Bible Strands
Genesis 47:21
and Joseph reduced the people to servitude from one end of Egypt to the other.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrative recounts Joseph's administrative decree following the famine that forced Egyptians to surrender their land and livestock for grain. Joseph acts as Pharaoh's steward, relocating the displaced population to cities across the entire territory of Egypt.
The words — The Hebrew verb הֶעֱבִיר (he.'e.Vir) literally means "he brought in" or "he caused to pass," indicating forced relocation. It is paired with לֶ/עָרִ֑ים (le./'a.Rim), "to the cities," showing the people were moved into urban centers rather than remaining on their land.
The thread — This policy of centralized control and population displacement echoes the earlier grain storage strategy in Genesis 41:48. The systematic transfer of people and land authority establishes a pattern of state consolidation that frames the subsequent covenant narrative.
Why it lands — The text records a political restructuring where survival requires surrendering personal land and autonomy to state authority. It demands recognition of how economic crisis and administrative power can permanently alter social and territorial boundaries.
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 as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof.
Cross-references
- Genesis 41:48 During those seven years, Joseph collected all the excess food in the land of Egypt and stored it in the cities. In every city he laid up the food from the fields around it.