Genesis 47:18
New International Version
When that year was over, they came to him the following year and said, “We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money is gone and our livestock belongs to you, there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land.

New Living Translation
But that year ended, and the next year they came again and said, “We cannot hide the truth from you, my lord. Our money is gone, and all our livestock and cattle are yours. We have nothing left to give but our bodies and our land.

English Standard Version
And when that year was ended, they came to him the following year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent. The herds of livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our land.

Berean Standard Bible
When that year was over, they came to him the second year and said, “We cannot hide from our lord that our money is gone and all our livestock belongs to you. There is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land.

King James Bible
When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands:

New King James Version
When that year had ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is gone; my lord also has our herds of livestock. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands.

New American Standard Bible
But when that year ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord the fact that our money is all spent, and the livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left for my lord except our bodies and our lands.

NASB 1995
When that year was ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent, and the cattle are my lord’s. There is nothing left for my lord except our bodies and our lands.

NASB 1977
And when that year was ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent, and the cattle are my lord’s. There is nothing left for my lord except our bodies and our lands.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then that year came to an end. And they came to him the next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money has come to an end, and the livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left for my lord except our bodies and our land.

Amplified Bible
When that year was ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord [the fact] that our money is spent; my lord also has our herds of livestock; there is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands.

Christian Standard Bible
When that year was over, they came the next year and said to him, “We cannot hide from our lord that the silver is gone and that all our livestock belongs to our lord. There is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
When that year was over, they came the next year and said to him, “We cannot hide from our lord that the money is gone and that all our livestock belongs to our lord. There is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land.

American Standard Version
And when that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide from my lord, how that our money is all spent; and the herds of cattle are my lord's; there is nought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands:

Contemporary English Version
Then the people came to him and said: Sir, there's no way we can hide the truth from you. We are broke, and we don't have any more animals. We have nothing left except ourselves and our land.

English Revised Version
And when that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide from my lord, how that our money is all spent; and the herds of cattle are my lord's; there is nought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
When that year was over, they came to him the next year. "Sir," they said to him, "you know that our money is gone, and you have all our livestock. There's nothing left to bring you except our bodies and our land.

Good News Translation
The following year they came to him and said, "We will not hide the fact from you, sir, that our money is all gone and our livestock belongs to you. There is nothing left to give you except our bodies and our lands.

International Standard Version
The following year, they came to him and reminded him, "We won't hide from you, your Excellency, that we've spent all of our money, and that our livestock all belong to you. There's nothing left to trade with you, your Excellency, except our bodies and our territories.

Majority Standard Bible
When that year was over, they came to him the second year and said, “We cannot hide from our lord that our money is gone and all our livestock belongs to you. There is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land.

NET Bible
When that year was over, they came to him the next year and said to him, "We cannot hide from our lord that the money is used up and the livestock and the animals belong to our lord. Nothing remains before our lord except our bodies and our land.

New Heart English Bible
When that year was over, they came to him the next year and said to him, "We will not hide from my lord that all our silver is spent and that the herds of livestock belong to my lord. There is nothing left, as my lord can see, except our bodies and our lands.

Webster's Bible Translation
When that year was ended, they came to him the second year, and said to him, We will not hide from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; there is not aught left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies and our lands:

World English Bible
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.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
And that year is finished, and they come to him on the second year, and say to him, “We do not hide from my lord, that since the money has been finished, and possession of the livestock [is] to my lord, there has not been left before my lord except our bodies, and our ground;

Young's Literal Translation
And that year is finished, and they come in unto him on the second year, and say to him, 'We do not hide from my lord, that since the money hath been finished, and possession of the cattle is unto my lord, there hath not been left before my lord save our bodies, and our ground;

Smith's Literal Translation
And that year will be ended, and they will come to him in the second year, and will say to him, We will not hide from my lord if the silver was spent; and the possession of the cattle to my lord; and there was not left before my lord except but our bodies and our lands.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And they came the second year, and said to him: We will not hide from our lord, how that our money is spent, and our cattle also are gone: neither art thou ignorant that we have nothing now left but our bodies and our lands.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Likewise, they came the second year, and they said to him: “We will not conceal from our lord that our money is gone; likewise our cattle are gone. Neither are you unaware that we have nothing left but our bodies and our land.

New American Bible
That year ended, and they came to him in the next one and said: “We cannot hide from my lord that, with our money spent and our livestock made over to my lord, there is nothing left to put at my lord’s disposal except our bodies and our land.

