ver. 7

f Ex. 1:11; 12:37; [ch. 45:10]

g ver. 6

h ch. 45:11; 50:21

 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 창 47:1–12.

47 요셉이 바로에게 가서 고하여 이르되 내 아버지와 내 형들과 그들의 양과 소와 모든 소유가 가나안 땅에서 와서 고센 땅에 있나이다 하고

2 그의 형들 중 다섯 명을 택하여 바로에게 보이니

3 바로가 요셉의 형들에게 묻되 너희 생업이 무엇이냐 그들이 바로에게 대답하되 종들은 목자이온데 우리와 선조가 다 그러하니이다 하고

4 그들이 또 바로에게 고하되 가나안 땅에 기근이 심하여 종들의 양 떼를 칠 곳이 없기로 종들이 이 곳에 거류하고자 왔사오니 원하건대 종들로 고센 땅에 살게 하소서

5 바로가 요셉에게 말하여 이르되 네 아버지와 형들이 네게 왔은즉

6 애굽 땅이 네 앞에 있으니 땅의 좋은 곳에 네 아버지와 네 형들이 거주하게 하되 그들이 고센 땅에 거주하고 그들 중에 능력 있는 자가 있거든 그들로 내 가축을 관리하게 하라

7 요셉이 자기 아버지 야곱을 인도하여 바로 앞에 서게 하니 야곱이 바로에게 축복하매

8 바로가 야곱에게 묻되 네 나이가 얼마냐

9 야곱이 바로에게 아뢰되 내 나그네 길의 세월이 백삼십 년이니이다 내 나이가 얼마 못 되니 우리 조상의 나그네 길의 연조에 미치지 못하나 험악한 세월을 보내었나이다 하고

10 야곱이 바로에게 축복하고 그 앞에서 나오니라

11 요셉이 바로의 명령대로 그의 아버지와 그의 형들에게 거주할 곳을 주되 애굽의 좋은 땅 라암셋을 그들에게 주어 소유로 삼게 하고

12 또 그의 아버지와 그의 형들과 그의 아버지의 온 집에 그 식구를 따라 먹을 것을 주어 봉양하였더라

 The Holy Bible: New Korean Revised Version, electronic ed. (South Korea, n.d.), 창 47.

1-6절) 요셉이 먼저 바로에게 가서 자신의 가족, 아버지와 형들과 그들의 모든 소유가 가나안 땅으로부터 와서 지금 고센땅에 이르렀음을 고한다. 그리고 나서 형들중에 5명을 택하여 바로에게 데리고 온다. 바로가 요셉의 형들에게 그들의 직업을 묻자 앞서 준비한대로 자신들은 대대로 목자라고 대답한다. 이어서 가나안땅에 기근이 심하여 양떼를 칠 곳이 없어서 이곳에 거류하기 위해서 왔는데 고센땅에 살게해달라고 요청한다. 

이에 바로가 요셉에게 너의 가족들이 왔으니 애굽 땅의 좋은 곳에 가족들이 거주하게 하되, 고센땅에 거주하고 가능하다면 왕의 가축을 관리하게 할 것을 명한다. 

요셉의 이야기에서는 숫자 5가 반복적으로 사용된다. 요셉은 베냐민에게 다섯 배의 음식을 주었고(43:34) 베냐민에게 옷 다섯벌을 주었다.(45:22) 요셉이 형들을 만났을 때 기근이 아직 5년 남아 있었다.(45:11, 22) 바로의 꿈을 해몽해준뒤 풍년이 들 때 그들에게 소출의 1/5를 거두어 비축할 것을 권면했고(41:34), 훗날 배고픈 백성에게 곡식을 주며 작물의 1/5을 바로에게 바칠 것을 조건으로 삼았다.(47:24) 

실제로 형제 5명은 누구였을까? 본문은 이에 대해서 이야기하고 있지 않지만 어떤 학자는 형제들중에 외모가 출중한 이들을 뽑앗을 것이라고 혹은 너무 늠름한 형제들을 데리고 가면 그들을 군인으로 삼을까봐 연약하고 왜소해보이는 형제들을 데려갔다라고 말하기도 한다. 

