Genesis 43:1

The Second Journey to Egypt

43:1 Now the famine was severe in the land. ¹ 

Genesis 13:2

13:2 (Now Abram was very wealthy ²  in livestock, silver, and gold.) ³ 

Genesis 12:10

The Promised Blessing Jeopardized

12:10 There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt ⁴  to stay for a while ⁵  because the famine was severe. ⁶ 

Genesis 50:9

50:9 Chariots and horsemen also went up with him, so it was a very large entourage. ⁷ 

Genesis 41:31

41:31 The previous abundance of the land will not be remembered ⁸  because of the famine that follows, for the famine will be very severe. ⁹ 

Genesis 47:13

47:13 But there was no food in all the land because the famine was very severe; the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan wasted away ¹⁰  because of the famine.

Genesis 47:4

47:4 Then they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live as temporary residents ¹¹  in the land. There ¹²  is no pasture for your servants’ flocks because the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. So now, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen.”

Genesis 50:11

50:11 When the Canaanites who lived in the land saw them mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a very sad occasion ¹³  for the Egyptians.” That is why its name was called ¹⁴  Abel Mizraim, ¹⁵  which is beyond the Jordan.

[43:1]  ¹ tn The disjunctive clause gives supplemental information that is important to the storyline.

[13:2]  ² tn Heb “heavy.”

[13:2]  ³ tn This parenthetical clause, introduced by the vav (ו) disjunctive (translated “now”), provides information necessary to the point of the story.

[12:10]  ³ sn Abram went down to Egypt. The Abrahamic narrative foreshadows some of the events in the life of the nation of Israel. This sojourn in Egypt is typological of Israel’s bondage there. In both stories there is a famine that forces the family to Egypt, death is a danger to the males while the females are preserved alive, great plagues bring about their departure, there is a summons to stand before Pharaoh, and there is a return to the land of Canaan with great wealth.

[12:10]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew verb גּוּר (gur), traditionally rendered “to sojourn,” means “to stay for a while.” The “stranger” (traditionally “sojourner”) is one who is a temporary resident, a visitor, one who is passing through. Abram had no intention of settling down in Egypt or owning property. He was only there to wait out the famine.

[12:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “heavy in the land.” The words “in the land,” which also occur at the beginning of the verse in the Hebrew text, have not been repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[50:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “camp.”

[41:31]  ⁵ tn Heb “known.”

[41:31]  ⁶ tn Or “heavy.”

[47:13]  ⁶ tn The verb לַהַה (lahah, = לָאָה, la’ah) means “to faint, to languish”; it figuratively describes the land as wasting away, drooping, being worn out.

[47:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “to sojourn.”

[47:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “for there.” The Hebrew uses a causal particle to connect what follows with what precedes. The translation divides the statement into two sentences for stylistic reasons.

[50:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “this is heavy mourning for Egypt.”

[50:11]  ⁹ tn The verb has no expressed subject and so it may be translated as passive.

[50:11]  ¹⁰ sn The name Abel Mizraim means “the mourning of Egypt.”