Lexicon :: Strong's H1 - 'āḇ

They answered, “The man kept asking about us and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother? ’ And we answered him accordingly. How could we know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’? ”

Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me. We will be on our way so that we may live and not die ​— ​neither we, nor you, nor our dependents.

Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and take them down to the man as a gift ​— ​a little balsam and a little honey, aromatic gum and resin, pistachios and almonds.

Then the steward said, “May you be well. Don’t be afraid. Your God and the God of your father must have put treasure in your bags. I received your silver.” Then he brought Simeon out to them.

He asked if they were well, and he said, “How is your elderly father that you told me about? Is he still alive? ”

They answered, “Your servant our father is well. He is still alive.” And they knelt low and paid homage to him.

“My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother? ’

“and we answered my lord, ‘We have an elderly father and a younger brother, the child of his old age. The boy’s brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’

“But we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. If he were to leave, his father would die.’

“This is what happened when we went back to your servant my father: We reported to him the words of my lord.

“But our father said, ‘Go again, and buy us a little food.’

“Your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons.

“So if I come to your servant my father and the boy is not with us ​— ​his life is wrapped up with the boy’s life ​— ​

“when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. Then your servants will have brought the gray hairs of your servant our father down to Sheol in sorrow.

“Your servant became accountable to my father for the boy, saying, ‘If I do not return him to you, I will always bear the guilt for sinning against you, my father.’

“For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the grief that would overwhelm my father.”

“Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

“Return quickly to my father and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me without delay.

Tell my father about all my glory in Egypt and about all you have seen. And bring my father here quickly.”

“Get your father and your families, and come back to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you can eat from the richness of the land.’

“You are also commanded to tell them, ‘Do this: Take wagons from the land of Egypt for your dependents and your wives and bring your father here.

He sent his father the following: ten donkeys carrying the best products of Egypt and ten female donkeys carrying grain, food, and provisions for his father on the journey.

So they went up from Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan.

But when they told Jacob all that Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to transport him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.

God said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.

Jacob left Beer-sheba. The sons of Israel took their father Jacob in the wagons Pharaoh had sent to carry him, along with their dependents and their wives.

Joseph hitched the horses to his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel. Joseph presented himself to him, threw his arms around him, and wept for a long time.

Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s family, “I will go up and inform Pharaoh, telling him, ‘My brothers and my father’s family, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me.

“you are to say, ‘Your servants, both we and our ancestors, have raised livestock[fn] from our youth until now.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the land of Goshen, since all shepherds are detestable to Egyptians.”

And Pharaoh asked his brothers, “What is your occupation? ”

They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants, both we and our ancestors, are shepherds.”

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Now that your father and brothers have come to you,

“the land of Egypt is open before you; settle your father and brothers in the best part of the land. They can live in the land of Goshen. If you know of any capable men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.”

Joseph then brought his father Jacob and presented him to Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

Jacob said to Pharaoh, “My pilgrimage has lasted 130 years. My years have been few and hard, and they have not reached the years of my ancestors during their pilgrimages.”

Then Joseph settled his father and brothers in the land of Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.

And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s family with food for their dependents.

“When I rest with my ancestors, carry me away from Egypt and bury me in their burial place.”

Joseph answered, “I will do what you have asked.”

And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons God has given me here.”

So Israel said, “Bring them to me and I will bless them.”

Then he blessed Joseph and said:

The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,

the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,

the angel who has redeemed me from all harm —

may he bless these boys.

And may they be called by my name

and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,

and may they grow to be numerous within the land.

When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he thought it was a mistake[fn] and took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s.

Joseph said to his father, “Not that way, my father! This one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”

But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know! He too will become a tribe,[fn] and he too will be great; nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his offspring will become a populous nation.”[fn]