요셉의 형제들이 바로 앞에서 물러난 뒤에 야곱이 바로 앞에 서게 된다. 

-  2  On his own Joseph picks five (or “several,” or a “few”)12 of his brothers to present them to Pharaoh. Which five? Why only five? What are the criteria for selection? Those whom he believes would make the best impression on Pharaoh? Following A. B. Ehrlich, Speiser is inclined to think that Joseph took the more outstanding brothers because “the context is made emphatic through inversion” (i.e., lit., “from the edge/extremity of his brothers he took five”).13 Rabbinic tradition takes the opposite position. For example, Gen. Rabbah 95:4 has the interpretation that he took five of the more inferior, less formidable brothers, fearing that Pharaoh would make soldiers out of the stronger brothers had Joseph taken them. According to that tradition, Joseph took with him Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Benjamin, and Issachar.

It makes most sense to translate the verbs in this sentence as pluperfects (hence had selected … had presented). Joseph does not travel from Goshen to Pharaoh’s palace, announce the arrival of his family in Egypt, return to Goshen, select five of his brothers, then make a second trip to Pharaoh.

12 See n. 1 above.

13 Speiser, Genesis, p. 350.

 Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 18–50, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995), 606–607.

7-10절) 이어 요셉은 아버지 야곱을 바로에게 인도하여 소개한다. 야곱은 바로에게 축복한다. 7절과 10절에서 야곱은 바로에게 축복하는데 이는 만날 때와 헤어질 때 축복의 인사를 하는 것으로 볼 수 있다. 뿐만 아니라 창세기의 전체 흐름 속에서 하나님의 복이 아브라함과 이삭, 야곱을 통해 다른 이들에게 흘러가는 것이 매우 중요한데 지금 야곱이 애굽의 바로에게 복을 흘려보내고 있는 것이다. 

바로는 야곱의 나이를 묻는다. 당시 장수를 하나님 혹은 신의 축복으로 여겼기에 이를 물어보았을 것이다. 야곱은 자신의 나그네 길의 세월이 130년이라고 말하면서 내 나이가 얼마 못되어 우리 조상의 나그네 길의 연조에 미치지 못하고 험악한 세월을 보냈다고 대답한다. 실제로 아브라함은 175세, 이삭은 180살을 살았다. 이것과 비교하면 자신은 그 연수에 미치지 못하는 것이 사실이다. 뿐만 아니라 자신의 나그네 세월동안 수많은 험악한 사건들이 있었음을 회고하고 있다. 여기에서 야곱이 자세히 설명하지는 않지만 그는 지금 과거 자신이 형인 에서의 장자권을 빼앗고 삼촌 라반의 집에서 생활하던 서러움을, 자신의 딸 디나가 세겜에서 강간을 당하고 부끄러움을 당했던 일을, 약속의 땅에 돌아오자마자 사랑하는 아내 라헬이 죽은 일, 장자 르우벤이 자신의 첩을 범했던 일, 자신의 아들들이 요셉을 팔아넘기고 죽었다고 자신을 속였던 일들을 기억에 떠올렸을 것이다. 이 험악한 세월 속에서도 자신을 지키시고 인도하신 하나님을 기억하고 의지하여 바로에게 축복을 하고 있다. 

야곱은 자신의 인생을 나그네 길이라고 표현한다. 이는 실제로 자신의 삶이 고정된 거주지에 정착을 하지 못하고 이동하여 다니며 생활했다는 것을 말하는 것이다. 우리의 인생도 나그네 인생길이다. 우리의 본향은 하늘에 있고, 우리는 잠시 인생길을 나그네로 영원한 본향을 소망하면서 살아간다.(히 11:10) 

