Genesis 47.13-26-Joseph Enslaves the Egyptians to Pharaoh

Tuesday April 3, 2007

Genesis: Genesis 47:13-26-Joseph Enslaves the Egyptians to Pharaoh

Lesson # 307

Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 47:1.

This evening we will continue with our study of Genesis 47.

By way of review, we have noted the following thus far in the chapter:

In Genesis 47:1-6, we saw Joseph’s brothers meeting Pharaoh and in Genesis 47:7-10, we read where Jacob met Pharaoh.

In Genesis 47:11-12, we saw Joseph settling his family in Goshen.

This evening we will study Genesis 47:13-26, which presents to us the record of Joseph enslaving the Egyptians to Pharaoh.

The purpose of this passage is to demonstrate the severity of the famine and the desperate situation that the Egyptians found themselves dealing with and how Joseph delivered them.

This passage is divided into three sections: (1) The Egyptians exchange silver for grain (Genesis 47:13-14) (2) The Egyptians mortgage herds for grain (Genesis 47:15-17) (3) The Egyptians mortgage land and become slaves for grain (Genesis 47:18-26).

As we will see, at the end of the famine, all the Egyptians except for the priests, became slaves of Pharaoh in the sense that they became tenants of royal lands paying one-fifth of their produce to Pharaoh (Genesis 47:24-25), and this policy was still being practiced up to the day when Moses penned the Pentateuch.

Genesis 47:13, “Now there was no food in all the land, because the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine.”

The New American Standard’s translation of Genesis 47:13 is inaccurate.

The Hebrew text reads, “However, there was no bread in all the region because the famine was very severe both the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan were exhausted from the famine.”

The New International Version translates the passage correctly, “There was no food, however, in the whole region because the famine was severe; both Egypt and Canaan wasted away because of the famine.”

“Now” in the NAS and “however” in the NIV translate a we (w+) (waw) disjunctive construction meaning we have the conjunction we followed by a noun and then a verb.

In our passage, we have the conjunction we followed by the noun lechem (<j#l#) (lekh-em), “bread, food,” which is followed by the substantive `ayin (/y!a^) (ay-yin), “there was no.”

This we disjunctive construction expresses a contrast rather than a transition, which the New American Standard erroneously does by translating this construction with the word “now” and the New International does by translating it “however.”

In our passage, this we disjunctive construction expresses a contrast between the abundant food provisions and prosperity that Joseph’s family enjoyed during the last five years of the famine with the Egyptians and Canaanites who lacked food and went bankrupt from the famine.

The “the land of Canaan” is mentioned three times in Genesis 47:13-15 in order to remind the reader of Israel’s fate if he and his family had remained in Canaan and Joseph had not delivered them from the famine there by counseling his family to migrate to Egypt.

“Languished” in the NAS and “wasted away” in the NIV is the verb lahah (hhl) (law-hah), which means, “to be exhausted.”

This verb is used with reference to both the land of Egypt and Canaan and their inhabitants since Genesis 47:13 is used in contrast with Genesis 47:12, which records the Israelites having plenty of food and provisions.

Genesis 47:14, “Joseph gathered all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the grain which they bought, and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.”

Genesis 41:56 records that Joseph sold grain to people rather than giving it away since this would enable him to maintain strict control over the supplies in order to prevent looting, waste and corruption.

Joseph knew that these vast reserves of grain that had been accumulating during the seven year of bumper crops would have to be carefully maintained to last throughout the seven years of famine.

It would have been irresponsible, unwise and shortsighted of Joseph if he had simply given away the grain rather than sell it.

Also, the grain had been acquired by lawful and fair means by devoting most of the government’s taxing and buying power to it for seven years.

To give the grain away would have meant bankrupting the government and thus destroying it.

Therefore, Joseph sold to those who could afford to purchase grain and it is reasonable to assume that he did not charge those who were unable to buy or, more than likely he employed these individuals for government service in order to earn the necessary cash or credit to purchase grain.

“Money” is the noun keseph ([s#K#) (keh-sef), which means, “silver” which in the Near East in the days of the patriarchs was used as a measure of value and was also a mark of wealth.

