Why Live in Goshen/2

Why Live in Goshen?

Exegetical Approaches

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Good Land

Yosef wanted his family to live in Goshen because it had high quality land, with good grazing for their cattle.

Sources:RashiBereshit 46:34About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki, R. Yosef Bekhor ShorBereshit 46:34Bereshit 47:4About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, Ralbag #1-2Bereshit Beur HaMilot 46:34About R. Levi b. Gershom,

אַנְשֵׁי מִקְנֶה / רֹעֵה צֹאן – It is the brothers' occupation as shepherds which leads to the choice of Goshen for their settlement.

"בְּמֵיטַב הָאָרֶץ" – These commentators might understand this to mean the best of the land of Goshen, rather than the best of Egypt.  If the brothers were shepherds, they had no special need for quality agricultural land.  Nonetheless, both R"Y Bekhor Shor and Ralbag assume that Paroh really settled the brothers in the best of the land as a whole.

כִּי תוֹעֲבַת מִצְרַיִם כׇּל רֹעֵה צֹאן

• According to R"Y Bekhor Shor, the word "abomination" is simply the Torah's derogatory term to refer to Egyptian idolatry, and says nothing about the Egyptian's feelings towards shepherds.¹ In fact, he claims that the Egyptians esteemed shepherds because they cared for and raised their gods, and for that reason desired that they live in a good portion of land.
• According to Ralbag, in contrast, the Egyptians found shepherds abominable,² and did not want to live in the same vicinity.  Since there was an uninhabited area in Goshen, Yosef knew that he would be able to have his brothers settle there.³

Why continue in the shepherding profession?

• Yosef might have simply desired that his family be able to continue in their known profession.
• Alternatively, R. BachyaBereshit 46:32About R. Bachya b. Asher posits that the occupation gave them both economic and spiritual benefits.  It helped them attain the necessary provisions of wool, meat and milk (perhaps especially important in time of famine), while the solitude facilitated attaining closeness to the Divine.⁴ 

"לָגוּר בָּאָרֶץ בָּאנוּ" – According to this approach, it is possible that when the family descended to Egypt they thought that it would be just for a short stay, until the famine ended.  Thus, they explain to Paroh that they seek land because there was no more grazing land in Canaan, implying that as soon as Canaan was revitalized they would return there.  If so, "לָגוּר" means to sojourn rather than to actively settle.⁵

"And you will be close to me" – This approach could read this as an additional benefit of settling in Goshen. Yosef would be close enough to look after the family.

Location of Goshen – This position might set Goshen in the eastern Delta, an area which had both grazing and farming lands.

"אָנֹכִי אֵרֵד עִמְּךָ מִצְרַיְמָה וְאָנֹכִי אַעַלְךָ גַם עָלֹה"

Segregated from Egyptians and Paroh

Goshen was considered an ideal site for settlement since it was isolated from both Paroh and the Egyptians at large.

Sources:JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 2:7:5About Josephus, Seikhel TovBereshit 46:34About R. Menachem b. Shelomo, Ramban, Bereshit 45:10About R. Moshe b. NachmanRalbag #3-4Bereshit Beur HaMilot 46:34About R. Levi b. Gershom, AbarbanelBereshit 45:9About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel, R. Avraham SabaTzeror HaMor Bereshit 46:31About R. Avraham Saba (Tzeror HaMor), R. Eliezer AshkenaziMa'asei Hashem, Ma'asei Avot 42About R. Eliezer Ashkenazi (Ma'asei Hashem), Keli YekarBereshit 46:32About R. Shelomo Ephraim Lunshitz, R. S"R HirschBereshit 46:33About R. Samson Raphael Hirsch, NetzivBereshit 46:34Bereshit 47:4Shemot 1:7About R. Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin

Desire for distance – These sources raise two possibilities as to why the nation wanted to live in isolation:

Proximity to Yosef

¹ This is a difficult read of the verse, since according to R"Y Bekhor Shor it should read "תוֹעֲבַת מִצְרַיִם כׇּל צֹאן"  and not "כׇּל רֹעֵה צֹאן". Later, however, Moshe speaks of the sheep themselves an "abomination" - "כִּי תּוֹעֲבַת מִצְרַיִם נִזְבַּח לַי"י אֱלֹהֵינוּ הֵן נִזְבַּח אֶת תּוֹעֲבַת מִצְרַיִם לְעֵינֵיהֶם וְלֹא יִסְקְלֻנוּ" (Shemot 8:22).

² Presumably, since the Egyptians worshiped sheep they found it disturbing to watch those who controlled them, as it suggests that the shepherds were superior to the sheep-gods.

³ Since, according to Ralbag, Goshen was considered "the best" of Egyptian land, it is not clear why it would be unsettled, and why, of all people, the Egyptians would allow "detested" shepherds to live there.

⁴ Moreover, he posits that the Patriarchs knew that eventually they would be exiled to Egypt where there would be a danger of acculturating and worshiping Egyptian gods. To prevent any notion of worshiping sheep, they chose the profession of shepherds which would make it difficult for their descendants to revere or seen any divinity in such animals.

⁵ See the Haggadah of Pesach where the verse is explained, "מְלַמֵּד שֶׁלֹא יָרַד יַעֲקֹב אָבִינוּ לְהִשְׁתַּקֵעַ בְּמִצְרַיִם אֶלָּא לָגוּר שָׁם".  R"Y Bekhor Shor disagrees and asserts that the simple sense of the verse is that the brothers came to settle more permanently.  The later description "וַיִּתֵּן לָהֶם אֲחֻזָּה בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם" might support his reading as the word "אֲחֻזָּה" connotes a more permanent settlement.