פירוש על בראשית 47:4

TO SOJOURN IN THE LAND ARE WE COME; FOR THERE IS NO PASTURE FOR THY SERVANTS’ FLOCKS. I wonder about this reason which they told to Pharaoh, for there was also no pasture in Egypt; the famine was as severe in the land of Egypt as it was in the land of Canaan, or even more so, for it was against Egypt that the main decree was directed. Perhaps they said that in the land of Canaan, due to the severity of the famine, people were eating the grass of the field and were not leaving any sustenance for the cattle. However, in the land of Egypt where there is corn, people subsist on that, and thus in Egypt there is a little pasture left. It is possible that in the land of Egypt there was a little pasture in the reedgrass on account of the rivers and the ponds.

לגור בארץ, not because we are short of money, but because there is no grazing land in Canaan as long as the famine lasts.

כי אין מרעה לצאן אשר לעבדיך, “for there is no grazing land for the flocks and herds of your servants.” Nachmanides writes that he is puzzled by this reason given by the brothers for having come to Egypt. After all, there was no grazing land in Egypt either during the famine, and both man and beast survived only from stored surplus of prior years. Possibly, the most intense famine raged in the land of Canaan, and the people there were reduced to eating grass, so that there was really nothing left for the beasts to feed on. Seeing that people received regular food rations in Egypt they had not needed to deny their beasts the grass in the fields. Alternately, there would be some grass around the many ponds in Egypt and in the Nile delta near the banks of the tributaries of the Nile river.

כי אין מרעה לצאן, “for these is no grazing land for the flocks.” Due to the severity of the famine in the land of Canaan the grazing land normally used for the animals to feed on had turned into meagre grass and even that was reserved for human consumption.

Obgleich in Goschen wahrscheinlich während der Hungerjahre ebensowenig Weide für das Vieh wie in Kanaan gewesen sein wird, so hatte doch wohl Josef wie überall so auch in Goschen Futterkräuter für das Vieh in den Stadtgebieten aufgespeichert.

לגור בארץ באנו, “we came here for only a temporary stay, sojourn;” At that time they did not entertain the idea of becoming permanent residents of Egypt. (Pessikta Zutrata)

כי אין מרעה “for there is no grazing land;” they emphasised this aspect so that Pharaoh should not think that they had come to sponge on Joseph. They asked permission to stay in Goshen, עתה for now, until the Lord in His wisdom, will end the famine so that we can return to the land of Canaan.