“Grain” is the noun shever (rb#v#) (sheh-ver), which derives its meaning from the verb shavar (rb^v*) (shaw-var), which means, “to break” hence “that which breaks out of the shell,” that is “grain.”

Therefore, Joseph was selling “threshed” grain, which was used for food and not seed.

The statement “Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house” means that Joseph deposited the money from the sale of grain into the royal treasuries and implies that Joseph took nothing for himself, thus demonstrating his honesty and integrity as a public official.

Exodus 20:15, “You shall not steal.”

Psalm 119:36, “Incline my heart to Your testimonies and not to dishonest gain.”

Proverbs 28:16, “A leader who is a great oppressor lacks understanding, but he who hates unjust gain will prolong his days.”

Genesis 47:15, “When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, ‘Give us food, for why should we die in your presence? For our money is gone.’”

Genesis 47:16, “Then Joseph said, ‘Give up your livestock, and I will give you food for your livestock, since your money is gone.’”

Genesis 47:17, “So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses and the flocks and the herds and the donkeys; and he fed them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year.”

According to Genesis 45:5, the famine had been in the land of Egypt and Canaan for two years.

All private reserves of wheat have been exhausted, and all the silver of Egypt and Canaan had been spent in buying government grain from Joseph and yet the famine continued and was very severe.

In desperation the Egyptians approached Joseph, reminding him of their need for food and that they had no money with which to purchase food.

Joseph knew that while their money was gone, they still possessed many cattle.

Had these cattle remained the possession of the Egyptians they would have perished, for there was no grass for pasture and no grain for feed.

Only Pharaoh would want them since no one could sustain them through these years of famine and drought.

Therefore, we can see that Joseph did the Egyptians a favor by taking the cattle off their hands and exchanging them for grain which they needed to survive.

Some of these livestock may have been purchased by the Israelites, who were keepers of flocks (46:34) and who were relatively un¬affected by the famine (47:27).

Many, if not all, of the flocks which Joseph purchased for Pharaoh may have been cared for by Joseph’s brothers (cf. 47:6).

Genesis 47:18, “When that year was ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, ‘We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent, and the cattle are my lord's. There is nothing left for my lord except our bodies and our lands.’”

Genesis 47:19, “Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh. So give us seed, that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.”

The sale of their livestock enabled the Egyptians to live through another year but as the following year approached, they found themselves once again appeal¬ing to Joseph for grain to stay alive.

However, now they did not have either money or cat¬tle, but they still possessed two valuable commodities, namely, land and labor.

At their own suggestion, the Egyptians exchanged their land and their labor for grain.

Their land would belong to Pharaoh, they said, and they would be his slaves.

Joseph also agreed to provide them with grain for seed when the famine ended and planting time came (47:18 19).

Genesis 47:20, “So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for every Egyptian sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. Thus the land became Pharaoh's.”

Genesis 47:21, “As for the people, he removed them to the cities from one end of Egypt's border to the other.”

Genesis 47:22, “Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh, and they lived off the allotment which Pharaoh gave them. Therefore, they did not sell their land.”

Notice that the Egyptian people were moved in from the rural areas to the cities (Genesis 47:21), which was done for administrative purposes.

The first reason is that since the grain was stored in the cities according to Genesis 41:35, it could be more efficiently distributed with the people residing in the cities.

Another reason why Joseph transferred the people to the cities was to make the transfer of ownership more tangible and permanent since once their land was left, there would not be as much emotional attachment to the land.

Archaeologists have discovered records from earlier times in Egypt, which demonstrate there was private ownership of land but then there are records from a later period of Egypt’s history, which show that all the land in Egypt was owned by Pharaoh.

Genesis 47:23, “Then Joseph said to the people, ‘Behold, I have today bought you and your land for Pharaoh; now, here is seed for you, and you may sow the land.’”

Genesis 47:24, “At the harvest you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four-fifths shall be your own for seed of the field and for your food and for those of your households and as food for your little ones.”

It is interesting that the Egyptians presented the terms of their servitude and not Joseph according to Genesis 47:23 24.

Therefore, we see that Joseph acquired both the people and their land for Pharaoh and when the famine came to an end, he would provide them with seed for planting.

Then, when crops were once again harvested, one fifth would be given to Pharaoh and the remaining four-fifths would belong to the people for food, fodder, and seed for the next crop.

