Goshen

(land of rain) (Gen. 45:10; 46:28, 29) — a region in Lower Egypt, in which Pharaoh, at Joseph’s request, settled Jacob together with his sons, and in which the Israelites lived for more than 200 years before their exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land. This fertile, pastoral country lay between the Red Sea and the river Nile, or, more precisely, between the Pelusiac branch of it, on the southern border of Canaan. “Thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me,” said Joseph (Gen. 45:10).

From these words it is evident that Goshen lay near the residence of Pharaoh and Joseph. Upon the patriarch’s arrival, Joseph ordered his chariot made ready and went out to meet Israel, his father, in Goshen (Gen. 46:29). Consequently, this land lay on the way from Palestine to Egypt, on the border of the land of Egypt and Palestine. It is certain that Joseph chose the land of Goshen for the dwelling of the Hebrews as the best place in it (47:6), both for its proximity to his own residence (45:10) and for the abundance of its pastures (46:34), and in order to keep the Hebrews apart from the Egyptians, who abhorred shepherds: for “every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians” (46:34), while the Hebrews led a predominantly pastoral life. Today the land of Goshen is placed in the province of esh-Sharkiyeh, still regarded as the best in Egypt.