Genesis 41:48

48 He collected all the food of these seven years in the land of Egypt and stored it in the cities - the food grown in the fields outside each city he stored in that city.

Genesis 41:48 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 41:48

And he gathered up all the food of the seven years
That is, of plenty; not all the fruits of the earth, or all that was eatable, but the corn, as in ( Genesis 41:49 ) ; and not all of that the earth produced, but the fifth part of it, as he proposed, which he bought with Pharaoh's money, and therefore: had a right to sell it again as he did: which were in the land of Egypt;
in which only he had a concern, and where only was this plenty: and laid up the food in the cities;
in places built for that purpose, and whither the people round about could easily bring it, and fetch it, when it was wanted: the food of the field, which [was] round about every city, laid he up
in the same;
which was very wisely done, for present carriage, and for the convenience of the people in time of famine. At this day, at old Cairo, is an edifice the most considerable in it, called Joseph's granary; it occupies a square, surrounded by a wall, and has divers partitions contrived within it, where is deposited the corn, that is paid as a tax to the Gram Seignior, brought from different parts of Egypt ^F15.

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 Norden's Travels in Egypt vol. 1. p. 72.

Genesis 41:48 In-Context

46 Yosef was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt; then he left Pharaoh's presence and traveled through all the land of Egypt.

47 During the seven years of abundance, the earth brought forth heaps of produce.

48 He collected all the food of these seven years in the land of Egypt and stored it in the cities - the food grown in the fields outside each city he stored in that city.

49 Yosef stored grain in quantities like the sand on the seashore, so much that they stopped counting, because it was beyond measure.

50 Two sons were born to Yosef before the year of famine came; Osnat the daughter of Poti-Fera priest of On bore them to him.