Bible Strands
Genesis 47:3
“What is your occupation?” Pharaoh asked Joseph’s brothers. “Your servants are shepherds,” they replied, “both we and our fathers.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Pharaoh questions Joseph’s five brothers immediately after Joseph presents them in the royal court, during the family’s arrival in Egypt to escape the severe famine.
The words — The phrase מַה מַּעֲשֵׂיכֶם (mah ma‘aśeîkhem) literally translates to “what [is] work of you?” Pharaoh uses this direct inquiry to ascertain their profession and social standing.
The thread — Joseph previously forewarned the brothers that Pharaoh would ask this exact question in Genesis 46:33, while the repeated identification as shepherds parallels Abel’s occupation in Genesis 4:2 and Amos 7:14.
Why it lands — The text records a straightforward bureaucratic exchange that forces the family to publicly declare their ancestral trade, requiring readers to observe how economic classification operates within a foreign political system.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and also our fathers.
Cross-references
- Genesis 46:33 When Pharaoh summons you and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’
- Genesis 4:2 Later she gave birth to Cain’s brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, while Cain was a tiller of the soil.
- Amos 7:14 “I was not a prophet,” Amos replied, “nor was I the son of a prophet; rather, I was a herdsman and a tender of sycamore-fig trees.
- Jonah 1:8 “Tell us now,” they demanded, “who is to blame for this calamity that is upon us? What is your occupation, and where have you come from? What is your country, and who are your people?”
- 2 Thessalonians 3:10 For even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “If anyone is unwilling to work, he shall not eat.”