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Genesis 47:23

in Genesis 47

Then Joseph said to the people, “Now that I have acquired you and your land for Pharaoh this day, here is seed for you to sow in the land.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land.

KJV

Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land.

This verse in Genesis 47

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh - It fully appears that the kingdom of Egypt was previously to the time of Joseph a very limited monarchy. The king had his estates; the priests had their lands; and the common people their patrimony independently of both.

This site's exposition

the priests' portion of the land

on Genesis 47:22-24

Pharaoh feeds his priests from the royal stores, and their land stays theirs. Adam Clarke calls this the earliest state-supported religion on record. Origen set it beside Israel, where the LORD gives the priests no land and tells them He is their portion. Egypt renders a fifth to the throne, and Israel will render a tenth to God.

This site's exposition

here is seed for you to sow in the land

The seed comes as soon as the sale is spoken. The people asked for it at verse 19, and Joseph grants it in the same breath as the purchase. Pharaoh gains land that is farmed, and the farmers gain a harvest.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Then Joseph said unto the people,....

The words behind it

17 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH5595305 times

  • יוֹסֵף֙Joseph

    yosefH3130213 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H4135510 times

  • הָעָ֔םthe people

    haamH59711873 times

  • הֵן֩here!

    henH2005316 times

  • קָנִ֨יתִיI have bought

    kanitiH706984 times

  • אֶתְכֶ֥ם<obj.> you

    ʾetkhemH85310935 times

  • הַיּ֛וֹםthis day

    haiyomH31172304 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH85310935 times

  • אַדְמַתְכֶ֖םland your

    ʾadmatkhemH127225 times

  • לְפַרְעֹ֑הfor Pharaoh

    lefarohH6547274 times

  • הֵֽא־here!

    he'-H1887

  • לָכֶ֣םfor you

    lakhem

  • זֶ֔רַע[is] seed

    zera'H2233229 times

  • וּזְרַעְתֶּ֖םand you will sow

    uzera'temH223256 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • הָאֲדָמָֽה׃the land

    haadamahH127225 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Ecclesiastes 11:6

    Sow your seed in the morning, and do not rest your hands in the evening, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or if both will equally prosper.

    it leads to

    • 2 Corinthians 9:10–11

      Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your store of seed and will increase the harvest of your righteousness.

    • Hosea 10:12

      Sow for yourselves righteousness and reap the fruit of loving devotion; break up your unplowed ground. For it is time to seek the LORD until He comes and sends righteousness upon you like rain.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Isaiah 55:10

      For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return without watering the earth, making it bud and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat,

    • Haggai 1:6–11

      You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into…

    • 2 Corinthians 9:6

      Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

  • Through

    Isaiah 55:10

    For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return without watering the earth, making it bud and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat,

    it leads to

    • 2 Corinthians 9:9–11

      As it is written: “He has scattered abroad His gifts to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.”

    • Deuteronomy 32:2

      Let my teaching fall like rain and my speech settle like dew, like gentle rain on new grass, like showers on tender plants.

    • Isaiah 30:23

      Then He will send rain for the seed that you have sown in the ground, and the food that comes from your land will be rich and plentiful. On that day your cattle will…

About Genesis

The Garden of Eden, Thomas Cole, 1828, Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Public domain.
The Garden of Eden, Thomas Cole, 1828, Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, Homilies on Genesis.