-  47:7–10 Joseph introduces his father Jacob to Pharaoh. The record of this meeting is framed by the repeated comment that Jacob blessed Pharaoh (vv. 7, 10). While this could be interpreted as merely denoting words spoken by way of greeting and saying farewell, the image of Jacob blessing Pharaoh takes on special significance when viewed within the context of Genesis as a whole. Genesis presents the special line associated with Abraham and his seed as mediating God’s blessing to others (see Introduction: History of Salvation Summary). How many are the days of the years of your life? (v. 8). Pharaoh’s inquiry about Jacob’s age may have been motivated by the belief that longevity was a sign of divine favor. Few and evil have been … the years of my life (v. 9). In this response Jacob perhaps alludes to those events that have made his life less than happy: e.g., his treatment of Esau, and his sons’ deception of him regarding Joseph. While Jacob is now 130 years old, Abraham and Isaac lived to be 175 and 180, respectively. The Hebrew term translated sojourning implies that Jacob and his fathers had no permanent abode. This concept is developed along theological lines by the author of Hebrews, who views the patriarchs as looking forward to inhabiting a “city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Heb. 11:10). Jacob’s comments may indicate that he anticipated something better to come.

 Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 130.

-  7  When Joseph presented his brothers to Pharaoh (v. 2), the narrator used the verb yāṣaḡ (Hiphil; see 43:9). When Joseph presents his father to Pharaoh, the narrator uses the verb ʿāmaḏ (Hiphil; see 43:15 for the Qal). No great inference may be extracted from this divergence, except to note that ʿāmaḏ (Hiphil) lip̄nê is a common expression in priestly contexts where somebody or something (a leper, Lev. 14:11; a goat, 16:7; an animal, 27:11) is brought before somebody else (the king, Yahweh, the priest).

Pharaoh’s conversations with the sons (vv. 3–6) and with the father (vv. 8–10) differ in some respects. For one thing Pharaoh’s conversation with Jacob is preceded and followed by Jacob blessed Pharaoh, something the sons did not do. The trend among some translators of the Hebrew text of Genesis has been to render bāraḵ in vv. 7, 10 not with the traditional “bless” but with “paid respects to” (Speiser, NAB, NJB) or “greeted” (NJPS) in v. 7, and “took leave” (Speiser, NJB) or “bade farewell” (NAB, NJPS) in v. 10.7 Now it is true that sometimes in the OT bāraḵ means “greet.” For example, Prov. 27:14 says, “He who blesses [i.e., greets] his neighbor with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, will be counted as cursing” (RSV).8 Cf. also Ruth 2:4, where the reapers’ words to Boaz, “May Yahweh bless you [bāraḵ, Piel],” should be understood as a greeting formula between employer and employees. Again, one finds the Piel of bāraḵ to express a greeting in 2 K. 4:29 (“do not salute him; and if anyone salutes you …” [RSV]), and in 2 K. 10:15 (“and he greeted him” [RSV]). Both Gen. 47:7 and 2 K. 4:29 have in common the use of bāraḵ (Piel) for two parties in which the speaker and the addressee are total strangers.

I prefer the translation “bless” in Gen. 47:7, 10 [46:7, 10], or at least “greet with a blessing.”9 This is something the sons would hesitate to do (and hence its absence in v. 2), but it falls within the jurisdiction of the paterfamilias. Here is one of the relatively rare places in the OT where we find the pattern A (the inferior) blessing B (the superior).10 Jacob is inferior to Pharaoh as regards position, but may be superior to Pharaoh in the matter of age, and at least is well beyond the Egyptian ideal of the 110-year life. Perhaps Jacob prayed that the pharaoh may be blessed with a long life. The OT has several instances of a subject entering the presence of royalty and exclaiming “O king, live forever!” (2 Sam. 16:16; 1 K. 1:31; Dan. 2:4; 5:10; 6:7 [Eng. 6]). Such a blessing might also explain why in the next verse Pharaoh inquires about how long Jacob has lived.

Pharaoh has enriched Jacob’s family. He has promoted son Joseph to a prominent position in Egypt. On several occasions he has sent much-needed grain back to Canaan with Jacob’s other sons. He has invited Jacob and his family to Egypt with freedom to settle anywhere. Jacob is profoundly grateful for the assistance Pharaoh has provided. The appropriate response is to bless Pharaoh. “He has enriched us. May God enrich him.” Vv. 13–26, which detail Joseph’s agrarian reforms, serve as a stunning illustration of the consequence of Jacob’s blessing on Pharaoh.

