Genesis 47:11

Summary

The verse reports that Joseph settled his father and brothers in Egypt, granting them landed property in the best part of the country, in the region of Rameses, in accordance with an order previously given by Pharaoh.

Key words

• va-yoshev ("he caused to dwell", H3427) — hiphil (causative) form of the narrative verb: Joseph does not merely "live" but actively "makes dwell," settling others.
• achuzzah ("a possession", H0272) — feminine singular noun denoting landed property/holding, distinct from mere residence.
• meitav ("[the] best of", H4315) — masculine singular construct noun, linked to ha-aretz ("the land", H0776G), forming the phrase "the best of the land."
• ka'asher ("as", H0834D) — relative particle introducing a comparison clause, tying the action to a prior standard.
• tzivvah ("he had commanded", H6680) — piel perfect verb, an intensive completed action, indicating an order already given by Pharaoh before this narrated event.

What the text says

The verse is built on two narrative-vav clauses in sequence: va-yoshev ("and he caused to dwell", H3427) and va-yitten ("and he gave", H5414G), both third-person singular forms with Joseph as subject. The first verb is hiphil, marking a causative action — Joseph is the agent who brings about the dwelling of others, not simply someone who dwells himself. The direct objects of this settling are marked by the untranslated particle 'et (H0853) twice, attached to 'avi ("father", H0001G) and 'echai ("brothers", H0251G), each in construct form with the pronominal suffix -v ("his", H9023), yielding "his father" and "his brothers."

The second clause shifts to what is given: achuzzah ("a possession", H0272), a term for landed property, distinct from the general "dwelling" of the first verb. This possession is located through a stack of prepositional phrases: "in the land of Egypt" (be-eretz Mitzrayim), then narrowed to "in the best of the land" (be-meitav ha-aretz), then further specified as "in the land of Rameses" (be-eretz Ra'meses). This progression moves from broad (Egypt) to specific (Rameses), with "the best of the land" as an intermediate qualifier.

The final clause, introduced by ka'asher ("as", H0834D), attaches the whole action to a prior instruction: tzivvah Pharaoh ("Pharaoh had commanded", H6680 + H6547H). The piel perfect verb form indicates this command was already completed before or independently of Joseph's action, framing Joseph's settlement of his family as compliance with an earlier directive.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders achuzzah ("a possession", H0272) as κατάσχεσιν, a comparable term for holding/possession, while the Vulgate uses "possessionem," both aligning closely with the Hebrew. The Hebrew be-meitav ha-aretz ("in the best of the land") appears in the LXX as ἐν τῇ βελτίστῃ γῇ ("in the best land") and in the Vulgate as "in optimo terrae loco" ("in the best place of the land") — the Vulgate adds "loco" ("place"), a word not present as a separate lexical item in the Hebrew construct phrase.