Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.”
The famine has emptied Egypt of money and livestock, and the people have nothing left to offer Joseph but themselves and their fields. They ask him to buy both, and to give them seed — an offer that sounds like ruin, and turned out to be rescue.
The Stripping
Verse 19 is the last stage of a steady emptying. One writer walks through the stages that led to it:
Hamilton SmithFirst, Joseph uses his position of supremacy to bring everything into absolute subjection to himself. All the wealth of Egypt passes into his hands: "Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan" (vv. 13, 14). Then when the money failed, Joseph claims their cattle. He said, "Give your cattle," and we read, "They brought their cattle to Joseph" (vv. 15-17). Then, the money spent, the cattle gone, they say there is nothing left but "our bodies and our lands," and so they add, "Buy us and our land for food." So we read that Joseph "bought all the land of Egypt" (vv. 19, 20).
What Hunger Does
Hunger is what finally brought Egypt to Joseph. One writer moves from that hunger to a deeper one:
W. T. P. WolstonNothing brings a man down like hunger. Neither his pride nor who his parents were can fill a man in the day of hunger and need… Nothing brings a man down like soul-hunger. It is a great thing when that soul-hunger takes command — when a man feels that he is a sinner, that he needs Christ, and that he must have Christ.
Brought to Nothing
These are people who have run out of options. One writer turns their condition into a question for the reader:
L. M. GrantThey now ask Joseph to take their land and to 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?
Bought for Pharaoh, Not for Joseph
Joseph holds every advantage in this deal. One writer points out whose gain it all became:
J. G. BellettJoseph must seat the king in rule over the world, with the glad loyalty of a rescued and happy people who would owe their lives to him. And this he does. He gives the Egyptians their lives out of his storehouses. But he gathers their money, their cattle, their lands, and themselves, all for Pharaoh. For himself he keeps nothing but his place of honour and trust and service under the king. Everyone, it is true, was to confess that he was lord, their deliverer and preserver. But this was to be Pharaoh's glory.
Servants, and Glad of It
Selling yourself sounds like slavery. One writer points instead to how the people themselves described it:
J. N. DarbyThough reduced into order and subjection, it is really in blessing. The people's own word is this: "You have saved our lives; may it please my lord" — "we will be servants to Pharaoh."
Seed, and a Fifth Returned
They ask for seed as well as food, so the land will not lie empty. One writer weighs what the people gave back in return:
Frederick W. GrantThe people, bankrupt through the famine, receive back their lands from the generosity of the king. They return to him one fifth of the produce of the land, as the token that they owe everything to the grace from which they have received all. Two tenths — a fifth — may remind us of the double claim of God upon us: by creation and by redemption. All the world shall own this in the day to come.
Bought at a Higher Price
Joseph bought a nation with grain. One writer sets that beside a greater purchase:
G. C. WillisThe 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 corn, 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.
Summary
- Emptied — money first, then cattle, then bodies and land. The famine strips Egypt in stages, until the people have only themselves to offer.
- Hungry — pride and family name feed no one. Felt need drives a person to the one who has bread.
- Bought — they ask Joseph to buy them, and he buys them for Pharaoh. He keeps nothing for himself but his place of service.
- Seeded — they get more than survival: seed to sow and their land handed back. The fifth they return marks the grace that gave them everything.
- Owned — Christ bought us too, not with grain but with His own blood. We are not our own, and being His is blessing, not bondage.