Genesis 41:53

41:53 The seven years of abundance in the land of Egypt came to an end.

Genesis 41:29-31

41:29 Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the whole land of Egypt. 41:30 But seven years of famine will occur after them, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will devastate the land. 41:31 The previous abundance of the land will not be remembered because of the famine that follows, for the famine will be very severe.

Genesis 41:34

41:34 Pharaoh should do this – he should appoint officials throughout the land to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven years of abundance.

tn The perfect with the vav consecutive continues the time frame of the preceding participle, which has an imminent future nuance here.

tn The Hebrew verb כָּלָה (kalah) in the Piel stem means “to finish, to destroy, to bring an end to.” The severity of the famine will ruin the land of Egypt.

tn Heb “known.”

tn Or “heavy.”

tn The imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance here. The Samaritan Pentateuch has a jussive form here, “and let [Pharaoh] do.”

tn Heb “and let him appoint.” The jussive form expresses Joseph’s advice to Pharaoh.

tn Heb “appointees.” The noun is a cognate accusative of the preceding verb. Since “appoint appointees” would be redundant in English, the term “officials” was used in the translation instead.

tn Heb “and he shall collect a fifth of the land of Egypt.” The language is figurative (metonymy); it means what the land produces, i.e., the harvest.