Genesis 47:20 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for all the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe on them. The land became Pharaoh’s.

NIV: So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh's,

NASB: So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for every Egyptian sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land became Pharaoh’s.

CSB: In this way, Joseph acquired all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh, because every Egyptian sold his field since the famine was so severe for them. The land became Pharaoh's,

NLT: So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. All the Egyptians sold him their fields because the famine was so severe, and soon all the land belonged to Pharaoh.

KJV: And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh's.

NKJV: Then Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for every man of the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land became Pharaoh’s.

Joseph, as representative of the king of Egypt, has made the Pharaoh an enormously wealthy and powerful man. The people will die without the food stores that Joseph oversees. After spending all their money, the people traded their livestock (Genesis 47:13–17). Still starving, they offered their land and themselves—as servants and slaves—in trade for another year's worth of food.

Joseph agrees and buys all the land of Egypt as Pharaoh's property. This implies that, in some sense, the people had previously been free and privately owned their lands and herds. They had been a free people, such as it was, but would now be entirely subject to the king of Egypt. Now they have sold their land for food. Joseph will continue this pattern, buying the people themselves as servants. Pharaoh would now own nearly everything of value in all Egypt, and he would have Joseph to thank for it.

In practice, most of the people would remain on their land and continue in their occupations. The mortgaging of their property, land, and freedom would involve giving 20 percent of all their future harvests to Pharaoh (Genesis 47:23–24).

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.