What is…
Goshen

also known as: Gosen, the land of Goshen, the land of Rameses

Hebrew: גּשֶׁן —transliteration: Goshen (a proper name, and not originally a Hebrew name)

This is the name of 3 different biblical places.

  1. Goshen—a district in the eastern Delta region of the Nile River

    Land of Goshen in Egypt

    Goshen is the divinely appointed sanctuary in Egypt where God preserved, protected, multiplied, and ultimately redeemed His covenant people, setting the stage for the Exodus and the birth of Israel as a nation.

    This place in ancient Egypt is where Jacob and his family settled with the help of his beloved and illustrious son Joseph. Through the providence and grace of God, they were given a fertile land.

    Their descendants remained here till the Exodus (Genesis 45:10; 46:28-29, 31, etc.)

    It is called “the land of Goshen” (47:27), and also simply “Goshen” (Genesis 46:28), and “the land of Rameses” (Gen. 47:11; Exodus 12:37), for the towns Pithom and Rameses lay within its borders; also Zoan (aka Tanis) (Psalm 78:12).

    Goshen lay on the east of the Nile River, and apparently not far from a royal residence. Goshen was a pastoral district, where some of the Pharaoh’s cattle were kept (Genesis 47:6).

    At that time, it was “the best of the land” (Genesis 47:6, 11), but it is now a desert.

    It is first mentioned in Joseph’s message to his father. It has been identified with the modern Wady Tumilat, lying between the eastern part of the Delta and the west border of Israel.

    The inhabitants were not exclusively Israelites (Exodus 3:22; 11:2; 12:35, 36).

    On the edge of Goshen was the city of Zoan (later called Tanis), which became the capital city of the pharaoh at the time of the Exodus.

    God used Goshen to protect His people from a devastating famine, where they not only survived but thrived, greatly increasing their number. When they left Egypty, their carried with them many treasures of the Egyptians, as they went out to establish their own nation in The Promised Land.

    When God sent 10 plagues on the Egyptian pharaoh and his idolatrous people, the Israelites were spared.

    But on that day I will make a distinction for the land of Goshen, where My people are living, so that no swarms of flies will be there, that you may know that I, Yahweh, am in the midst of the land. And I will put a division between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign will happen.”’” —Exodus 8:22-23 LSB

    Hail plague:

    Only in the land of Goshen, where the sons of Israel were, there was no hail. —Exodus 9:26

    The Israelites entered Egypt with only a relatively small family group (Jacob/Israel and the families of his sons), and left Goshen with 600-thousand Israelite men, plus a great multitude of kids, women and foreigners and “a very large number of livestock” (Exo. 12:37-38).

    Quick Memory Hook

    Goshen = God’s Safe Haven (for the His chosen people)

    • Gathered (Genesis 46)
    • Overseen (by Joseph)
    • Shielded (from plagues)
    • Herds thrive
    • Exit for Exodus (Goshen was their launchpad of redemption)
    • Nation born

    More information

  2. Goshen, a district in the ancient land of Israel

    It was a part of the maritime plain of the land of the Tribe of Judah, and lay between Gaza and Gibeon.

    Joshua struck them from Kadesh-barnea even as far as Gaza, and all the country of Goshen even as far as Gibeon. —Joshua 10:41

    Thus Joshua took all that land: the hill country and all the Negev, all that land of Goshen, the Shephelah, the Arabah, the hill country of Israel and its Shephelah from Mount Halak, that rises toward Seir, even as far as Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon at the foot of Mount Hermon. … —Joshua 11:16-17 excerpt

  3. Goshen, a town in the mountains of the lands of the Tribe of Judah

    This was located in the far southern section of the Tribe of Judah toward the border of Edom.

    Eleven cities in the hill country are noted together in the same area (Joshua 15:48-51).

    1. Shamir
    2. Jattir
    3. Socoh (Socho)
    4. Dannah
    5. Kiriath-sannah (that is, Debir)
    6. Anab
    7. Eshtemoh (Eshtemoa)
    8. Anim
    9. Goshen
    10. Holon
    11. Giloh
Article Version: October 29, 2025