And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father’s household, with bread, according to their families.
Parallel translations
- WEB Joseph nourished his father, his brothers, and all of his father’s household, with bread, according to their families.
- BSB Joseph also provided his father and brothers and all his father’s household with food for their families.
- NKJV Then Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with bread, according to the number in their families.
- NASB Joseph also provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their little ones.
- NLT And Joseph provided food for his father and his brothers in amounts appropriate to the number of their dependents, including the smallest children.
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
Joseph provides food for his father, brothers, and their households throughout the famine. He sustains the entire family.
Overview
Joseph nourishes his whole family with bread according to their needs, caring for every household. His provision in famine mirrors the role God assigned him to preserve life. As the brother once sold into slavery now feeds those who wronged him, Joseph foreshadows Christ, who gives the bread of life to undeserving people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Gen 45:11And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty.
- Exod 20:12Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
- 1 Tim 4:8For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.
- 1 Tim 5:4But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God.
- 1 Tim 5:8But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.
- Gen 47:21And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof.
- 1 Th 2:7But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children:
- Matt 15:4–6For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
- Gen 47:1Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen.
- Ruth 4:15And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him.
- Mark 7:10–13For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death:
- Gen 47:24And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.
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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 47:12 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.