Genesis 47:11-26

47:11 So Joseph settled his father and his brothers. He gave them territory ¹  in the land of Egypt, in the best region of the land, the land of Rameses, ²  just as Pharaoh had commanded. 47:12 Joseph also provided food for his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household, according to the number of their little children.

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 ³  because of the famine. 47:14 Joseph collected all the money that could be found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan as payment ⁴  for the grain they were buying. Then Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s palace. ⁵  47:15 When the money from the lands of Egypt and Canaan was used up, all the Egyptians ⁶  came to Joseph and said, “Give us food! Why should we die ⁷  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 ⁸  in exchange for ⁹  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. ¹⁰  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 ¹¹  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 ¹²  Pharaoh’s slaves. ¹³  Give us seed that we may live ¹⁴  and not die. Then the land will not become desolate.” ¹⁵ 

47:20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. Each ¹⁶  of the Egyptians sold his field, for the famine was severe. ¹⁷  So the land became Pharaoh’s. 47:21 Joseph ¹⁸  made all the people slaves ¹⁹  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 ²⁰  the land. 47:24 When you gather in the crop, ²¹  give ²²  one-fifth of it to Pharaoh, and the rest ²³  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, ²⁴  and we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.” ²⁵ 

47:26 So Joseph made it a statute, ²⁶  which is in effect ²⁷  to this day throughout the land of Egypt: One-fifth belongs to Pharaoh. Only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh’s.

[47:11]  ¹ tn Heb “a possession,” or “a holding.” Joseph gave them a plot of land with rights of ownership in the land of Goshen.

[47:11]  ² sn The land of Rameses is another designation for the region of Goshen. It is named Rameses because of a city in that region (Exod 1:11; 12:37). The use of this name may represent a modernization of the text for the understanding of the intended readers, substituting a later name for an earlier one. Alternatively, there may have been an earlier Rameses for which the region was named.

[47:13]  ³ 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.

[47:14]  ⁴ tn Or “in exchange.” On the use of the preposition here see BDB 90 s.v. בְּ.

[47:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “house.”

[47:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “all Egypt.” The expression is a metonymy and refers to all the people of Egypt.

[47:15]  ⁷ tn The imperfect verbal form has a deliberative force here.

[47:16]  ⁸ tn The word “food” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[47:16]  ⁹ tn On the use of the preposition here see BDB 90 s.v. בְּ.

[47:17]  ¹⁰ tn The definite article is translated here as a possessive pronoun.

[47:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “my.” The expression “my lord” occurs twice more in this verse.

[47:19]  ¹² tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates consequence.

[47:19]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates purpose or result.

[47:19]  ¹⁵ tn The disjunctive clause structure (vav [ו] + subject + negated verb) highlights the statement and brings their argument to a conclusion.

[47:20]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew text adds “upon them.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[47:21]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[47:21]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn The perfect verbal form with the vav consecutive is equivalent to a command here.

[47:24]  ²¹ tn The words “the crop” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[47:24]  ²² tn The perfect form with the vav (ו) consecutive is equivalent to an imperfect of instruction here.

[47:24]  ²³ tn Heb “four parts.”

[47:25]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ sn Slaves. See the note on this word in v. 21.

[47:26]  ²⁶ tn On the term translated “statute” see P. Victor, “A Note on Hoq in the Old Testament,” VT 16 (1966): 358-61.

[47:26]  ²⁷ tn The words “which is in effect” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.