For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are yet five years, in which there will be no plowing and no harvest.
Parallel Translations
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For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are yet five years, in which there will be no plowing and no harvest.
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For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
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For these two years hath the famine been in the land; and there are yet five years, in which there shall be neither plowing nor harvest.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Genesis 45:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 47:23 Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh. Behold, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land.
- Genesis 41:29-31 Behold, seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt are coming. Seven years of famine will arise after them, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, and the plenty will not be known in the land by reason of that famine which follows; for it will be very grievous.
- Genesis 41:54 The seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.
- Genesis 41:56 The famine was over all the surface of the earth. Joseph opened all the store houses, and sold to the Egyptians. The famine was severe in the land of Egypt.
- Genesis 47:18 When that year was ended, they came to him the second year, and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord how our money is all spent, and the herds of livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands.
- Exodus 34:21 “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest: in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.
- Deuteronomy 21:4 The elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley.
- 1 Samuel 8:12 He will appoint them to him for captains of thousands, and captains of fifties; and he will assign some to plow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and the instruments of his chariots.
- Isaiah 30:24 The oxen likewise and the young donkeys that till the ground will eat savory feed, which has been winnowed with the shovel and with the fork.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (9 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 45:6 For these two years [hath] the famine…
Gen 45:6 For these two years [hath] the famine [been] in the land: and yet [there are] five years, in the which [there shall] neither [be] earing nor harvest.
Ver. 6. {See Trapp on "Gen 41:54"}
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Neither sowing nor reaping, except in a few places…
Neither sowing nor reaping, except in a few places near Nilus, because the people could not spare seed-corn, and would not lose it; understanding from Joseph that their cost and labour would be lost, and that the famine would be of long continuance.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For these two years hath the famine been, in…
For these two years hath the famine been, in the land,.... In the land of Egypt and in the countries round about:
and yet there are five years; still remaining, which he knew by the above dreams and the interpretation of them:
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in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest; that is, no tillage of land, neither ploughing nor sowing, and so no reaping, or gathering in of the fruits of the earth, as used to be in harvest; at least, there would be very little ground tilled, only it may be on the banks of the Nile, since they had no corn to spare for seed; and besides, as the Egyptians knew by Joseph's prediction that the Nile would not overflow, it was to no purpose to attempt to plough their land, which through seven years of drought was become very difficult, or to sow, could they get the seed into the ground, since there was no likelihood of its springing up again.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 6. There shall neither be earing nor harvest.]…
Verse 6. There shall neither be earing nor harvest.] EARING has been supposed to mean collecting the ears of corn, which would confound it with harvest: the word, however, means ploughing or seed-time, from the Anglo-Saxon [A.S.] erian, probably borrowed from the Latin aro, to plough, and plainly means that there should be no seed-time, and consequently no harvest; and why? Because there should be a total want of rain in other countries, and the Nile should not rise above twelve cubits in Egypt; See Clarke on Ge 41:31. But the expressions here must be qualified a little, as we find from Ge 47:19, that the Egyptians came to Joseph to buy seed; and it is probable that even during this famine they sowed some of the ground, particularly on the borders of the river, from which a crop, though not an abundant one, might be produced. The passage, however, in the above chapter may refer to the last year of the famine, when they came to procure seed for the ensuing year.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Gen 45:6-7. Five years there shall be neither earing…
Gen 45:6-7. Five years there shall be neither earing (an old English word for ploughing, which is the meaning of the Hebrew) nor harvest — That is, except in a few places near the river Nile; for, understanding from Joseph that the famine would be of long continuance, and that their labour and seed, which they could ill spare, would be lost, people would neither plough nor sow, and, of course, could not reap. To preserve you a posterity in the earth — That you and your children might be sustained in this time of famine, and afterward abundantly multiplied as God hath promised. To save your lives by a great deliverance — Or, according to the Hebrew, for a great escaping, or, a great remnant; — that is, that you, who are now but a handful, escaping this danger, might grow into a vast multitude; the word evasion, or escaping, being put for the persons that escape, as 2Ch 30:6, and Isa 10:20. Joseph reckoned that his advancement was not so much designed to save a whole kingdom of Egyptians, as to preserve a small family of Israelites; for the Lord’s portion is his people: whatever goes with others, they shall be secured. How admirable are the projects of Providence! How remote their tendencies! What wheels are there within wheels; and yet all directed by the eyes in the wheels, and the spirit of the living creature!
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Reaping, as in common years, thought he places near…
Reaping, as in common years, thought he places near the Nile might produce some little; (Menochius) and hence the Egyptians ask Joseph for seed, chap. xlvii. 19. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain and yet there are five years, in the which…
and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest--"Ear" is an old English word, meaning "to plough" (compare Sa1 8:12; Isa 30:24). This seems to confirm the view given (Gen 41:57) that the famine was caused by an extraordinary drought, which prevented the annual overflowing of the Nile; and of course made the land unfit to receive the seed of Egypt.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 6. yet five years] Cf. Gen_41:30.
6. yet five years] Cf. Gen_41:30.
neither plowing nor harvest] A general phrase for agricultural operations, as in Exo_34:21; Deu_21:4; 1Sa_8:12. There was not even corn enough for sowing purposes. The drought made the ground too hard for ploughing. A.V. has the Old English “earing” = “plowing.” Cf. A.V. Exo_34:21, “in earing time and in harvest.” “Let them go to ear the land,” Shakespeare, Rich. II, iii. 2.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (6) Earing.—An old English word for ploughing, derived from…
(6) Earing.—An old English word for ploughing, derived from the Latin arare, Anglo-Saxon erian, to plough.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.