The BibleGospel Companion

Goshen

גֹּ֫שֶׁן · go.shen · H1657G“approaching; drawing near” Hitchcock's 186911 mentions in 2 books, most in Genesis (9)
Illustration — not a likeness; generated for Gospel Companion in the app's painting style — Goshen
Illustration — not a likeness; generated for Gospel Companion in the app's painting style

Where it is

RamesesZoanZoanPi-besethPi-besethTahpanhesTahpanhesPithomPithomSuccothSuccothGoshenabout 117 km across

30.73° N, 31.80° E

Coordinates and map: OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding · CC BY 4.0 · drawn without map tiles

Mentioned most in

Genesis · 9Exodus · 2
Counted from 11 references · STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0

About this place

Goshen was a fertile region in the eastern Nile Delta of Egypt, where Israel (or 'Jacob') and his family settled during the time of Joseph. When Joseph, as a high official in Egypt, invited his father and brothers to come to Egypt due to the famine in Canaan, he suggested that they settle in Goshen (Genesis 45:10). Jacob sent Judah ahead to meet Joseph and be directed to Goshen (Genesis 46:28-29). The Israelites presented themselves to Pharaoh and requested to settle in Goshen as shepherds (Genesis 46:34; 47:1, 4). Pharaoh granted their request and allowed them to live in the best part of the land of Goshen (Genesis 47:6). The Israelites prospered and multiplied greatly in Goshen (Genesis 47:27). During the plagues that God sent upon Egypt, Goshen was spared from the swarms of flies and the plague of hail (Exodus 8:22; 9:26). At the time of the Exodus, the Israelites left Egypt from the region of Goshen (Genesis 50:8). The exact location of Goshen is not specified in the Bible, but it is believed to be in the eastern part of the Nile Delta, possibly in the Wadi Tumilat area.

Article: STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0

Every mention

11 references, counted from STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0 · verse text: World English Bible (public domain)
GenesisChapter 45: 1 mentionChapter 46: 3 mentionsChapter 47: 4 mentionsChapter 50: 1 mention9 mentions
Genesis 45:10You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you will be near to me, you, your children, your children’s children, your flocks, your herds, and all that you have.Genesis 46:28Jacob sent Judah before him to Joseph, to show the way before him to Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen.Genesis 46:29Joseph prepared his chariot, and went up to meet Israel, his father, in Goshen. He presented himself to him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.Genesis 46:34that you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we, and our fathers:’ that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is…Genesis 47:1Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are…Genesis 47:4They also said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live as foreigners in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks. For the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now…Genesis 47:6The land of Egypt is before you. Make your father and your brothers dwell in the best of the land. Let them dwell in the land of Goshen. If you know any able men among them, then put them…Genesis 47:27Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they got themselves possessions therein, and were fruitful, and multiplied exceedingly.Genesis 50:8all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen.
ExodusChapter 8: 1 mentionChapter 9: 1 mention2 mentions
Exodus 8:22I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, to the end you may know that I am Yahweh on the earth.Exodus 9:26Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail.

What the dictionary says

(1.) A district in Egypt where Jacob and his family settled, and in which they remained till the Exodus (Gen. 45:10; 46:28, 29, 31, etc.).

Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
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Sources