Lectionary Calendar
Wednesday, April 30th, 2025
the Second Week after Easter
Attention!
For 10¢ a day you can enjoy StudyLight.org ads
free while helping to build churches and support pastors in Uganda.
Click here to learn more!

Read the Bible

Updated Bible Version

Genesis 47:24

And it shall come to pass at the ingatherings, that you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Extortion;   Joseph;   Land;   Monopoly;   Statecraft;   Usurpation;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Egypt;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Joseph the son of jacob;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Money;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Field;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Joseph;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Agriculture;   Field;   Joseph;   Plants in the Bible;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Joseph;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Shepherds;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Aven;   Division of the Earth;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Joseph;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Joseph (2);   Number;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Egypt;   Joseph;   Pharaoh;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
It will happen at the harvests, that you shall give a fifth to Par`oh, and four parts will be your own, for seed of the field, for your food, for them of your households, and for food for your little ones."
King James Version
And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.
Lexham English Bible
And it shall happen that at the harvest, you must give a fifth to Pharaoh and four-fifths shall be yours, as seed for the field and for your food and for those who are in your households, and as food for your little ones."
New Century Version
At harvest time you must give one-fifth to the king. You may keep four-fifths for yourselves to use as seed for the field and as food for yourselves, your families, and your children."
New English Translation
When you gather in the crop, give one-fifth of it to Pharaoh, and the rest will be yours for seed for the fields and for you to eat, including those in your households and your little children."
Amplified Bible
"At harvest time [when you reap the increase] you shall give one-fifth of it to Pharaoh, and four-fifths will be your own to use for seed for the field and as food for you and those of your households and for your little ones."
New American Standard Bible
"At the harvest you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four-fifths shall be your own for seed of the field and for your food, and for those of your households and as food for your little ones."
Geneva Bible (1587)
And of the encrease ye shall giue the fifth part vnto Pharaoh, and foure partes shalbe yours for the seede of the fielde, and for your meate, and for them of your housholdes, and for your children to eate.
Legacy Standard Bible
And it will be, at the harvest you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four-fifths shall be your own for seed of the field and for your food and for those of your households and as food for your little ones."
Contemporary English Version
but one-fifth of your crops must go to the king. You can keep the rest as seed or as food for your families."
Complete Jewish Bible
When harvest time comes, you are to give twenty percent to Pharaoh; eighty percent will be yours to keep for seed to plant in the fields, as well as for your food and for that of your households and your little ones."
Darby Translation
And it shall come to pass in the increase that ye shall give the fifth to Pharaoh, and the four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.
Easy-to-Read Version
At harvest time, you must give one-fifth of your crops to Pharaoh. You can keep four-fifths for yourselves. You can use the seed you keep for food and planting the next year. Now you can feed your families and your children."
English Standard Version
And at the harvests you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones."
George Lamsa Translation
And it shall come to pass when the crops are gathered in, you shall give the fifth part to Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field and for your food and for food for your household and for food for your little ones.
Good News Translation
At the time of harvest you must give one-fifth to the king. You can use the rest for seed and for food for yourselves and your families."
Christian Standard Bible®
At harvest, you are to give a fifth of it to Pharaoh, and four-fifths will be yours as seed for the field and as food for yourselves, your households, and your dependents.”
Literal Translation
And it shall be, as you gather you shall give a fifth part to Pharaoh; and four parts shall be yours, for the seed of the field and for your food, and for those in your houses, and for food for your little ones.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
and of the corne ye shall geue the fifth parte vnto Pharao: foure partes shalbe youres, to sowe the londe for youre sustenaunce, and for youre houses and children.
American Standard Version
And it shall come to pass at the ingatherings, that ye shall give a fifth unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.
Bible in Basic English
And when the grain is cut, you are to give a fifth part to Pharaoh, and four parts will be yours for seed and food, and for your families and your little ones.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And of the increase you shall geue the fyfth part vnto Pharao, and foure partes shalbe your owne for seede of the fielde, and for you & them of your householdes, and for your chyldren to eate.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And it shall come to pass at the ingatherings, that ye shall give a fifth unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.'
King James Version (1611)
And it shall come to passe in the increase, that you shall giue the fift part vnto Pharaoh, and foure parts shall be your owne, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your litle ones.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And there shall be the fruits of it; and ye shall give the fifth part to Pharao, and the four remaining parts shall be for yourselves, for seed for the earth, and for food for you, and all that are in your houses.
English Revised Version
And it shall come to pass at the ingatherings, that ye shall give a fifth unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.
Berean Standard Bible
At harvest time, you are to give a fifth of it to Pharaoh, and four-fifths will be yours as seed for the field and food for yourselves and your households and children."
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
that ye moun haue fruytis; ye schulen yyue the fifthe part to the kyng; Y suffre to you the foure residue partis in to seed and in to meetis, to you, and to youre fre children.
Young's Literal Translation
and it hath come to pass in the increases, that ye have given a fifth to Pharaoh, and four of the parts are for yourselves, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for those who [are] in your houses, and for food for your infants.'
Webster's Bible Translation
And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth [part] to Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.
World English Bible
It will happen at the harvests, that you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four parts will be your own, for seed of the field, for your food, for them of your households, and for food for your little ones."
New King James Version
And it shall come to pass in the harvest that you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh. Four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and for your food, for those of your households and as food for your little ones."
New Living Translation
Then when you harvest it, one-fifth of your crop will belong to Pharaoh. You may keep the remaining four-fifths as seed for your fields and as food for you, your households, and your little ones."
New Life Bible
At gathering time, you must give a fifth part to Pharaoh. Keep the rest to have seeds for the field, and to feed yourselves and your children and those of your houses."
New Revised Standard
And at the harvests you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh, and four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones."
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
and it shall come to pass that, of the yield, ye shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, - but the four parts, shall be your own - for seed for the field, and for your food and for them who are in your households and for food for your little ones.
Douay-Rheims Bible
That you may have corn. The fifth part you shall give to the king; the other four you shall have for seed, and for food for your families and children.
Revised Standard Version
And at the harvests you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"At the harvest you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four-fifths shall be your own for seed of the field and for your food and for those of your households and as food for your little ones."

