Editing Land of Goshen (section)

==Biblical text==
The land of Goshen is mentioned in the biblical books of [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] and [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]]. In the story of [[Joseph (Genesis)|Joseph]], which comprises the final chapters of Genesis, the patriarch [[Jacob]] is facing famine and sends ten of his sons to Egypt to buy grain.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Genesis|42|NRSV}}</ref> Joseph, another of Jacob's sons, is a high official in Egypt and allows his father and brothers to settle in Egypt.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Genesis|45|NRSV}}</ref> In Genesis 45:10, Goshen is treated as being close to Joseph, who lives at the pharaoh's court{{sfn|Bietak|2015|p=26}} and in Genesis 47:5 Goshen is called "the best part" of the land of Egypt.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Genesis|47:5|NRSV}}</ref> But it is also implied to be somewhat set apart from the rest of Egypt,{{sfn|Van Seters|2004|p=384}} because Joseph tells his family to present themselves to the pharaoh as keepers of livestock, "in order that you may settle in the land of Goshen, because all shepherds are abhorrent to the Egyptians."<ref>{{Bibleverse|Genesis|46:34|NRSV}}</ref> Genesis 47:11 interchanges the "land of Rameses" with Goshen: "Joseph settled his father and his brothers and granted them a holding in the land of Egypt, in the best part of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had instructed."<ref>{{Bibleverse|Genesis|47:11|NRSV}}</ref>

In Exodus, Jacob's descendants, the [[Israelites]], continue to live in Egypt and grow numerous.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Exodus|1:7|NRSV}}</ref> The name of Goshen appears only twice in Exodus, in the narration of the [[Plagues of Egypt]], in which Goshen as the dwelling place of the Israelites is spared the plague of flies and plague of hail that afflict the Egyptians.{{sfn|Grabbe|2014|p=43}}

A place named Goshen is also mentioned in the [[Book of Joshua]], where the Israelites are continuing with their conquest of the Promised Land. Joshua 11:16 states: "So Joshua took all that land: the hill country and all the Negeb and all the land of Goshen and the lowland and the Arabah and the hill country of Israel and its lowland."<ref>{{Bibleverse|Joshua|11:16|NRSV}}</ref> However, this Goshen is generally considered to refer to a region located in the east of [[Tribe of Judah|Judah]] between the [[Negev]] and the [[Judaean Mountains|Hill Country]], rather than to the Egyptian Goshen.{{sfn|Theis|2020}}