Chuàngshìjì 47:20

20 Yúshì , Yūesè wèi fǎlǎo mǎi le Āijí suǒyǒude dì , Āijí rén yīn beì jīhuāng suǒ pǎi , gè dōu maì le zìjǐ de tiándì . nà dì jiù dōu guī le fǎlǎo .

Chuàngshìjì 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.

Chuàngshìjì 47:20 In-Context

18 Nà yī nián guò qù , dì èr nián tāmen yòu lái jiàn Yūesè , shuō , wǒmen bú mán wǒ zhǔ , wǒmen de yínzi dōu huā jìn le , shēngchù yĕ dōu guī le wǒ zhǔ . wǒmen zaì wǒ zhǔ yǎnqián , chúle wǒmen de shēntǐ hé tiándì zhī waì , yī wú suǒ shèng .

19 Nǐ hé rĕn jiàn wǒmen rén sǐdì huāng ne . qiú nǐ yòng liángshi mǎi wǒmen de wǒmen de dì , wǒmen hé wǒmen de dì jiù yào gĕi fǎlǎo xiàolì . yòu qiú nǐ gĕi wǒmen zhǒngzǐ , shǐ wǒmen déyǐ cún huó , bù zhì sǐwáng , dì tǔ yĕ bù zhì huāngliáng .

20 Yúshì , Yūesè wèi fǎlǎo mǎi le Āijí suǒyǒude dì , Āijí rén yīn beì jīhuāng suǒ pǎi , gè dōu maì le zìjǐ de tiándì . nà dì jiù dōu guī le fǎlǎo .

21 Zhìyú bǎixìng , Yūesè jiào tāmen , cóng Āijí shè bian zhídào Āijí nàbiān , dōu gè guī gè chéng .

22 Wéiyǒu jìsī de dì , Yūesè méiyǒu mǎi , yīnwei jìsī yǒu cóng fǎlǎo suǒ de de cháng fèng . tāmen chī fǎlǎo suǒ gĕi de cháng fèng , suǒyǐ tāmen bù maì zìjǐ de dì .