Genesis 47:15-25

47:15 When the money from the lands of Egypt and Canaan was used up, all the Egyptians ¹  came to Joseph and said, “Give us food! Why should we die ²  before your very eyes because our money has run out?”

47:16 Then Joseph said, “If your money is gone, bring your livestock, and I will give you food ³  in exchange for ⁴  your livestock.” 47:17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for their horses, the livestock of their flocks and herds, and their donkeys. ⁵  He got them through that year by giving them food in exchange for livestock.

47:18 When that year was over, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We cannot hide from our ⁶  lord that the money is used up and the livestock and the animals belong to our lord. Nothing remains before our lord except our bodies and our land. 47:19 Why should we die before your very eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we, with our land, will become ⁷  Pharaoh’s slaves. ⁸  Give us seed that we may live ⁹  and not die. Then the land will not become desolate.” ¹⁰ 

47:20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. Each ¹¹  of the Egyptians sold his field, for the famine was severe. ¹²  So the land became Pharaoh’s. 47:21 Joseph ¹³  made all the people slaves ¹⁴  from one end of Egypt’s border to the other end of it. 47:22 But he did not purchase the land of the priests because the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh and they ate from their allotment that Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.

47:23 Joseph said to the people, “Since I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you. Cultivate ¹⁵  the land. 47:24 When you gather in the crop, ¹⁶  give ¹⁷  one-fifth of it to Pharaoh, and the rest ¹⁸  will be yours for seed for the fields and for you to eat, including those in your households and your little children.” 47:25 They replied, “You have saved our lives! You are showing us favor, ¹⁹  and we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.” ²⁰ 

Leviticus 25:35-39

Debt and Slave Regulations

25:35 “‘If your brother ²¹  becomes impoverished and is indebted to you, ²²  you must support ²³  him; he must live ²⁴  with you like a foreign resident. ²⁵  25:36 Do not take interest or profit from him, ²⁶  but you must fear your God and your brother must live ²⁷  with you. 25:37 You must not lend him your money at interest and you must not sell him food for profit. ²⁸  25:38 I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan – to be your God. ²⁹ 

25:39 “‘If your brother becomes impoverished with regard to you so that he sells himself to you, you must not subject him to slave service. ³⁰ 

Deuteronomy 15:7

The Spirit of Liberality

15:7 If a fellow Israelite ³¹  from one of your villages ³²  in the land that the Lord your God is giving you should be poor, you must not harden your heart or be insensitive ³³  to his impoverished condition. ³⁴ 

[47:15]  ¹ tn Heb “all Egypt.” The expression is a metonymy and refers to all the people of Egypt.

[47:15]  ² tn The imperfect verbal form has a deliberative force here.

[47:16]  ³ tn The word “food” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[47:16]  ⁴ tn On the use of the preposition here see BDB 90 s.v. בְּ.

[47:17]  ⁵ tn The definite article is translated here as a possessive pronoun.

[47:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “my.” The expression “my lord” occurs twice more in this verse.

[47:19]  ⁷ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates consequence.

[47:19]  ⁸ sn Pharaoh’s slaves. The idea of slavery is not attractive to the modern mind, but in the ancient world it was the primary way of dealing with the poor and destitute. If the people became slaves of Pharaoh, it was Pharaoh’s responsibility to feed them and care for them. It was the best way for them to survive the famine.

[47:19]  ⁹ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates purpose or result.

[47:19]  ¹⁰ tn The disjunctive clause structure (vav [ו] + subject + negated verb) highlights the statement and brings their argument to a conclusion.

[47:20]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text connects this clause with the preceding one with a causal particle (כִּי, ki). The translation divides the clauses into two sentences for stylistic reasons.

[47:20]  ¹² tn The Hebrew text adds “upon them.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[47:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[47:21]  ¹⁴ tc The MT reads “and the people he removed to the cities,” which does not make a lot of sense in this context. The Samaritan Pentateuch and the LXX read “he enslaved them as slaves.”

[47:23]  ¹⁵ tn The perfect verbal form with the vav consecutive is equivalent to a command here.

[47:24]  ¹⁶ tn The words “the crop” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[47:24]  ¹⁷ tn The perfect form with the vav (ו) consecutive is equivalent to an imperfect of instruction here.

[47:24]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “four parts.”

[47:25]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “we find favor in the eyes of my lord.” Some interpret this as a request, “may we find favor in the eyes of my lord.”

[47:25]  ²⁰ sn Slaves. See the note on this word in v. 21.

[25:35]  ²¹ tn It is not clear to whom this refers. It is probably broader than “sibling” (cf. NRSV “any of your kin”; NLT “any of your Israelite relatives”) but some English versions take it to mean “fellow Israelite” (so TEV; cf. NAB, NIV “countrymen”) and others are ambiguous (cf. CEV “any of your people”).

[25:35]  ²² tn Heb “and his hand slips with you.”

[25:35]  ²³ tn Heb “strengthen”; NASB “sustain.”

[25:35]  ²⁴ tn The form וָחַי (vakhay, “and shall live”) looks like the adjective “living,” but the MT form is simply the same verb written as a double ayin verb (see HALOT 309 s.v. חיה qal, and GKC 218 §76.i; cf. Lev 18:5).

[25:35]  ²⁵ tn Heb “a foreigner and resident,” which is probably to be combined (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 170-71).

[25:36]  ²⁶ tn The meaning of the terms rendered “interest” and “profit” is much debated (see the summaries in P. J. Budd, Leviticus [NCBC], 354-55 and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 178). Verse 37, however, suggests that the first refers to a percentage of money and the second percentage of produce (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 421).

[25:36]  ²⁷ tn In form the Hebrew term וְחֵי (vÿkhey, “shall live”) is the construct plural noun (i.e., “the life of”), but here it is used as the finite verb (cf. v. 35 and GKC 218 §76.i).

[25:37]  ²⁸ tn Heb “your money” and “your food.” With regard to “interest” and “profit” see the note on v. 36 above.

[25:38]  ²⁹ tn Heb “to be to you for a God.”

[25:39]  ³⁰ tn Heb “you shall not serve against him service of a slave.” A distinction is being made here between the status of slave and indentured servant.

[15:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “one of your brothers” (so NASB); NAB “one of your kinsmen”; NRSV “a member of your community.” See the note at v. 2.

[15:7]  ³² tn Heb “gates.”

[15:7]  ³³ tn Heb “withdraw your hand.” Cf. NIV “hardhearted or tightfisted” (NRSV and NLT similar).

[15:7]  ³⁴ tn Heb “from your needy brother.”