Blessing has surfaced repeatedly in Genesis, and most often the dispenser of blessing is God. Here is one of the few places where both the subject and object of “bless” are human beings. Jacob blesses Pharaoh. Jacob knows what it means to be the object of blessing. Chs. 27 and 28 provide most of the instances in Genesis of one person (Isaac) blessing another person (Jacob). Jacob, once the recipient of blessing, now becomes the source of blessing.

NAB The New American Bible

NJB New Jerusalem Bible

NJPS New Jewish Publication Society Version

NJB New Jerusalem Bible

NAB The New American Bible

NJPS New Jewish Publication Society Version

7 The following versions retain “bless” in both verses: AV, NKJV, RSV, NRSV, NEB, REB, JB, NIV (with a footnote that the verb may be translated “greeted” in v. 7 and “said farewell to” in v. 10).

RSV Revised Standard Version

8 See H. C. Brichto, The Problem of “Curse” in the Hebrew Bible, JBLMS 13 (Philadelphia: Society of Biblical Literature, 1968), p. 190, for the rendering of the Piel of bāraḵ in Prov. 27:14 as “greet, salute.” See also C. W. Mitchell, The Meaning of BRK “To Bless” in the Old Testament, SBLDS 95 (Atlanta: Scholars, 1987), pp. 106–8.

RSV Revised Standard Version

RSV Revised Standard Version

9 See B. A. McKenzie, “Jacob’s Blessing on Pharaoh: An Interpretation of Gen. 46:31–47:26,” WTJ 45 (1983) 390–95, for this interpretation of bāraḵ in Gen. 47:7, 10.

10 See J. Scharbert, “brk,” TDOT, 2:291–92. Apart from Gen. 47:7, 10, the only other cases of subjects blessing the king are Exod. 12:32 (Moses and Pharaoh); 1 K. 8:66 (the people and Solomon); Ps. 72:15 (the psalmist and the king).

 Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 18–50, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995), 610–611.

-  9  Jacob’s response is something of a surprise. He has lived 130 years (and will have 17 more to go for a total of 147 years [47:28]).12 Thus his life span will be somewhat less than the 180 of his father Isaac (35:28) and the 175 of his grandfather Abraham (25:7), but is the difference great enough to call his years “few”? Note that in his response Jacob shifts Pharaoh’s “How many years have you lived?” (lit., “like what are the days of the years of your life”) to “My year as a sojourner” (lit., “the days of the years of my sojourning”). That is, he exchanges “sojourning” for “life” in his answer, thus giving to the former “the elegian connotation that for him [viz., Jacob] life on earth is but a sojourn.”13

Jacob’s concern is not that he will apparently fail to live longer than either his father or grandfather. What does concern him is that his life thus far has been difficult. Just as the sons answered Pharaoh’s question, then supplied unsolicited information, so Jacob answers Pharaoh’s question, then supplies an autobiographical summary of his life. When we first encountered Jacob, he was struggling inside his mother’s womb with his twin brother. As we come to the end of Jacob’s life, he is struggling for his life in a famine-devastated Canaan. In between these first and last moments of struggle have been many trying experiences for Jacob. His life has had more sorrow than joy.

This is not the kind of information a stranger would share with Pharaoh. What, we would like to know, was his response to this tiny but personal revelation from Jacob? What about Joseph, who certainly overheard it?

12 I noted in the genealogy of 46:8–27 the prominence of seven. Note that Jacob’s 147 years may be factored as 3 × 72. See further the commentary on 47:28.

13 Lowenthal, Joseph Narrative in Genesis, p. 124.

 Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 18–50, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995), 611–612.

왜 요셉은 형제들 뒤에 야곱을 소개했을까? 바로에게 고센땅을 허락받는 이러한 요청은 형제들의 몫으로 맡기고 아버지는 바로에게 아무것도 부탁하지 않는 존귀한 사람으로만 소개하고 싶었기 때문이다. 상징적으로 지금 애굽의 왕과 이스라엘의 왕이 대면하고 있는 것이다. 야곱의 아들들은 바로에게 자신들을 ‘당신의 종들’이라고 세번이나 말하지만 야곱은 단 한 차례도 이런 말을 사용하지 않고 도리어 그를 축복했다. 

