Bible Strands
Psalms 105:16
He called down famine on the land and cut off all their supplies of food.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses Israel while recounting God’s historical interventions during the patriarchal era. This verse falls between the warning against harming God’s anointed ones and the introduction of Joseph’s arrival in Egypt.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַיִּקְרָא (va-yiqrāʾ) literally means "he called" or "he summoned," paired with רָעָב (rāʿāḇ), "famine." The noun phrase מַטֵּה לֶחֶם (matteh leḥem) literally translates to "staff of bread," denoting the physical provision or sustenance of the people.
The thread — The text’s description of God removing food supplies parallels Ezekiel 4:16 and Isaiah 3:1, where judgment similarly targets Jerusalem’s sustenance. It directly sets up the narrative fulfillment recorded in Genesis 41:54, where the prophesied famine begins across the land.
Why it lands — The passage states plainly that famine is a deliberate divine action rather than a natural accident. It requires the reader to accept that historical scarcity is presented as a calculated step toward the subsequent deliverance of Joseph.
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
Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 4:16 Then He told me, “Son of man, I am going to cut off the supply of food in Jerusalem. They will anxiously eat bread rationed by weight, and in despair they will drink water by measure.
- Isaiah 3:1 For behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts is about to remove from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: the whole supply of food and water,
- 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.
- Leviticus 26:26 When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will bake your bread in a single oven and dole out your bread by weight, so that you will eat but not be satisfied.
- Acts 7:11 Then famine and great suffering swept across Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers could not find food.
- Genesis 47:13 There was no food, however, in all that region, because the famine was so severe; the lands of Egypt and Canaan had been exhausted by the famine.
- 2 Kings 8:1 Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, you and your household; go and live as a foreigner wherever you can. For the LORD has decreed that a seven-year famine will come to the land.”
- Psalms 104:15 wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil that makes his face to shine, and bread that sustains his heart.
- Genesis 41:25 At this, Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what He is about to do.
- 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.