Genesis 41:48

48 And he gathered all the food of the seven years which [occurred] in the land of Egypt. And he stored the food in the cities. The food of the field that surrounded [each] city he stored in its midst.

Genesis 41:48 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 41:48

And he gathered up all the food of the seven years
That is, of plenty; not all the fruits of the earth, or all that was eatable, but the corn, as in ( Genesis 41:49 ) ; and not all of that the earth produced, but the fifth part of it, as he proposed, which he bought with Pharaoh's money, and therefore: had a right to sell it again as he did: which were in the land of Egypt;
in which only he had a concern, and where only was this plenty: and laid up the food in the cities;
in places built for that purpose, and whither the people round about could easily bring it, and fetch it, when it was wanted: the food of the field, which [was] round about every city, laid he up
in the same;
which was very wisely done, for present carriage, and for the convenience of the people in time of famine. At this day, at old Cairo, is an edifice the most considerable in it, called Joseph's granary; it occupies a square, surrounded by a wall, and has divers partitions contrived within it, where is deposited the corn, that is paid as a tax to the Gram Seignior, brought from different parts of Egypt ^F15.

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 Norden's Travels in Egypt vol. 1. p. 72.

Genesis 41:48 In-Context

46 Now Joseph {was thirty years old} when he stood before Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and traveled through the whole land of Egypt.

47 And the land produced a plenty in the seven years of abundance.

48 And he gathered all the food of the seven years which [occurred] in the land of Egypt. And he stored the food in the cities. The food of the field that surrounded [each] city he stored in its midst.

49 And Joseph piled up grain like the sand of the sea in great abundance until he stopped counting [it], for {it could not be counted}.

50 Before the years of famine came, Asenath, daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore two sons to him.