And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very grievous; and the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan were exhausted through the famine.
The famine is now at its worst. Verse 13 turns from Jacob's family in Goshen to what hunger was doing to two whole countries. From here the chapter records how Joseph fed a starving world, and what it cost those who came.
Egypt was fed too, but on very different terms.
Joseph's father and brothers were settled in the best of the land and fed there. We now turn to how things stood among the Egyptians. This takes up verses 13-26. As the dreams had foretold, the famine grew steadily worse. The people were fed, but not as those in Goshen were. They had to buy their food from Joseph, who acted for Pharaoh. They brought their money, and when that ran out their cattle, and when those ran out they had to sell their land.
What did that difference do to Jacob's family over the years?
Jacob's family was clearly not put under the same bondage as the Egyptians at this time. Pharaoh had given them land and Joseph had supplied their food. They grew and multiplied greatly. They did not become absorbed into Egyptian culture, but kept their identity as the children of Israel.
Watch what the people hand over, step by step.
First "Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt" (Gen. 47:14); second, he "supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year" (v. 17); third, he "bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh" (v. 20); and last, he says, "I have bought you this day" (v. 23). So you see the money fell into Joseph's treasury, and the cattle became his. The lands fell into his hand, and at last Joseph acquired the people themselves for Pharaoh. Nothing brings a man down like hunger. Neither a man's pride nor his parentage can fill him in the day of hunger and need.
One writer ends the account with a question.
They had spent it all and still needed food... the people came to Joseph again telling him they had nothing left except their bodies and their lands. Now they ask Joseph to take their land and also make the people the property of Pharaoh. Are we not to learn from this that it is good for us to be brought down to nothing?
Only one man in Egypt had bread to give.
As in the time we have referred to, only those who dealt with Joseph in their need had bread, so it is now. Christ is our Life-sustainer. Many are faint, confused and uncertain, because they do not go to Him to be nourished by His truth. As in the old days the people came to Joseph saying, "Give us food," so all believers have to learn that there is famine everywhere apart from the blessing of the One greater than Joseph... This Joseph was a remarkable type of Christ risen and glorified. His brothers hated him and sold him. He was falsely accused and put into a dungeon. After he came out, he was highly exalted. Then, by God's ordering, he became the giver of bread to preserve life — a striking picture of the Lord Jesus, our Life-sustainer.
The famine gave Joseph a claim no ruler has matched. What is striking is not only the scale of the claim but the absence of protest.
So everything passes under the absolute control of Joseph — money, cattle, the land, and finally the people themselves... Many a ruler has made crushing claims, but not one has ever dared to claim everything the way Joseph did. What is more, those who have made large claims on their subjects have not been able to make them good. Others, in trying, have provoked rebellion and revolution. Joseph, however, not only makes unheard-of claims, but makes them good without a single voice raised in rebellion.
One writer sees a famine still ahead for the world, and only one Person able to meet it.
The time of famine is surely not far off which will show the resources of Him who will then be seen as the only One able to meet its terrible demands.
The chapter ends with the people holding their land again.
The people, bankrupt through the famine, receive their lands back from the bounty of the king. They return him one fifth of what the land produces. That fifth is the token of what they owe to the grace from which they have received everything.
- Famine. The shortage grew worse, just as the dreams had foretold. Verse 13 turns the story from Jacob's family to the Egyptians.
- Emptied. Hunger took the money, then the cattle, then the land, then the people themselves. Neither pride nor parentage can fill an empty stomach.
- Two households. Egypt bought its food. Pharaoh gave Jacob's family land and Joseph fed them, so they kept their identity instead of dissolving into Egypt.
- One source. Only those who dealt with Joseph had bread. He pictures Christ — hated, sold, imprisoned, then exalted to preserve life.
- All subject. Joseph's claim was total, yet not one voice rose against it. The fifth part they returned marked what they owed to the grace that fed them.
And Joseph gathered up 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.
