Genesis 41:56

Gen 41:56 And the famine was over all the face of the earth: And Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt.

Ver. 56. Sold.] Heb., Brake, shivered, parcelled it out.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 56. Over all the face of the earth] The original, כל פני הארץ col peney haarets, should be translated, all the face of that land, viz., Egypt, as it is explained at the end of the verse.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

56. all the storehouses] The Hebrew text is in error: lit. “all that was in them.” The versions have supplied the right meaning. LXX πάντας τοὺς σιτοβολῶνας, Lat. universa horrea, i.e. “all the granaries.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 56, 57. And the famine was over all the face of the earth (vide supra, ver. 54): And Joseph opened all the storehouses, literally, all wherein was, i.e. all the magazines that had grain in them. The granaries of Egypt are represented on the monuments. "In the tomb of Amenemha at Beni-hassan there is the painting of a great storehouse, before whose door lies a great heap of grain already winnowed. Near by stands the bushel with which it is measured, and the registrar who takes the account" (Hengstenberg"s "Egypt and the Books of Moses," p. 36)and sold unto the Egyptians; (cf. Pro_2:2-6) and the famine waxed sore (literally, became strong) in the land of Egypt. A remarkable inscription from the tomb at Eileythia of Barn, which Brugsch ("Histoire d"Egypte," second ed., p. 174, seqq.) assigns to the latter part of the seventeenth dynasty, mentions a dearth of several years in Egypt ("A famine having broken out during many years, I gave corn to the town during each famine"), which that distinguished Egyptologer identifies with the famine of Joseph under Apophis, the shepherd king (vide " Encyclopedia Britannica," ninth edition, art. Egypt); but, this, according to Bunsen ("Egypt"s Place, 3:334), is rather to be detected in a dearth of several years which occurred in the time of Osirtasen I, and which is mentioned in an inscription at Beni-hassan, recording the fact that during its prevalence food was supplied by Amenee, the governor of a district of Upper Egypt (Smith"s" Dict.," art. Joseph). The character of Chnumhotep (a near relative and favorite of Osirtasen I, and his immediate successor), and the recorded events of his government, as described in the Beni-hassan monuments, also remind one of Joseph: (i.e. Chnumhotep) injured no little child; he oppressed no widow; he detained for his own purpose no fisherman; took from his work no shepherd; no overseer"s men were taken. There was no beggar in his days; no one starved in his time. When years of famine occurred he ploughed all the lands of the district, producing abundant food; no one starved in it; he treated the widow as a woman with a husband to protect her" (vide "Speaker"s Commentary," vol. 1. p. 450). And all countries (i.e. people from all the adjoining lands) came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because the famine was so sore in all lands.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

על כל פני הארץ OVER ALL THE FACE OF THE EARTH — Who are the face of the earth? the well-to-do people (Genesis Rabbah 91:5).

את כל אשר בהם — understand it as the Targum renders it: [JOSEPH OPENED ALL THE STOREHOUSES] IN WHICH THERE WAS CORN.

וישבור למצרים AND HE SOLD UNTO THE EGYPTIANS — The root שבר has the meaning both of selling and buying. Here it is used in the sense of selling, whereas in (43:2) “שברו for us a little food”, it means buying. You cannot say that it (the word) can be used only of selling and buying grain for we find it used also of wine and milk: (Isaiah 55:1) “And come, buy (שברו) wine and milk without money and without price”.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

AND HE SOLD GRAIN UNTO THE EGYPTIANS, AND THE FAMINE WAS SEVERE IN THE LAND OF EGYPT. The verse states that Joseph did not throw open the contents of the storehouses until the famine had become severe in the land, but not as soon as they cried to Pharaoh, as people would cry even when they have a small amount of sustenance, and it was his desire that nothing remain to them before he opened the granaries. This is the meaning of the verse, And the famine was over all the face of the earth, meaning that before he had opened his storehouses the famine was over the entire face of the earth, and then the verse proceeds to explain that he did not sell them food until the famine had become severe upon them. Perhaps it is possible that the verse is magnifying the famine by stating that it was a “famine accompanied by panic.”

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Yoseif opened. He opened all his storehouses to show that he had sufficient grain to feed them all.

The famine became severe. Foods other than bread also disappeared.

Sforno on the Tanakh — English translation: “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

והרעב...ויפתח יוסף את כל אשר בהם, he now opened all the silos in which grain had been stored.

וישבר למצרים, first he sold grain only to the Egyptians until word had spread that there was food for sale in Egypt. Then he also sold to foreigners. The expression וישבר, vayishbor, is from the conjugation kal, and is used both as applicable to the seller and the buyer. Actually, the word shever means “breaking,” i.e. the grain, the harvest, is what “breaks” one’s hunger. Compare Psalms 104,11 ישברו פראים צמאם, “the wild asses slake their thirst, the word for “slaking,” being the word שבר. When it comes to the transaction, i.e. trading in victuals, especially grain, the seller gives something which will still the buyer’s hunger, i.e. break it, whereas the buyer at the same time is receiving something which breaks his hunger. Hence it is understandable why the same root is used to describe either buying or selling food, seeing both parties are concerned in dealing with someone’s hunger, putting an end to it, as it were. One party hands over the price, the other party receives payment, thus both seller and buyer are active in the transaction. The conjugation הפעיל however, is applicable only to the seller of food, not to the buyer, as in most instances this conjugation is used transitively. The word mashbir, or hamashbir, therefore refers to the seller, not to the buyer.

ויחזק הרעב, as foreign buyers appeared and the quantities sold to each had to be rationed in order to ensure that the supply would last, the famine was felt more strongly also by the local population, seeing the famine had been predicted to last for many years.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.