Genesis 45:6
4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near me.” And they did so. “I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt!
5 And now, do not be distressed or angry with yourselves that you sold me into this place, because it was to save lives that God sent me before you.
For the famine has covered the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting.
7 God sent me before you to preserve you as a remnant on the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
8 Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God, who has made me a father to Pharaoh—lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- For the famine has covered the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting.
- KJV
- For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
- WEB
- For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are yet five years, in which there will be no plowing and no harvest.
- ASV
- For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and there are yet five years, in which there shall be neither plowing nor harvest.
- DARBY
- For the famine has been these two years in the land; and yet there are five years in which there will be neither ploughing nor harvest.
- BLB
- For these two years the famine [has been] in the midst of the earth, and [there are] still five years in which [there is] no plowing and harvesting.
- ÅB
- for nå har det vært hungersnød i landet i to år, og enda kommer det fem år da der hverken skal pløyes eller høstes.
- OTB
- For hungersnøden har vært i landet i to år, og det er ennå fem år uten pløying eller innhøsting.
- B1930
- for nu har det vært hungersnød i landet i to år, og ennu kommer det fem år da der hverken skal pløies eller høstes.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Genesis 47:23
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.
Read in contextGenesis 41:56
When the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened up all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians; for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt.
Read in contextGenesis 41:54
the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. And although there was famine in every country, there was food throughout the land of Egypt.
Read in contextGenesis 41:29–31
Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt,
Read in context1 Samuel 8:12
He will appoint some for himself as commanders of thousands and of fifties, and others to plow his ground, to reap his harvest, to make his weapons of war, and to equip his chariots.
Read in contextIsaiah 30:24
The oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat salted fodder, winnowed with shovel and pitchfork.
Read in contextExodus 34:21
Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in the seasons of plowing and harvesting, you must rest.
Read in contextGenesis 47:18
When that year was over, they came to him the second year and said, “We cannot hide from our lord that our money is gone and all our livestock belongs to you. There is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land.
Read in context