Bible Strands
Genesis 47:19
Why should we perish before your eyes—we and our land as well? Purchase us and our land in exchange for food. Then we, along with our land, will be slaves to Pharaoh. Give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The starving Egyptians address Joseph as "our lord" during the second year of the famine, after exhausting their money and livestock. They propose surrendering their bodies and land to Pharaoh in exchange for food and seed.
The words — The Hebrew לָמָּה (lammah) poses "why?" while קְנֵה (qneh) issues the command "buy," structuring their offer to trade autonomy for physical preservation.
The thread — The text records the Egyptians trading possessions for survival, paralleling the grain negotiations in Nehemiah 5:2, the life-for-wealth exchange noted in Job 2:4, and the desperate trading of treasures for bread in Lamentations 1:11.
Why it lands — The verse states that systemic famine forces the complete surrender of land and labor to secure seed, requiring the reader to acknowledge how survival mechanisms strip away economic independence before drawing conclusions about stewardship or authority.
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
Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate.
Cross-references
- Nehemiah 5:2 Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous. We must get grain in order to eat and stay alive.”
- Job 2:4 “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give up all he owns in exchange for his life.
- Lamentations 1:11 All her people groan as they search for bread. They have traded their treasures for food to keep themselves alive. Look, O LORD, and consider, for I have become despised.
- Lamentations 5:6 We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread.
- Lamentations 5:9 We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the wilderness.
- Matthew 16:26 What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
- Philippians 3:8 More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