Bible Strands
Genesis 43:1
Now the famine was still severe in the land.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator reports this condition immediately before Jacob instructs his sons to return to Egypt for grain. The statement establishes the urgent necessity driving the family’s next journey.
The words — The Hebrew כָּבֵד (kabed) literally means "heavy" and modifies רָעָב (ra'av, famine) to describe its oppressive weight. This phrasing presents the drought not as a passing dry spell but as a sustained, crushing pressure on the land.
The thread — The text notes the famine's continuation, linking it to the earlier crisis in Genesis 12:10 and the prophetic timeline in Genesis 41:54. The narrative shows the famine persisting across regions while Egypt retains stored provisions.
Why it lands — The text states that survival depends on returning to the source of stored grain. It requires the reader to recognize prolonged hardship as the necessary mechanism for fulfilling divine provision.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the famine was sore in the land.
Cross-references
- Genesis 12:10 Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.
- Genesis 18:13 And the LORD asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really bear a child when I am old?’
- Genesis 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.
- Genesis 42:5 So the sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, since the famine had also spread to the land of Canaan.
- Ecclesiastes 9:1 So I took all this to heart and concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, are in God’s hands. Man does not know what lies ahead, whether love or hate.
- Lamentations 5:10 Our skin is as hot as an oven with fever from our hunger.
- Acts 7:11 Then famine and great suffering swept across Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers could not find food.