Genesis 47:21 - Printer Friendly

ESV: As for the people, he made servants of them from one end of Egypt to the other.

NIV: and Joseph reduced the people to servitude, from one end of Egypt to the other.

NASB: As for the people, he relocated them to the cities from one end of Egypt’s border to the other.

CSB: and Joseph moved the people to the cities from one end of Egypt to the other.

NLT: As for the people, he made them all slaves, from one end of Egypt to the other.

KJV: And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof.

NKJV: And as for the people, he moved them into the cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end.

Joseph's plan, provided by the blessing of the Lord, to save Egypt and the surrounding peoples from a seven-year famine has succeeded (Genesis 41:33–36; 55–57). The stores of grain set aside during seven years of plenty before the famine have provided all the food needed to keep the people alive. However, the famine has brought another consequence. Through Joseph, Pharaoh has not simply given food away. Instead, he has sold it, first for money and then for livestock. As the famine raged on, the people gave all their money, herds, and land to Pharaoh's house in exchange for food (Genesis 47:13–20).

Now, through Joseph, Pharaoh has brought all the people of Egypt under servitude. The people have sold their freedom to avoid starvation. Previously free—in the sense of controlling their own money and land and livestock—the Egyptian people are now under a loose form of enslavement, or indentured servitude.

Genesis 47:13–26 describes how Joseph's plan for the famine made Egypt's king even more powerful and wealthy. In essence, Joseph sells grain taxed from the people back to them. When the people run out of money to pay for food from the storehouses, Joseph trades for their livestock, land, and even their freedom. Pharaoh comes to own nearly everything and everyone in Egypt, resulting in a standing 20 percent income tax on the people.

Genesis 47 begins with Pharaoh interviewing Joseph's brothers and father before granting their request to settle in the region of Goshen in Egypt. Just as Joseph had hoped, his family is secure. The rest of the people of Egypt and Canaan are not. Most run out of money and can no longer buy food from Joseph. On Pharaoh's behalf, Joseph trades food for their livestock and then their land and even their freedom. Nearly all people will be required to pay to Pharaoh 20 percent of their harvest each year from this time forward. After several years, Jacob asks Joseph to swear that he will bury Jacob's body with his fathers in Canaan.

After describing the family's journey from Canaan and their arrival in Egypt in chapter 46, this passage opens on a formal conversation between Pharaoh and Joseph's family. He officially grants their request to settle in Egypt. As the famine continues, citizens of Egypt and Canaan turn over their money, land, and livestock to Joseph in exchange for food. The final three chapters of Genesis explain Jacob's dying blessings, and the passing of both Jacob and Joseph.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.

Accessed 11/22/2024 8:59:42 AM