This 20 percent tax was not burdensome for the people or exorbitant in the days of Joseph since some landlords in some countries exacted as much as 50 percent of the crops.

Genesis 47:25, “So they said, ‘You have saved our lives! Let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's slaves.’”

Genesis 47:26, “Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt valid to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh's.”

In Genesis 47:20-26, we see that the ownership of the land in Egypt changed hands except all the land that was acquired by the Israelites (See Genesis 47:27) or maintained by the priests, who were supported (like the Israelites) by Pharaoh (See Genesis 47:22).

Notice also that Moses writes that this policy was still in existence in his day, which meant it was still in effect over four hundreds after Joseph established it according to Genesis 47:26.

There are some who criticize Joseph for enslaving the Egyptian people to Pharaoh but this criticism is unfair for the following reasons:

First of all, Pharaoh and not Joseph owned the grain, thus Joseph is not guilty of any injustice for selling the grain rather than giving it away be¬cause it was not his to give.

Also, Joseph did not profit but rather Pharaoh did and it was his duty to further Pharaoh’s interests, and this he did very well and thus he was being a good and faithful employee and servant of Pharaoh.

Another thing we must consider is that the “slavery” which the Egyptians submitted to was not harsh and unfair but rather was more of an arrangement that a “sharecropper” would make with a land owner and could still do in our nation today.

Slavery to these Egyptians meant the non ownership of their lands and a 20% tax on their production, which Americans in the 21st century would love to have.

Also, the Word of God does “not” condemn slavery and was practiced among the Israelites.

The nation of Israel was permitted by the Lord God to make slaves of those whom they conquered in battle (Lev. 25:44-46; Num. 31:26-28; Ecc. 2:7) and the apostles never condemned slavery and neither did our Lord.

The Word of God never commands slaves to seek their freedom or leave their masters or rebel against them but slaves who had the opportunity to gain their freedom by legal means were not condemned for doing so, but were encouraged (1 Cor. 7:21).

Paul taught Christian slaves that they were in reality slaves of the Lord and therefore, were in reality serving Him since He purchased them out of the slave market of sin with His spiritual death on the cross (See 1 Corinthians 7:20-24).

In the days of the patriarchs and ancient Israel, slavery was the accepted way of bailing out the destitute and under a compassionate master was a comfortable existence (See Exodus 21:5-6; Deuteronomy 15:12-17).

Another reason why Joseph should not be criticized for enslaving the Egyptians to Pharaoh is that the Egyptians themselves praised him and regarded him as their savior according to Genesis 47:25!

We must remember that it was the Egyptians and not Joseph who suggested this arrangement in the first place according to Genesis 47:19 and then they gratefully submitted to it according to Genesis 47:25.

Furthermore, we must not condemn Joseph for enslaving the Egyptians to Pharaoh since the Egyptians have only themselves to blame for placing themselves in such a vulnerable position.

Remember, that Joseph did not create the seven years of plenty or the seven years of famine but rather he pre¬dicted both and proposed a program to deal with them.

His plan did cost the Egyptians their fortunes and some of their freedom, but it also saved them from certain death.

Since the Scriptures describe Joseph as a fabulous administrator, he undoubtedly informed the people of Egypt about the coming seven years of plenty followed by the seven years of famine and the plan that he proposed to Pharaoh to deal with the seven years of famine.

This would secure the people of Egypt’s cooperation in carrying out the plan Joseph had proposed to alleviate the devastation of the coming years of famine.

Therefore, Joseph would have encouraged everyone in Egypt to follow his example in preparing for the famine by saving during the years of prosperity.

If you recall, Joseph accumulated one fifth of the crops of the land during the abundant years, which left four fifths of a bumper crop for the Egyptians.

The Egyptians should have been storing up grain for the famine as Joseph was doing for Pharaoh but rather it appears that the Egyptian people thought the years of plenty would go on forever.

They were much like the antediluvians in Noah’s day who would not listen to Noah warn them about the impending disaster of the flood.

Therefore, the Egyptians were informed that hard times economically were coming, yet they failed to prepare for them.

No wonder they did not complain about Joseph’s handling of this matter and praising him as their savior.