What Does Genesis 47:11 Mean?

Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a holding in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. Joseph, acting on Pharaoh's authorization, settles the family. Three elements: he settled them; he gave them a holding (Hebrew: achuzah: a possession, a granted landholding); he placed them in "the best of the land, in the land of Rameses." The land of Rameses is the same as Goshen: the region that in later biblical history will be associated with Rameses, the territory where the Israelites will live and eventually labor under Pharaoh (Exodus 1:11).

The "holding" (achuzah) is a term of significant legal and thematic depth in Genesis. The same word is used for the burial ground Abraham purchased in Machpelah (Genesis 23:4,9,20): the only land the patriarchal family owns outright in Canaan. Joseph gives the family a "holding" in Egypt: a granted tenure of land that establishes their legal right to occupy Goshen. The Egyptian holding is not the same as the Canaan promise (the land of Goshen does not fulfill "to your offspring I will give this land"), but it is a legitimate legal settlement that provides security during the famine.

"As Pharaoh had commanded": the settlement is executed under the king's authority. The "best of the land" that Pharaoh promised in Genesis 45:18 is being delivered in verse 11: the land of Rameses is Goshen, and Goshen is the best available land for the family's agricultural and pastoral needs. The chain from God's promise ("I will make you a great nation there": Genesis 46:3) through Pharaoh's grant ("the best of the land": Genesis 45:18) to Joseph's execution ("gave them a holding in the best of the land") is complete.