The famine has taken every coin in Egypt and Canaan. All of it ends up in Joseph's hands, and from there in Pharaoh's house. Two questions shape the rest of the chapter: why does Joseph take everything, and who does he take it for?
The money is only the first stage. Commentators trace how the people give up one thing after another until they have nothing left.
The famine hit Egypt and Canaan hard, just as Joseph had predicted. The people continued to buy food from Joseph as long as they had money (vv. 13–14). But they spent it all and still needed food. So Joseph told them to bring their livestock to trade for food. This lasted a year. Then the people came to Joseph again. They told him they had nothing left except their bodies and their lands. Now they ask Joseph to take their land and to make them Pharaoh's property. Are we not to learn from this that it is good for us to be brought down to nothing?
The verse says Joseph gathered all the money. One writer shows how far that word "all" reaches, and how rare such a claim is in history.
So everything passes under Joseph's absolute control — money, cattle, the land, and at last the people themselves. Pharaoh's words come true to the letter: "without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt" (Gen. 41:44). Joseph uses his power to bring all into subjection. No earthly king, before or since, has made such claims. Many a ruler has made crushing demands, but not one has ever dared to claim everything the way Joseph did. Other rulers who claimed much from their people could not make the claim stick, and some who tried stirred up rebellion and revolution. Joseph makes unheard-of claims, and he makes them good. Not one voice rises in rebellion.
Joseph could have kept the wealth. Instead the verse names where it went, and the chapter repeats that pattern.
A second great fact stands out: Joseph claims everything, and he claims it for Pharaoh. He gathers up all the money, and we read that he "brought the money into Pharaoh's house" (v. 14). The land comes under Joseph's control, and we read that he "bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh" (v. 20). Of the people too Joseph can say, "I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh." So Joseph uses his supreme power for Pharaoh's glory, not for his own advancement.
Many readers find Joseph's handling of Egypt harsh. Commentators note the difficulty and still see something beyond it.
Joseph's action strikes us as harsh. Even so, we cannot help thinking it is a picture. It shows how fully he was "lord of all Egypt," and so a figure of Christ. The Lordship of Christ is absolute. If He is not Lord of all and of every detail, He is not Lord at all. As Lord He subdues everything to God and orders everything according to the Divine mind. A time will come "when all things are subjected to him" (1 Cor. 15:28), and as a result God will be all in all.
The stripping is not the end of the story. Joseph's power serves two ends at once.
Finally, a third striking fact stands out. On the one hand, Joseph uses his power to subdue everything for Pharaoh. On the other hand, he uses his supremacy over everything to bless the people. Pharaoh's glory is kept, and the people's blessing is secured — but only as they submit to Joseph without holding anything back.
One writer turns the scene on the reader. Hunger emptied Egypt's purses, and hunger of soul is what drives a person to Christ.
There is nothing that brings a man down like hunger. Neither a man's pride nor his parentage can fill him in the day of hunger and need. The prodigal son would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods the pigs ate, but he could not. Nothing brings a man down like soul-hunger. It is a great thing when that hunger takes command — when a man feels he is a sinner, needs Christ, and must have Christ. Pharaoh sent the needy of his day to Joseph. They had to admit his importance, and from him they got what met their need, while Joseph acquired everything for his master.
- All given. Money first, then livestock, then land, then their own persons. The famine strips Egypt and Canaan stage by stage.
- All claimed. No ruler before or since has claimed everything as Joseph did — or made the claim good without one voice raised against him.
- All for the throne. The money goes into Pharaoh's house, the land is bought for Pharaoh, the people are bought for Pharaoh; Joseph keeps none of it for himself.
- All subdued to God. Commentators see a figure of Christ here. His lordship covers every detail, until all things are subjected to Him and God is all in all.
- All blessed. The same power that takes everything is also used to bless the people. Blessing comes only to those who submit without reserve, and hunger is what brings them there.
