Genesis 47:26

26 So Joseph made a law about land in Egypt. It's still the law today. A fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. Only the land belonging to the priests didn't become Pharaoh's.

Genesis 47:26 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 47:26

And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this
day
With the consent of Pharaoh, his nobles, and all the people of the land, who readily came into it; and so it became, a fundamental law of their constitution, and which continued to the times of Moses, the writer of this history:

[that] Pharaoh should have the fifth [part];
that is, of the increase the whole land of Egypt produced:

except the land of the priests only, [which] became not Pharaoh's;
it not being bought by him; so Diodorus Siculus ^F13, as he assigns the first part of the land to the priests, so he says they were free from all taxes and tribute, and next to the king were possessed of honour and authority.

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 Ut supra. (Bibliothec. l. 1. p. 47.)

Genesis 47:26 In-Context

24 But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of it to Pharaoh. Keep the other four-fifths for yourselves. They will be seeds for the fields. And they will be food for yourselves, your children, and the other people who live with you."

25 "You have saved our lives," they said. "If you are pleased with us, we will be slaves to Pharaoh."

26 So Joseph made a law about land in Egypt. It's still the law today. A fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. Only the land belonging to the priests didn't become Pharaoh's.

27 The people of Israel settled in Egypt in the area of Goshen. They received property there. They had children and greatly increased their numbers.

28 Jacob lived 17 years in Egypt. He lived a total of 147 years.