Contextual Overview

13 And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very intense, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine. 14 And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house. 15 And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for why should we die in your presence? for [our] money fails. 16 And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give it to you for your cattle, if you are out of money. 17 And they brought their cattle to Joseph; and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, and for the flocks, and for the herds, and for the donkeys: and he fed them with bread in exchange for all their cattle for that year. 18 And when that year was ended, they came to him the second year, and said to him, We will not hide from my lord, how that our money 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: 19 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 slaves to Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land not be desolate. 20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine was intense on them: and the land became Pharaoh's. 21 And as for the people, he made them slaves from one end of the border of Egypt even to the other end thereof. 22 Only the land of the priests he didn't buy: for the priests had a portion from Pharaoh, and ate their portion which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they didn't sell their land.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the fifth part: Genesis 47:25, Genesis 41:34, Leviticus 27:32, 1 Samuel 8:15-17, Psalms 41:1, Psalms 112:5

Reciprocal: Genesis 47:12 - according to their families Genesis 47:15 - Give us bread 2 Corinthians 9:10 - he

Cross-References

Genesis 41:34
Let Pharaoh do [this], and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.
Genesis 47:15
And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for why should we die in your presence? for [our] money fails.
Genesis 47:17
And they brought their cattle to Joseph; and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, and for the flocks, and for the herds, and for the donkeys: and he fed them with bread in exchange for all their cattle for that year.
Genesis 47:25
And they said, You have saved our lives: let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's slaves.
Leviticus 27:32
And all the tithe of the herd or the flock, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth shall be holy to Yahweh.
Psalms 41:1
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. Blessed is he that considers the poor: Yahweh will deliver him in the day of evil.
Psalms 112:5
It is well with the man that deals graciously and lends; He shall maintain his cause in judgment.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And it shall come to pass, in the increase,.... When the land shall produce an increase, and it shall be gathered in:

