Genesis 41:55

 Genesis 41:55

And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do.

a. NASB 1995: So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, you shall do.”  [New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.]

b. NKJV: So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Then Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, do.”  [Scripture quotations marked "NKJV" are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.]

c. Classic Amplified:  But when all the land of Egypt was weakened with hunger, the people [there] cried to Pharaoh for food; and Pharaoh said to [them] all, Go to Joseph; what he says to you, do. [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: When all the land of Egypt hungered, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread. So Pharaoh said to all of Egypt, “Go to Joseph. Whatever he tells you you should do.” [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE TANACH--STUDENT SIZE EDITION Copyright 1996, 1998 by Mesorah Publications, Ltd.]

e. ESV: When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do.”  [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

f. Unless otherwise stated, all Greek and Hebrew definitions are from Blue Letter Bible

1. “And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do.”

a. [And when] all [Strong: 3605 kôl, kole; or (Jeremiah 33:8) כּוֹל kôwl; from H3634; properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense):—(in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-) thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).]

b. [the] land [Strong: 776 ʼerets, eh'-rets; from an unused root probably meaning to be firm; the earth (at large, or partitively a land):—× common, country, earth, field, ground, land, × nations, way, + wilderness, world.]

c. [of] Egypt [Strong: 4714 Mitsrayim, mits-rah'-yim; dual of H4693; Mitsrajim, i.e. Upper and Lower Egypt:—Egypt, Egyptians, Mizraim.]

c. [was] famished [Strong: 7456 râʻêb, raw-abe'; a primitive root; to hunger:—(suffer to) famish, (be, have, suffer, suffer to) hunger(-ry).]

d. [the] people [Strong: 5971 ʻam, am; from H6004; a people (as a congregated unit); specifically, a tribe (as those of Israel); hence (collectively) troops or attendants; figuratively, a flock:—folk, men, nation, people.]

e. cried [Strong: 6817 tsâʻaq, tsaw-ak'; a primitive root; to shriek; (by implication) to proclaim (an assembly):—× at all, call together, cry (out), gather (selves) (together).]

f. to [Strong: 413 ʼêl, ale; (but used only in the shortened constructive form אֶל ʼel, el); a primitive particle; properly, denoting motion towards, but occasionally used of a quiescent position, i.e. near, with or among; often in general, to:—about, according to, after, against, among, as for, at, because (-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, × hath, in (-to), near, (out) of, over, through, to (-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with (-in).]

g. Pharaoh [Strong: 6547 Parʻôh, par-o'; of Egyptian derivation; Paroh, a general title of Egyptian kings:—Pharaoh.]

h. [for] bread [Strong: 3899 lechem, lekh'-em; from H3898; See also H1036 food (for man or beast), especially bread, or grain (for making it):—(shew-) bread, × eat, food, fruit, loaf, meat, victuals.]

i. [and] Pharaoh [Strong: 6547 Parʻôh, par-o'; of Egyptian derivation; Paroh, a general title of Egyptian kings:—Pharaoh.]

j. said [Strong: 559 ʼâmar, aw-mar'; a primitive root; to say (used with great latitude):—answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, × desire, determine, × expressly, × indeed, × intend, name, × plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), × still, × suppose, talk, tell, term, × that is, × think, use (speech), utter, × verily, × yet.]

k. [unto] all [Strong: 3605 kôl, kole; or (Jeremiah 33:8) כּוֹל kôwl; from H3634; properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense):—(in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-) thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).]

l. [the] Egyptians [Strong: 4713 Mitsrîy, mits-ree'; from H4714; a Mitsrite, or inhabitant of Mitsrajim:—Egyptian, of Egypt.]

m. Go [Strong: 3212 yâlak, yaw-lak'; a primitive root (compare H1980); to walk (literally or figuratively); causatively, to carry (in various senses):—× again, away, bear, bring, carry (away), come (away), depart, flow, follow(-ing), get (away, hence, him), (cause to, made) go (away, -ing, -ne, one's way, out), grow, lead (forth), let down, march, prosper, pursue, cause to run, spread, take away (-journey), vanish, (cause to) walk(-ing), wax, × be weak.]

n. unto [Strong: 413 ʼêl, ale; (but used only in the shortened constructive form אֶל ʼel, el); a primitive particle; properly, denoting motion towards, but occasionally used of a quiescent position, i.e. near, with or among; often in general, to:—about, according to, after, against, among, as for, at, because (-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, × hath, in (-to), near, (out) of, over, through, to (-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with (-in).]

o. Joseph [Strong: 3130 Yôwçêph, yo-safe'; future of H3254; let him add (or perhaps simply active participle adding); Joseph, the name of seven Israelites:—Joseph.]

e. what [Strong: 834 ʼăsher, ash-er'; a primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number); who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.:—× after, × alike, as (soon as), because, × every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how(-soever), × if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), × though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither(-soever), who(-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.]

f. [he] saith [to you] [Strong: 559 ʼâmar, aw-mar'; a primitive root; to say (used with great latitude):—answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, × desire, determine, × expressly, × indeed, × intend, name, × plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), × still, × suppose, talk, tell, term, × that is, × think, use (speech), utter, × verily, × yet.]

g. do [Strong: 6213 ʻâsâh, aw-saw'; a primitive root; to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application:—accomplish, advance, appoint, apt, be at, become, bear, bestow, bring forth, bruise, be busy, × certainly, have the charge of, commit, deal (with), deck, displease, do, (ready) dress(-ed), (put in) execute(-ion), exercise, fashion, feast, (fight-) ing man, finish, fit, fly, follow, fulfill, furnish, gather, get, go about, govern, grant, great, hinder, hold (a feast), × indeed, be industrious, journey, keep, labour, maintain, make, be meet, observe, be occupied, offer, officer, pare, bring (come) to pass, perform, pracise, prepare, procure, provide, put, requite, × sacrifice, serve, set, shew, × sin, spend, × surely, take, × thoroughly, trim, × very, vex, be (warr-) ior, work(-man), yield, use.]

1). In accordance with his goodness, for God is a good and merciful God, God was giving Pharaoh a means of averting a disaster for Egypt through the dreams and giving Joseph the interpretation of the dreams. Henry Morris writes in his book The Genesis Record, it was not “for the purpose of embarrassing or dethroning the king of Egypt. As a matter of fact his own control over the country was destined to be strengthened by these events; but the underlying purpose of it all had to do rather with God’s plan for Israel. Therefore not only did God give Joseph the true interpretation of the dreams, but also an effective plan of action for Pharaoh.”

a). Pharaoh was troubled by the dreams. Joseph specifically responded to Pharaoh with the words, “God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”

2). God giving dreams and their interpretation here is an example of the gifts of the Spirit, in particular, the word of wisdom, one of the gifts of the Spirit in operation. Kenneth E. Hagin writes in “Concerning Spiritual Gifts”: “The difference between the two gifts, the word of knowledge and the word of wisdom is that the revelation which the word of knowledge brings is always present tense or something which happened in the past. The word of wisdom always speaks of the future.” Here a 14 year plan to avert a disaster that would have come upon the known world. All the nations around Egypt suffered from this famine (Genesis 41:57), that was allowed by God to happen. He did not cause it, but in his goodness, mercy, and grace provided a means to endure through it.