The Meaning of Genesis 47:12 Explained

Genesis 47:12

KJV: And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with bread, according to their families.

YLT: and Joseph nourisheth his father, and his brethren, and all the house of his father with bread, according to the mouth of the infants.

Darby: And Joseph maintained his father, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with bread, according to the number of the little ones.

ASV: And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with bread, according to their families.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And Joseph  nourished  his father,  and his brethren,  and all his father's  household,  with bread,  according  to [their] families. 

What does Genesis 47:12 Mean?

Context Summary

Genesis 47:1-12 - Pharaoh Welcome's Joseph's Relatives
What a meeting between father and son! If the old man were sitting in the corner of the lumbering wagon, weary with the long journey, how he must have started up when they said, "Joseph is coming!" What pathos there is in the expression, "wept a good while," as though the long-pent-up streams took a long time to exhaust themselves. Had Joseph been less noble he might have shrunk from introducing his lowly relatives to the mighty Pharaoh! But such thoughts were submerged in the great love which claimed that withered, aged, halting man as his father. Let us never be ashamed of our Savior, who has done more for us than even Jacob for his sons. This confession that the days of his pilgrimage had been few and evil is set to a sad minor chord; and to the superficial gaze Esau had enjoyed a much more prosperous career; but when Jacob stood before Pharaoh the mighty monarch recognized his moral supremacy, and bent beneath his benediction. Surely the less is blessed of the greater. Here was the harvest of his tears! [source]

Chapter Summary: Genesis 47

1  Joseph presents his father, and five of his brothers before Pharaoh
11  He gives them habitation and maintenance
13  He gets the Egyptian's money;
16  their cattle;
18  and their lands, except the priests', to Pharaoh
23  He restores the land for a fifth
28  Jacob's age
29  He swears Joseph to bury him with his fathers

What do the individual words in Genesis 47:12 mean?

And provided Joseph - his father and his brothers and all the household of his father with bread according to [their] little ones
וַיְכַלְכֵּ֤ל יוֹסֵף֙ אֶת־ אָבִ֣יו וְאֶת־ אֶחָ֔יו וְאֵ֖ת כָּל־ בֵּ֣ית אָבִ֑יו לֶ֖חֶם לְפִ֥י הַטָּֽף

וַיְכַלְכֵּ֤ל  And  provided 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: כּוּל  
Sense: to seize, contain, measure.
יוֹסֵף֙  Joseph 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יׄוסֵף  
Sense: the eldest son of Jacob by Rachel.
אֶת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
אָבִ֣יו  his  father 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: אָב  
Sense: father of an individual.
אֶחָ֔יו  his  brothers 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: אָח  
Sense: brother.
בֵּ֣ית  the  household 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: בַּיִת 
Sense: house.
אָבִ֑יו  of  his  father 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: אָב  
Sense: father of an individual.
לֶ֖חֶם  with  bread 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: לֶחֶם  
Sense: bread, food, grain.
לְפִ֥י  according  to 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: פֶּה  
Sense: mouth.
הַטָּֽף  [their]  little  ones 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: טַף 
Sense: children, little children, little ones.