that you shall give the fifth [part] unto Pharaoh; a fifth part of the increase:

and four parts shall be your own; for the following uses, one part

for seed of the field: to sow again with for the next year: a second part

for your food; for food for themselves: a third part

for them of your household; their servants and maids: and the fourth part

for food for your little ones; for their children, be they young or old; or however four parts of five he proposed they should have for their own use, and for the maintenance of their families, which was a kind and generous proposal, when all might have been demanded, and they and theirs treated as slaves.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

- Jacob in Goshen

11. רעמסס ra‛mesês, Ra‘meses “son of the sun.”

31. מטה mı̂ṭṭāh, “bed.” מטה maṭṭeh “staff.”

Arrangements are now made for the settlement of Israel in Goshen. The administration of Joseph during the remaining years of the famine is then recorded. For the whole of this period his father and brothers are subject to him, as their political superior, according to the reading of his early dreams. We then approach to the death-bed of Jacob, and hear him binding Joseph by an oath to bury him in the grave of his fathers.

Genesis 47:1-12

Joseph announces to Pharaoh the arrival of his kindred. “Of the whole of his brethren,” more exactly from the end of his brethren. Five men, a favorite number in Egypt. Shepherds, owners and feeders of sheep and other cattle. “Pasture.” Hence, it appears that the drought had made the grazing extremely scanty. Men of ability, competent to take the oversight of others. “Jacob his father,” he presents before Pharaoh, after he has disposed of all business matters. “Jacob blessed Pharaoh.” This is the patriarch’s grateful return for Pharaoh’s great kindness and generosity toward him and his house. He is conscious of even a higher dignity than that of Pharaoh, as he is a prince of God; and as such he bestows his precious benediction. Pharaoh was struck with his venerable appearance, and inquired what was his age. “Pilgrimage” - sojourning, wandering without any constant abode or fixed holding.

Such was the life of the patriarchs in the land of promise Hebrews 11:13. “Few and evil.” Jacob’s years at this time were far short of those of Abraham and Isaac, not to speak of more ancient men. Much bitterness also had been mingled in his cup from the time that he beguiled his brother of the birthright and the blessing, which would have come to him in a lawful way if he had only waited in patience. Obliged to flee for his life from his father’s house, serving seven years for a beloved wife, and balked in his expected recompense by a deceitful father-in-law, serving seven long years more for the object of his affections, having his wages changed ten times during the six years of his further toil for a maintenance, afflicted by the dishonor of his only daughter, the reckless revenge taken by Simon and Levi, the death of his beloved wife in childbed, the disgraceful incest of Reuben, the loss of Joseph himself for twenty-two years, and the present famine with all its anxieties - Jacob, it must be confessed, has become acquainted with no small share of the ills of life. “Blessed Pharaoh.” It is possible that this blessing is the same as that already mentioned, now reiterated in its proper place in the narrative. “According to the little ones.” This means either in proportion to the number in each household, or with all the tenderness with which a parent provides for his infant offspring.

Genesis 47:13-26

Joseph introduces remarkable changes into the relation of the sovereign and the people of Egypt. “There was no bread in all the land.” The private stores of the wealthy were probably exhausted. “And Joseph gathered up all the silver.” The old stores of grain and the money, which had flowed into the country during the years of plenty, seem to have lasted for five years. “And Joseph brought the silver into Pharaoh’s house.” He was merely the steward of Pharaoh in this matter, and made a full return of all the payments that came into his hands. “The silver was spent.” The famishing people have no more money; but they must have bread. Joseph is fertile in expedients. He proposes to take their cattle. This was really a relief to the people, as they had no means of providing them with fodder. The value of commodities is wholly altered by a change of circumstances. Pearls will not purchase a cup of water in a vast and dreary wilderness. Cattle become worthless when food becomes scarce, and the means of procuring it are exhausted. For their cattle Joseph supplies them with food during the sixth year.

