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NASB | Genesis 47:19 "Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh. So give us seed, that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Genesis 47:19 "Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed [to plant], that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate." |
Bible Question:
Please read this verse in context. We tend to leave this part of the story out, when we think of Joseph's role in Egypt. We recognize his brilliant leadership in preparing for the famine, but leave out the fact that he bankrupted the people. He collected the grain from the people, then sold it back to them at a rate they could not afford. Since he had created a monopoly, he could set whatever price he wished. Perhaps devastating the people was a good thing, because he was then able to install a system of universal taxation? (v. 24) --- but surely that could have been done without enslaving the people first. Perhaps there is a kind of justice to how the Israelites found themselves enslaved in Egypt? JRM |
Bible Answer: Your right, Joseph did use what we would consider hard measures that actually enslaved the people. However this is not a perfect world and history has proven that drastic times often requires drastic measures. Until Jesus returns we will continue to see times where leaders are going to have to rise up and make decisions that many will feel are not fair or impacts freedom. And as you say this set up conditions for what later occurred and lead to the Exodus. If the Children of Israel had remained in comfort in Egypt I don’t think they would have ever left. EdB |