Then Pharaoh should appoint supervisors over the land and let them collect one-fifth of all the crops during the seven good years.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt’s produce in the seven plenteous years.
- KJV Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.
- BSB Let Pharaoh take action and appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance.
- NKJV Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven plentiful years.
- NASB Let Pharaoh take action to appoint overseers in charge of the land, and let him take a fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt as a tax in the seven years of abundance.
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
He advises appointing overseers to collect a fifth of the harvest during the seven years of plenty.
Overview
Joseph proposes a concrete tax-and-storage plan to gather surplus grain during the abundant years. This wise administration would later preserve countless lives. The counsel shows God-given wisdom applied to real-world crisis management.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Prov 6:6–8Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider her ways, and be wise;
- Neh 11:9Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer; and Judah the son of Hassenuah was second over the city.
- Prov 27:12A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.
- Luke 16:5Calling each one of his lord’s debtors to him, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe to my lord?’
- 2 Chr 34:12The men did the work faithfully. Their overseers were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to give direction; and others of the Levites, who were all skillful with musical instruments.
- Prov 22:3A prudent man sees danger, and hides himself; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.
- Num 31:14Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war.
- Ps 33:19to deliver their soul from death, to keep them alive in famine.
- Job 5:20In famine he will redeem you from death; in war, from the power of the sword.
- 2 Kgs 11:11–12The guard stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, along by the altar and the house, around the king.
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 41:34 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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