애굽 사람들은 죽음에 대해 관심이 많았다. 그래서 죽음 이후의 삶을 두려워하여 피라미드를 짓고 사후를 대비하기도 했다. 애굽 사람들은 인간이 이상적으로 살 수 있는 나이를 110세 정도로 생각했는데 지금 야곱은 130세이니 대단히 장수한 인물인 것이다. 

11-12절) 요셉은 바로의 명령대로 아버지와 혀들에게 거주할 곳을 주었는데 애굽의 좋은 땅 라암셋(람세스)를 그들에게 주어 소유로 삼게 하고 온 가족에게 그 식구를 따라 먹을 것을 주어 봉양하였다. 

그들이 살게 될 땅은 고센땅이었다. 그런데 본문에 라암셋이라는 좋은 땅을 주었다고 말한다. 라암셋(람세스)는 주전 13세기 애굽의 위대한 왕 람세스 2세와 관련이 있을 것이다. 고센땅을 포함하는 지역이 라암셋이었는지 아니면 요셉시대에 고센땅이라고 불려진 이곳이 이후에 라암셋으로 대치되었을 수도 있다. 

-  47:11–12 Joseph allocates land to his family in the land of Rameses. Previously, the designation “land of Goshen” has been used to denote the territory where they were to dwell (e.g., 45:10; 46:28). The name “Rameses” is most often associated with the great thirteenth-century-b.c. Egyptian king Rameses II. While it is possible that the actual name “Rameses” goes back to the time of Joseph, this may be an example of a later term’s being substituted for an earlier name (see, e.g., the use of “Dan” in 14:14; also Introduction: Author, Title, and Date).

 Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 130.

-  11–12  Following Pharaoh’s orders, Joseph settles his family in Goshen, identified here as the region of Rameses. This phrase appears to be an editorial comment,14 for this terminology was not used until the thirteenth-century pharaohs of the 19th Dynasty. The region of Rameses (cf. Exod. 1:11; 12:37; Num. 33:3, 5) may be identified with Qantir or Tanis in the northeastern delta of the Nile. It became the residence city of the kings of the 19th Dynasty and was built by and named after Ramses II (1304–1227 b.c.). The only way to defend the presence of this place name as early as the setting of the Joseph story, that is, as something other than an editorial insertion or an anachronism, is to suggest that the city bore this name prior to the Ramesside Dynasty, a name that simply meant “Re has created it.”15

Joseph exceeds the brothers’ original request. They would be content to sojourn (gûr) in Goshen. Instead, Joseph gives them property (ʾaḥuzzá). All of this confirms God’s promise to Jacob that he would make of Jacob a great nation in Egypt (46:3). This Hebrew word has already appeared in Genesis: when God so spoke to Abraham (17:8), when Abraham requested property in which to bury Sarah (23:4, 9, 20), and in reference to Edomite territory (36:43). It will be used again in 48:4 (Jacob quoting God Almighty to Joseph); in 49:30, in a reference back to ch. 23; in 50:13, also a reference back to ch. 23. Unlike naḥalá, which refers to inalienable property transmitted by inheritance, ʾaḥuzzá refers to inalienable property received from a sovereign, or at least from one who has the power to release or retain land.16 That is why this noun is often used with the verb “give” (Gen. 47:11; Lev. 14:34; Num. 27:4; 32:5; Deut. 32:49; etc.).

How different is Jacob’s descent to Egypt from his grandfather’s (ch. 12)! Both seek out the safety of Egypt because of famine. To save himself Abraham engages in deceit. To save his family Jacob engages in blessing. The Pharaoh at Abraham’s visit was only too happy to see Abraham return to his own country. The Pharaoh at Jacob’s visit insists that Jacob stay and settle on some choice land. Abraham retreats from Egypt. For Jacob Egypt is his new home. Abraham leaves Egypt alive (and happy to be so!). Jacob will leave Egypt dead.

14 See K. A. Kitchen, “Joseph,” ISBE, 2:1129.

15 See R. W. Pierce, “Rameses,” ISBE, 4:39.

16 See J. Milgrom, Leviticus 1–16, AB (New York: Doubleday, 1991), pp. 866–67; idem, Numbers, JPS Torah Commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1990), p. 231.

 Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 18–50, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995), 612–613.