John Calvin Commentary Genesis 47:12

"And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father`s household, with bread, according to their families." — Genesis 47:12 (ASV)

And Joseph nourished his father, etc., according to their families. Some explain the expression, “the mouth of the little one,” as if Joseph nourished his father and his whole family in the way food is conveyed to the mouths of children. These interpreters regard this form of speech as emphatic, because, during the famine, Jacob and his family had no more anxiety about providing food than children, who cannot even stretch out their hand to receive it. Others translate it “youth,” but I do not know with what meaning. Others take it simply according to the proportion and number of the little children.

To me, the genuine sense seems to be that he fed all, from the greatest to the least. Therefore, there was sufficient bread for the whole family of Jacob because, through Joseph’s care, provision was made to supply nourishment even to the little ones.

In this way, Moses commemorates both the clemency of God and the piety of Joseph. For it was an instance of uncommon attention that these hungry farmers, who did not have a grain of corn, were entirely fed at his expense.