Genesis 47:18-20

The seventh year is now come. The silver and cattle are now gone. Nothing remains but their lands, and with these themselves as the serfs of the soil. Accordingly they make this offer to Joseph, which he cannot refuse. Hence, it is evident that Pharaoh had as yet no legal claim to the soil. In primeval times the first entrants into an unoccupied country became, by a natural custom, the owners of the grounds they held and cultivated. The mere nomad, who roamed over a wide range of country, where his flocks merely cropped the spontaneous herbage, did not soon arrive at the notion of private property in land. But the husbandman, who settled on a promising spot, broke up the soil, and sowed the seed, felt he had acquired by his labor a title to the acres he had cultivated and permanently occupied, and this right was instinctively acknowledged by others. Hence, each cultivator grew into the absolute owner of his own farm. Hence, the lands of Egypt belonged to the peasantry of the country, and were at their disposal. These lands had now become valueless to those who had neither provisions for themselves nor seed for their ground. They willingly part with them, therefore, for a year’s provision and a supply of seed. In this way the lands of Egypt fell into the hands of the crown by a free purchase. “And the people he removed into the cities.” This is not an act of arbitrary caprice, but a wise and kind measure for the more convenient nourishment of the people until the new arrangements for the cultivation of the soil should be completed. The priestly class were sustained by a state allowance, and therefore, were not obliged to alienate their lands. Hence, they became by this social revolution a privileged order. The military class were also exempted most probably from the surrender of their patrimonial rights, as they were maintained on the crown lands.

Genesis 47:23-26

I have bought you. - He had bought their lands, and so they might be regarded, in some sort, as the servants of Pharaoh, or the serfs of the soil. “In the increase ye shall give the fifth to Pharaoh.” This explains at once the extent of their liability, and the security of their liberty and property. They do not become Pharaoh’s bondmen. They own their land under him by a new tenure. They are no longer subject to arbitrary exactions. They have a stated annual rent, bearing a fixed ratio to the amount of their crop. This is an equitable adjustment of their dues, and places them under the protection of a statute law. The people are accordingly well pleased with the enactment of Joseph, which becomes henceforth the law of Egypt.

Genesis 47:27-31

And they were possessed thereof. - They become owners or tenants of the soil in Goshen. The Israelites were recognized as subjects with the full rights of freemen. “They grew and multiplied exceedingly.” They are now placed in a definite territory, where they are free from the contamination which arises from promiscuous intermarriage with an idolatrous race; and hence, the Lord bestows the blessing of fruitfulness and multiplication, so that in a generation or two more they can intermarry among themselves. It is a remarkable circumstance that until now we read of only two daughters in the family of Jacob. The brothers could not marry their sisters, and it was not desirable that the females should form affinity with the pagan, as they had in general to follow the faith of their husbands. Here the twelfth section of the Pentateuch terminates.

Genesis 47:28-31

Jacob lives seventeen years in Egypt, and so survives the famine twelve years. “He called his son Joseph.” Joseph retained his power and place near Pharaoh after the fourteen years of special service were completed; hence, Jacob looks to him for the accomplishment of his wishes concerning the place of his burial. “Put thy hand under my thigh” Genesis 24:2. He binds Joseph by a solemn asseveration to carry his mortal remains to the land of promise. “And Israel bowed himself on the head of the bed.” On receiving the solemn promise of Joseph, he turns toward the head of the bed, and assumes the posture of adoration, rendering, no doubt, thanks to God for all the mercies of his past life, and for this closing token of filial duty and affection. The Septuagint has the rendering: ἐπί τὸ ἄκρον τῆσῥάβδον αὐτοῦ epi to ākron akron tēs rabdou autou “on the top of his staff,” which is given in the Epistle to the Hebrews Hebrews 11:21. This is obtained by a mere change in the vowel pointing of the last word.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Genesis 47:24. Ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh — This is precisely the case in Hindostan; the king has the fifth part of all the crops.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile