Genesis 47:13

Joseph centralizes power in Egypt

13 There was no food in the land because the famine was so severe. The land of Egypt and the land of Canaan dried up from the famine.

Genesis 47:13 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 47:13

And [there was] no bread in all the land
The land of Egypt and the parts adjacent, but in Pharaoh's storehouses, all being consumed that were in private hands the first two years of the famine: for the famine [was] very sore;
severe, pressed very hard: so that the land of Egypt, and [all] the land of Canaan, fainted by
reason of the famine;
that is, the inhabitants of both countries, their spirits sunk, as well as their flesh failed for want of food: or "raged" F2; became furious, and were like madmen, as the word signifies; according to Kimchi F3, they were at their wits' end, knew not what to do, as Aben Ezra interprets it, and became tumultuous; it is much they had not in a violent manner broke open the storehouses of corn, and took it away by force; that they did not must be owing to the providence of God, which restrained them, and to the care and prudence of Joseph as a means, who, doubtless, had well fortified the granaries; and very probably there were a body of soldiers placed everywhere, who were one of the three parts or states of the kingdom of Egypt, as Diodorus Siculus F4 relates; to which may be added, the mild and gentle address of Joseph to the people, speaking kindly to them, giving them hopes of a supply during the famine, and readily relieving them upon terms they could not object to.


FOOTNOTES:

F2 (hlt) "insanivit vel acta fuit in rahiem", Vatablus; "furebat", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
F3 In Sepher Shorash rad (hhl) ; so Ben Melech in loc.
F4 Bibliothec. l. 1. p. 67.

Genesis 47:13 In-Context

11 Joseph settled his father and brothers and gave them property in the land of Egypt, in the best location in the land of Rameses, just as Pharaoh had ordered.
12 Joseph provided food for his father, his brothers, and his father's entire household, in proportion to the number of children.
13 There was no food in the land because the famine was so severe. The land of Egypt and the land of Canaan dried up from the famine.
14 Joseph collected all of the silver to be found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the grain, which people came to buy, and he deposited it in Pharaoh's treasury.
15 The silver from the land of Egypt and from the land of Canaan had been spent, and all of the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, "Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes, just because the silver is gone?"
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