New Revised Standard Version
When that year was ended, they came to him the following year, and said to him, “We can not hide from my lord that our money is all spent; and the herds of cattle are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
When that year was ended, they came to him the second year, and said to him, We will not hide it from our lord, for the money is spent; and our lord also has all the herds and cattle; there is nothing left in the sight of our lord but our persons and our lands;

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And that year ended, and they came to him in the next year, and they said to him, “We will not hide from our Lord, because all money is spent and the cattle of oxen are with our Lord, and nothing is left before our Lord except our lives and our lands:
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
And when that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him: 'We will not hide from my lord, how that our money is all spent; and the herds of cattle are my lord's; there is nought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And that year passed, and they came to him in the second year, and said to him, Must we then be consumed from before our lord? for if our money has failed, and our possessions, and our cattle, brought to thee our lord, and there has not been left to us before our lord more than our own bodies and our land, we are indeed destitute.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Joseph's Leadership During the Famine
17So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their flocks and herds, and their donkeys. Throughout that year he provided them with food in exchange for all their livestock. 18When that year was over, they came to him the second year and said, “We cannot hide from our lord that our money is gone and all our livestock belongs to you. There is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land. 19Why should we perish before your eyes—we and our land as well? Purchase us and our land in exchange for food. Then we, along with our land, will be slaves to Pharaoh. Give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate.”…

Cross References
Exodus 1:14
and made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh.

Leviticus 25:39-41
If a countryman among you becomes destitute and sells himself to you, then you must not force him into slave labor. / Let him stay with you as a hired worker or temporary resident; he is to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. / Then he and his children are to be released, and he may return to his clan and to the property of his fathers.

Deuteronomy 15:12-15
If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you must set him free. / And when you release him, do not send him away empty-handed. / You are to furnish him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. You shall give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you. ...

1 Samuel 8:11-17
He said, “This will be the manner of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them to serve his own chariots and horses, and to run in front of his chariots. / He will appoint some for himself as commanders of thousands and of fifties, and others to plow his ground, to reap his harvest, and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. / And he will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. ...

2 Kings 4:1
Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And now his creditor is coming to take my two children as his slaves!”

Nehemiah 5:4-5
Still others were saying, “We have borrowed money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. / We and our children are just like our countrymen and their children, yet we are subjecting our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters are already enslaved, but we are powerless to redeem them because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”

Isaiah 50:1
This is what the LORD says: “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of My creditors did I sell you? Look, you were sold for your iniquities, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.

Jeremiah 34:8-11
After King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty, the word came to Jeremiah from the LORD / that each man should free his Hebrew slaves, both male and female, and no one should hold his fellow Jew in bondage. / So all the officials and all the people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would free their menservants and maidservants and no longer hold them in bondage. They obeyed and released them, ...

Ezekiel 18:7-8
He does not oppress another, but restores the pledge to the debtor. He does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing. / He does not engage in usury or take excess interest, but he withholds his hand from iniquity and executes true justice between men.

Ezekiel 18:12-13
He oppresses the poor and needy; he commits robbery and does not restore a pledge. He lifts his eyes to idols; he commits abominations. / He engages in usury and takes excess interest. Will this son live? He will not! Since he has committed all these abominations, he will surely die; his blood will be on his own head.

Matthew 18:25
Since the man was unable to pay, the master ordered that he be sold to pay his debt, along with his wife and children and everything he owned.

Luke 4:18
“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed,

Luke 7:41-42
“Two men were debtors to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. / When they were unable to repay him, he forgave both of them. Which one, then, will love him more?”

Luke 15:14-16
After he had spent all he had, a severe famine swept through that country, and he began to be in need. / So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. / He longed to fill his belly with the pods the pigs were eating, but no one would give him a thing.

John 8:34
Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.


Treasury of Scripture

When that year was ended, they came to him the second year, and said to him, We will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also has our herds of cattle; there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands:

A.

2 Kings 6:26
And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king.

Jeremiah 38:9
My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is: for there is no more bread in the city.

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Aught Bodies Cattle Ended Except Herds Hide Livestock Money Nought Ought Second Sight Spent
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Aught Bodies Cattle Ended Except Herds Hide Livestock Money Nought Ought Second Sight Spent
Genesis 47
1. Joseph presents his father, and five of his brothers before Pharaoh.
11. He gives them habitation and maintenance.
13. He gets the Egyptian's money;
16. their cattle;
18. and their lands, except the priests', to Pharaoh.
23. He restores the land for a fifth.
28. Jacob's age.
29. He swears Joseph to bury him with his fathers.














When that year was over
This phrase marks the passage of time, indicating the end of a significant period during the famine in Egypt. The Hebrew word for "year" is "שָׁנָה" (shanah), which can also imply a cycle or repetition. This suggests the cyclical nature of the agricultural and economic hardships faced by the people. Historically, this reflects the severe and prolonged famine that Joseph had predicted, emphasizing the wisdom and foresight given to him by God to prepare Egypt for such times.

they came to him the next year
The act of coming to Joseph again signifies the people's continued dependence on his leadership and provision. Joseph, as a type of Christ, is seen as a savior figure, providing sustenance and guidance. The Hebrew root "בּוֹא" (bo) for "came" implies an approach or entering into a presence, symbolizing the humility and desperation of the people as they seek help.

