Limitless Word
So all countries came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all lands.
Genesis 41:57 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB All countries came into Egypt, to Joseph, to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all the earth.
  • KJV And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because that the famine was so sore in all lands.
  • BSB And every nation came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.
  • NASB Then the people of all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all the earth.
  • NLT And people from all around came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph because the famine was severe throughout the world.

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

People from all countries come to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph because the famine is severe everywhere.

Overview

The whole region turns to Joseph for survival, fulfilling his rise to influence over the nations. This worldwide need sets the stage for Joseph's brothers to come seeking food. God draws the surrounding peoples and ultimately Joseph's own family to the one who can save them.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 7

  • Gen 42:5The sons of Israel came to buy among those who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
  • Gen 41:56The famine was over all the surface of the earth. Joseph opened all the store houses, and sold to the Egyptians. The famine was severe in the land of Egypt.
  • Gen 41:54The 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 42:1Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?”
  • Ps 105:16–17He called for a famine on the land. He destroyed the food supplies.
  • Deut 9:28lest the land you brought us out from say, ‘Because Yahweh was not able to bring them into the land which he promised to them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.’
  • Gen 50:20As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is today, to save many people alive.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Genesis videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Genesis 41:57YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on GenesisMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 41:57 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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.