Genesis 41:36

36 And let that food be kept in store for the land till the seven bad years which are to come in Egypt; so that the land may not come to destruction through need of food.

Genesis 41:36 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 41:36

And that food shall be for store to the land
A deposit in the said cities, to be brought forth and used in a time of public distress; the Targum of Jonathan is, it

``shall be hidden in a cave in the earth:''

against the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt:
and so be a supply to the inhabitants of the land, when they should be sore pressed with a famine, and know not what to do, nor where to go for food: that the land perish not through the famine;
that is, that the people of the land perish not, as the above Targum, which, without such a provision, they would have been in great danger of perishing. Justin, an Heathen writer ^F17, confirms this account of the advice of Joseph, of whom he says, that

``he was exceeding sagacious of things wonderful, and first found out the meaning of dreams; and nothing of right, divine or human, seemed unknown to him, so that he could foresee the barrenness of land many years beforehand; and all Egypt would have perished with the famine, if the king, by his advice, had not commanded an edict, that the fruits of the earth, for many years, should be preserved.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 E. Trogo, l. 36. c. 32.

Genesis 41:36 In-Context

34 Let Pharaoh do this, and let him put overseers over the land of Egypt to put in store a fifth part of the produce of the land in the good years.

35 And let them get together all the food in those good years and make a store of grain under Pharaoh's control for the use of the towns, and let them keep it.

36 And let that food be kept in store for the land till the seven bad years which are to come in Egypt; so that the land may not come to destruction through need of food.

37 And this seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants.

38 Then Pharaoh said to his servants, Where may we get such a man as this, a man in whom is the spirit of God?