Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 47:18

When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide [it] from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; there is not aught left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands:

18. We will not hide ] The LXX = “lest we be utterly ruined,” misunderstood the Hebrew.

our bodies, and our lands ] The inhabitants propose that Pharaoh should become the feudal lord of all Egypt, with complete possession of the land and absolute control over the lives of the people. The proposal is represented as emanating from the people themselves. Joseph’s authority is unquestioned; his popularity never in doubt.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Verse 18. When that year was ended] The sixth year of the famine, they came unto him the second year, which was the last or seventh year of the famine, in which it was necessary to sow the land that there might be a crop the succeeding year; for Joseph, on whose prediction they relied, had foretold that the famine should continue only seven years, and consequently they expected the eighth year to be a fruitful year provided the land was sowed, without which, though the inundation of the land by the Nile might amount to the sixteen requisite cubits, there could be no crop.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

The second year; not the second from the beginning of the famine, but from their great extremity, the second year after that last mentioned, wherein they had sold their cattle; but this seems to have been the last year of the famine, because he now gives them corn for food and for seed too, Gen 47:23, whereas in the first six years there was no sowing nor reaping, Gen 45:6.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

When the year was ended, they came unto him the second year,…. Which seems to be the seventh and last year of the years of famine; not the second year of the famine, as Jarchi, but the second year of their great distress, when having spent all their money they parted with their cattle; for it cannot be thought that they should be drained of their money and cattle too in one year:

and said unto him, we will not hide [it] from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; both these were well known to Joseph, and therefore cannot be the things which they say they would not hide: Musculus thinks it should be rendered in the past tense, “we have not hid”; this they told him the last year, that their money was gone, and he knew he had their cattle for their last year’s provision: the sense seems to be this, that seeing their money was spent, and their cattle were in the hands of Joseph, they would not, and could not conceal from him what follows:

there is not enough left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies and our lands; and the one were starving and the other desolate.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Verses 18-26:

The next year of the famine provided a new dilemma. The people had no money with which to buy food. They had given their livestock in exchange for food the second year. Now they had nothing left except their persons, to become indentured servants to Pharaoh; and their property, to exchange for food. Joseph agreed to give the people food and grain in exchange for their servitude and the title to their property.

This text implies that in Egypt originally, the people held absolute title to their land. Each citizen was the legitimate owner of the land he cultivated.

The text does not imply that Joseph enslaved the people, making them into serfs and bondsmen to Pharaoh. “Removed” denotes that Joseph resettled the people; moving them out of the rural districts ravaged by the famine into the cities where the grain was stored.

The priests were exempt from the sale of their property in order to buy food. They were on a social and political level with Pharaoh, sharing in the “portion” which he gave to them. As a result of the allotment given them from the state, they retained title to their lands.

The text indicates that this was the last year of the famine. Joseph wisely enacted a law which remained a statute in Egypt for many generations. Its principles were later incorporated into Israeli law. Title to the land now was vested in Pharaoh. The people must have a means of livelihood, a way must be found to insure an equitable arrangement for this. Joseph decreed that the people might continue to live in their homes, tend their flocks, and farm their fields. But he imposed a 20% income tax on all Egypt’s citizens. The remaining 80% would belong to the people, to provide food, and seed for future crops Only the priests were exempt from this tax.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

18. They came to him the second year. Moses does not reckon the second year from the date of the famine, but from the time when the money had failed. But since they knew, from the oracle, that the termination of the dearth was drawing near, they desired not only that corn should be given them for food, but also for seed. Whence it appears that they had become wise too late, and had neglected the useful admonition of God, at the time when they ought to have made provision for the future. Moreover, when they declare that their money and cattle had failed, they do it, not for the purpose of expostulating with Joseph, as if they had been unjustly deprived of these things by him; but for the purpose of showing that the only thing remaining for them was to purchase food and seed at the price of their lands, and that they could not otherwise be preserved, unless Joseph would enter into this compact. For it would have been the part of impudence to offer no price or compensation. They begin by saying, that they had nothing at hand, and that, therefore, their lives would be lost, unless Joseph were willing to buy their lands; and in order to excite his compassion, they ask again, why he would suffer them to die, and their very land to perish? For this is the death of the earth, when the cultivation of it is neglected, and when, being reduced to a desert, it can bring forth nothing more.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(18) The second year.Not the second year of the famine, but the year following that in which they had given up their cattle.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

18. The second year The second year after their money failed .

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘And when that year ended they came to him the second year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord how that our silver is all spent, and the herds of cattle are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands. Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land be not desolate.” So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for the Egyptians sold every man his field because the famine was severe on them, and the land became Pharaoh’s.’

“And when that year ended they came to him the second year.” This is not the second year of the famine. We have already seen that Jacob and his family tribe have had sufficient silver to tide them through two years. This is ‘the second year’ after the one in which the silver had run out and the majority pledged their animals. It is thus well into the famine.

Now the people pledge themselves and their land to Pharaoh. In one sense nothing changes. They still live on the land and they still serve Pharaoh and pay taxes. It is the conception that is different. There is a new sense in which they are no longer freeholders and they are no longer freemen, although the old social distinctions between men would not change. This especially affects the ‘nobility’ who have been jealous of their influence and independence but whose power is now crushed.

“Give us seed that the land be not desolate.” This may indicate attempts to maintain some kind of crops on the land. Some would certainly attempt to use what water there was to irrigate land and grow some kind of meagre crop. The Nile was not completely empty. Or it may signify that at this stage they see the end of the famine in sight. The former seems more likely. They are bravely trying to keep some form of normality on the land, some signs of life among the continuing deadness.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Gen 47:18. When that year was ended The sixth year of the famine; they came the second year, i.e.. the next year after the sale of their cattle, which was the last of the famine, as appears from the next verse, compared with Gen 47:23.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Gen 47:18 When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide [it] from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands:

Ver. 18. We will not hide it from my lord. ] Confess we our pitiful indigence also to God, and he will furnish us with food and seed. Say with learned Pomeran, Etiamsi non sum dignus, nihilo minus tamen sum indigens.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)