Genesis 47:26

26 Yosef made it a statute concerning the land of Mitzrayim to this day, that Par`oh should have the fifth. Only the land of the Kohanim alone didn't become Par`oh'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 It will happen at the harvests, that you shall give a fifth to Par`oh, and four parts will be your own, for seed of the field, for your food, for them of your households, and for food for your little ones."

25 They said, "You have saved our lives! Let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Par`oh's servants."

26 Yosef made it a statute concerning the land of Mitzrayim to this day, that Par`oh should have the fifth. Only the land of the Kohanim alone didn't become Par`oh's.

27 Yisra'el lived in the land of Mitzrayim, in the land of Goshen; and they got themselves possessions therein, and were fruitful, and multiplied exceedingly.

28 Ya`akov lived in the land of Mitzrayim seventeen years. So the days of Ya`akov, the years of his life, were one hundred forty-seven years.