Take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.’
Parallel translations
- KJV And take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land.
- BSB Then bring your father and your families and return to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat from the fat of the land.’
- NKJV Bring your father and your households and come to me; I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.
- NASB and take your father and your households and come to me; and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.’
- NLT Then get your father and all of your families, and return here to me. I will give you the very best land in Egypt, and you will eat from the best that the land produces.’”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Pharaoh promises them the best of Egypt and the fat of the land. The family will be richly provided for in their new home.
Overview
Pharaoh extends lavish hospitality, granting Jacob's household the finest of Egypt's produce. This abundant provision in the midst of famine displays remarkable favor. God's care for his people is shown through the generosity of a pagan king during a time of scarcity.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Num 18:12“I have given to you all the best of the oil, and all the best of the vintage, and of the grain, the first fruits of them which they give to Yahweh.
- Gen 27:28God give you of the dew of the sky, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and new wine.
- Gen 47:6The land of Egypt is before you. Make your father and your brothers dwell in the best of the land. Let them dwell in the land of Goshen. If you know any able men among them, then put them in charge of my livestock.”
- Ps 147:14He makes peace in your borders. He fills you with the finest of the wheat.
- Num 18:29Out of all your gifts, you shall offer every wave offering of Yahweh, of all its best, even the holy part of it out of it.’
- Isa 28:4The fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fertile valley, shall be like the first-ripe fig before the summer; which someone picks and eats as soon as he sees it.
- Isa 28:1Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fertile valley of those who are overcome with wine!
- Ps 81:16But he would have also fed them with the finest of the wheat. I will satisfy you with honey out of the rock.”
- Deut 32:14butter from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs, rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the finest of the wheat. From the blood of the grape, you drank wine.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 45:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.