John Calvin Commentary Genesis 47:3

"And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and our fathers." — Genesis 47:3 (ASV)

Your servants are shepherds. This confession was humiliating to the sons of Jacob, and especially to Joseph himself, whose high, and almost regal dignity, was thus marked with a spot of disgrace: for among the Egyptians (as we have said) this kind of life was disgraceful and infamous. Why, then, did not Joseph adopt the course, which he might easily have done, of describing his brothers as persons engaged in agriculture, or any other honest and creditable method of living?

They were not so devoted to tending livestock as to be altogether ignorant of agriculture, or incapable of accustoming themselves to other ways of earning a livelihood; and although they would not immediately have found it productive, we see how ready the king's generosity was to help them.

Indeed, it would not have been difficult for them to be appointed to offices at court. How then does it happen that Joseph, knowingly and purposely, exposes his brothers to an ignominy, which must bring dishonor also on himself, unless it was because he was not very anxious to escape from worldly contempt?

To live in splendor among the Egyptians would have had, at first, a plausible appearance, but his family would have been placed in a dangerous position. Now, however, their humble and contemptible way of life proves a wall of separation between them and the Egyptians. Indeed, Joseph seems purposely to work to cast off, in a moment, the nobility he had acquired, so that his own descendants might not be swallowed up in the population of Egypt, but might rather merge into his ancestral family.

If, however, this consideration did not enter their minds, there is no doubt that the Lord directed their tongues, so as to prevent harmful mixing, and to keep the body of the Church pure and distinct. This passage also teaches us how much better it is to possess a remote corner in the courts of the Lord than to dwell in the midst of palaces, beyond the precincts of the Church.

Therefore, let us not consider it a hardship to secure a sacred union with the sons of God by enduring the contempt and reproaches of the world, just as Joseph preferred this union to all the luxuries of Egypt. But if anyone thinks that they cannot otherwise serve God in purity than by making themselves repulsive to the world, away with such folly!

God's design was this: to keep the sons of Jacob in a lowly position until He should restore them to the land of Canaan. Thus, to preserve themselves in unity until the promised deliverance should take place, they did not conceal the fact that they were shepherds.

We must beware, therefore, lest the desire for empty honor should puff us up, since the Lord reveals no other way of salvation than that of bringing us under discipline. Therefore, let us willingly be without honor for a time, so that, in the future, angels may receive us to share in their eternal glory.

By this example also, those who are brought up in humble occupations are taught that they have no need to be ashamed of their lot. It ought to be enough, and more than enough, for them that the way of life they pursue is lawful and acceptable to God.

The remaining confession of the brothers (Genesis 47:4) was not without a sense of shame, in which they say that they had come to live there temporarily, compelled by hunger; but from this arose an advantage not to be despised. For as they came down few in number, and perishing with hunger, and so branded with infamy that scarcely anyone would deign to speak with them, the glory of God afterward shone all the more illustriously out of this darkness when, three centuries later, He wonderfully led them out, a mighty nation.