“Now a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction with it, and our fathers could find no food.
Parallel translations
- WEB Now a famine came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction. Our fathers found no food.
- KJV Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance.
- BSB Then famine and great suffering swept across Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers could not find food.
- NKJV Now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance.
- NLT “But a famine came upon Egypt and Canaan. There was great misery, and our ancestors ran out of food.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A famine strikes Egypt and Canaan, leaving the patriarchs without food. Hardship drives God's people toward the deliverance He has prepared.
Overview
The famine sets in motion the events that bring Israel to Egypt and to Joseph. Stephen shows God ordering even disaster to fulfill His larger purpose. The need of the fathers prepares for the reconciliation and rescue that Joseph, God's instrument, will provide.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Gen 41:54–57The seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.
- Gen 45:11There I will nourish you; for there are yet five years of famine; lest you come to poverty, you, and your household, and all that you have.”’
- Gen 43:1The famine was severe in the land.
- Ps 105:16He called for a famine on the land. He destroyed the food supplies.
- Gen 45:5–6Now don’t be grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.
- Gen 47:13–15There was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.
- Gen 42:5The sons of Israel came to buy among those who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.
How Acts 7:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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