And when money came to an end in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, saying, Give us bread! for why should we die before thee? for [our] money is all gone.
The famine has drained Egypt and Canaan of money, and the people come back to Joseph with empty hands. Why does Scripture record, step by step, how a whole nation lost everything it owned?
Money is the first of four surrenders. One writer traces the sequence:
When there was "no bread in all the land," the people "fainted because of the famine," and had to go to Joseph to buy grain. So, first, "Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt" (Gen. 47:14). Second, he "fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock that year" (v. 17). Third, he "bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh" (v. 20). And last, he says, "I have this day bought you" (v. 23)... There is nothing that brings a man down like hunger. Neither a man's pride nor his parentage can fill him in the day of hunger and need... Nothing brings a man down like soul-hunger, and it is a great thing when that hunger takes over — when a man feels that he is a sinner, has need of Christ, and must have Christ.
Where the ESV has "Give us food," older translations read "Give us bread." Their words are not a bargain. They are a cry to the only one who has what they need:
In the old days the people came to Joseph, saying, "Give us bread." In the same way, all believers have to learn that there is famine everywhere apart from the blessing of the greater than Joseph... Joseph was a remarkable picture of Christ risen and glorified. His brothers hated him and sold him. He was falsely accused and put into a dungeon, and after he came out he was raised to the highest place. Then he became, by God's ordering, the one who handed out bread to preserve life — a striking picture of the Lord Jesus, who sustains our life.
Losing everything sounds like disaster. One writer turns it into a question:
The people continued to buy food from Joseph as long as they had money (vv. 13-14). But when they had spent it all and still needed food, Joseph told them to bring their livestock to exchange for food. ... Are we not to learn from this that it is good for us to be brought down to nothing?
He is not building his own fortune. Everything he gathers goes somewhere else:
If Joseph gathers up all the money, we read he "brought the money into Pharaoh's house" (v. 14). Again, if the land comes under Joseph's control, we read he "bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh" (v. 20). Joseph can say the same about the people: "I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh." So Joseph uses his supreme power, not for his own advancement, but for the glory of Pharaoh.
The same power that strips them also blesses them — on one condition:
On the one hand, Joseph uses his power to subdue everything for Pharaoh. On the other hand, he uses his complete supremacy to bless the people. If Pharaoh's glory is kept up, the people's blessing is secure — but only as they fully submit to Joseph.
The surrender that starts here ends with a nation owned by another. One writer points to a price far greater than grain:
The Lord Jesus Christ has saved our lives. Our bodies belong to Him, and not to ourselves. "You are not your own, for you were bought with a price" (1 Cor. 6:19-20), and "you were ransomed... not with perishable things such as silver or gold... but with the precious blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18-19). Joseph bought the Egyptians with grain, but the Lord Jesus bought us with His own precious blood. He paid such a great price because He counted us most precious to Himself.
Nobody resents the exchange. One writer sees a preview in it:
They hand over their money, their cattle, their lands, and themselves to Pharaoh; and yet it all pleases them, for they owe their lives to Joseph. Egypt, in those days, was a sample of the new world, the world brought back to God by redemption. It was a "purchased possession," just what the millennial earth is to be (Eph. 1:14). It was creation reconciled, delivered from the doom of famine, from death and the curse, by the hand of a saviour.
- Money fails. Money is the first prop to go. Hunger brings a man down where pride and parentage cannot hold him up.
- Bread is elsewhere. There is famine everywhere apart from the greater than Joseph, and the way to Him is to ask, not to buy.
- Nothing left. The Egyptians lose their money, then their cattle, then their land, and finally themselves. One writer asks whether it is good for us to be brought down to nothing.
- Owned for another. Joseph claims everything and keeps nothing. Money, land and people all go to Pharaoh, for his master's glory.
- Owned, and blessed. Their blessing is secure only as they fully submit to Joseph. Christ bought His people not with grain, but with His own blood.