and said, 'We cannot hide from our lord
This confession reveals the transparency and honesty of the people in their dire situation. The phrase "cannot hide" uses the Hebrew "כָּחַד" (kachad), meaning to conceal or deny. It underscores the futility of trying to mask their poverty and need. The acknowledgment of Joseph as "our lord" reflects the authority and respect he commanded, akin to the reverence due to God’s appointed leaders.

that the money is gone
The depletion of money signifies the complete economic collapse faced by the Egyptians. The Hebrew word for "money" is "כֶּסֶף" (kesef), which also means silver, a common medium of exchange. This highlights the severity of the famine, as all monetary resources were exhausted, pointing to the transient nature of earthly wealth and the need for reliance on divine provision.

and the livestock belongs to our lord
This admission shows the transfer of wealth and resources to Joseph, who managed them on behalf of Pharaoh. The Hebrew "מִקְנֶה" (miqneh) for "livestock" indicates possessions or property, emphasizing the shift of ownership. This reflects the broader biblical theme of stewardship and the understanding that all resources ultimately belong to God.

There is nothing left for our lord
The phrase captures the total destitution of the people, having surrendered all material possessions. The Hebrew "נִשְׁאַר" (nish'ar) for "left" implies a remnant or remainder, underscoring the complete depletion of their resources. This situation calls to mind the biblical principle of total dependence on God when all else fails.

except our bodies and our land
This final statement reveals the extremity of their plight, offering themselves and their land in exchange for sustenance. The Hebrew "גּוּף" (guph) for "bodies" and "אֲדָמָה" (adamah) for "land" highlight the fundamental elements of human existence and livelihood. This echoes the biblical narrative of redemption, where ultimate surrender leads to salvation, and foreshadows the spiritual truth that true life is found in yielding oneself to God’s will.

(18) The second year.--Not the second year of the famine, but the year following that in which they had given up their cattle.

Verses 18, 19. - When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year (not the second from the commencement of the dearth, but the second from the consumption of their money), and said unto him, We will not hide it from my lord, how that - literally, for if (so we should speak openly), hence equivalent to an intensified but - our money (literally, the silver) is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; - literally, our herds of cattle also (sc. have come) to my lord - there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands: wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may (literally, and we shall) live, and not die, that the land be not desolate (literally, and the land shall not be desolate).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
When that
הַהִוא֒ (ha·hi·w)
Article | Pronoun - third person feminine singular
Strong's 1931: He, self, the same, this, that, as, are

year
הַשָּׁנָ֣ה (haš·šā·nāh)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 8141: A year

was over,
וַתִּתֹּם֮ (wat·tit·tōm)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 8552: To be complete or finished

they came
וַיָּבֹ֨אוּ (way·yā·ḇō·’ū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

to him
לוֹ֙ (lōw)
Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew

the next
הַשֵּׁנִ֗ית (haš·šê·nîṯ)
Article | Number - ordinal feminine singular
Strong's 8145: Second (an ordinal number)

year
בַּשָּׁנָ֣ה (baš·šā·nāh)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 8141: A year

and said,
וַיֹּ֤אמְרוּ (way·yō·mə·rū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“We cannot
לֹֽא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

hide
נְכַחֵ֣ד (nə·ḵa·ḥêḏ)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - first person common plural
Strong's 3582: To secrete, by act, word, to destroy

from our lord
מֵֽאֲדֹנִ֔י (mê·’ă·ḏō·nî)
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 113: Sovereign, controller

that
כִּ֚י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

our money
הַכֶּ֔סֶף (hak·ke·sep̄)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3701: Silver, money

is gone
תַּ֣ם (tam)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 8552: To be complete or finished

and all our livestock
וּמִקְנֵ֥ה (ū·miq·nêh)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 4735: Something bought, property, livestock, acquisition

belongs to
אֵלָ֜יו (’ê·lāw)
Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

[you].
אֲדֹנִ֑י (’ă·ḏō·nî)
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 113: Sovereign, controller

There is nothing
לֹ֤א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

left
נִשְׁאַר֙ (niš·’ar)
Verb - Nifal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7604: To swell up, be, redundant

for
לִפְנֵ֣י (lip̄·nê)
Preposition-l | Noun - common plural construct
Strong's 6440: The face

our lord
אֲדֹנִ֔י (’ă·ḏō·nî)
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 113: Sovereign, controller

except
בִּלְתִּ֥י (bil·tî)
Preposition
Strong's 1115: A failure of, not, except, without, unless, besides, because not, until

our bodies
גְּוִיָּתֵ֖נוּ (gə·wî·yā·ṯê·nū)
Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common plural
Strong's 1472: A body, corpse

and our land.
וְאַדְמָתֵֽנוּ׃ (wə·’aḏ·mā·ṯê·nū)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common plural
Strong's 127: Ground, land


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OT Law: Genesis 47:18 When that year was ended they came (Gen. Ge Gn)
Genesis 47:17
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