Genesis 47:20

20 So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh’s,

Genesis 47:20 in Other Translations

20 And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh's.

20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for all the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe on them. The land became Pharaoh's.

20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. All the Egyptians sold him their fields because the famine was so severe, and soon all the land belonged to Pharaoh.

20 So Joseph bought up all the farms in Egypt for Pharaoh. Every Egyptian sold his land - the famine was that bad. That's how Pharaoh ended up owning all the land

20 In this way, Joseph acquired all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh, because every Egyptian sold his field since the famine was so severe for them. The land became Pharaoh's,

Genesis 47:20 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 47:20

And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh
Not for himself, nor did he entail it on his posterity, but for Pharaoh, who became sole proprietor of it:

for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine
prevailed over them;
everyone that had a field sold it to buy bread for his family, so great was the famine; no mention is made of their houses, either because these went with their lands, or they were so mean that they were of little account, and would scarce bear any price; for as Diodorus Siculus ^F8 reports of the Egyptians, they were less careful of the structure of their houses, and exceeded all bounds in the magnificence of their sepulchres:

so the land became Pharaoh's;
not only with respect to dominion and government, so it was before, but with respect to property; before, every man's field, and garden, and vineyard were his own, and he was in possession thereof for his own use, but now being sold, were Pharaoh's; and they held them of him, and paid a rent for them in a manner hereafter directed by a law.

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 Bibliothec. l. 1. p. 47.

Genesis 47:20 In-Context

18 When that year was over, they came to him the following year and said, “We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money is gone and our livestock belongs to you, there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land.

19 Why should we perish before your eyes—we and our land as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh. Give us seed so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate.”

20 So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh’s,

21 and Joseph reduced the people to servitude, from one end of Egypt to the other.

22 However, he did not buy the land of the priests, because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.

Cross References

• 1. S Genesis 12:10