Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Genesis 47:21 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 21. 21And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
The KJV and Masoretic text say Joseph moves the people to cities from one end of Egypt to the other. The Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint instead say he makes them servants. The larger unit contains both relocation and service concerns, so the difference must remain visible.
Read It With
- Genesis 47:13–26
Read verses 19–25 with 41:48. The people offer service and land, Joseph acquires them for Pharaoh, stored grain had been placed in cities, and seed later returns them to cultivation; these details explain why both readings have been discussed without settling the earliest wording.
Why This Verse Appears Here
After Pharaoh gains the land, verse 21 describes what happens to the population, but the ancient textual traditions differ between city relocation and enslavement.
Read Genesis 47:18–22 together
Why these verses belong together: The next year's depletion leads to the offer of land and labor, royal acquisition, the relocation-or-enslavement textual issue, and the priests' protected exception.
Verse 18. 18 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:
Verse 19. 19 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 live, and not die, that the land be not desolate.
Verse 20. 20 And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh’s.
Verse 21. 21 And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof.
Verse 22. 22 Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they sold not their lands.
Follow the Context
- Severe famine leaves Egypt and Canaan languishing; Joseph gathers the money paid for grain and brings it into Pharaoh's house (47:13–14).
- When money is exhausted, the Egyptians ask why they should die; Joseph exchanges food for horses, flocks, herds, and donkeys and sustains them through that year (47:15–17).
- In the next year the people say only their bodies and land remain, offer both for bread and seed, and Joseph acquires the land for Pharaoh because famine presses every fieldholder (47:18–20).
- The received Hebrew text says Joseph moves the people to cities across Egypt, while the Samaritan Pentateuch and Greek tradition read that he makes them servants; priestly land remains exempt because Pharaoh supplies the priests (47:21–22).
- Joseph states that he has acquired the people and land for Pharaoh, gives seed, assigns one-fifth to Pharaoh and four-fifths for seed and households, receives the people's life-saving acknowledgment, and establishes the arrangement as an enduring statute with the priestly exception (47:23–26).
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“removed them to cities”
In plain language: The received Hebrew text says Joseph transferred the population to cities.
The action spans Egypt after royal land acquisition.
Why it matters: The motive is not stated; food logistics is plausible but not certain.
How certain? very strong“made them servants”
In plain language: The Samaritan Pentateuch and Greek tradition read enslavement or servitude instead of city relocation.
This alternative makes verse 21 directly enact the proposal of verse 19.
Why it matters: It changes the immediate action and therefore belongs in the public explanation.
How certain? very strong“from one end ... to the other”
In plain language: The action is described across Egypt's full extent.
The phrase emphasizes comprehensive policy reach.
Why it matters: It should not be converted into exact population numbers or routes.
How certain? very strongWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
The KJV wording does not prove relocation was voluntary, temporary, benevolent, or solely for food distribution.
The Samaritan and Greek wording does not permit readers to pretend the Masoretic city reading does not exist.
The verse does not state why people were moved, how long they remained, or what conditions they experienced.
The textual difference does not erase the unit's explicit acquisition and service language in verses 19, 23, and 25.
What Remains True
Honest interpretation discloses a material textual difference and refuses to choose the reading that merely makes a favored character look better or worse.
How It Can Shape Life
- When a source has competing readings, show both, explain the evidence and effect on meaning, keep the displayed edition clear, and avoid hiding uncertainty for rhetorical advantage.
Teach It Back
Explain Genesis 47:21's contribution to Genesis 47:13–26. Include why the nearby verses are required, what the verse clearly says, and one conclusion it does not justify.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Genesis 47:13–26 — Joseph Restructures Egypt During the FamineSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? very strong
Where care is needed
The KJV faithfully displays the Masoretic city-relocation reading. The earliest recoverable reading and the purpose and duration of any relocation cannot be determined with certainty from the available evidence.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Displayed text, famine sequence, prior storage and family provision, following contrast, later royal oppression, and canonical resource-justice comparisons.
Exact location: Genesis 47:13–26 with 41:25–57; 47:1–12, 27–31; Exodus 1:1–14; Leviticus 25; 1 Samuel 8; and Nehemiah 5 in the pinned standardized 1769 KJV
Open source ↗hebrew text morphology and lemma data
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project
Open Scriptures, Version 2.2 released 2021; repository inspected 2026
Supports: Exact Hebrew crisis, depletion, livestock, sustenance, person, land, service, acquisition, relocation, allowance, fifth, and statute language.
Exact location: WLC Genesis 47:13–26, especially vattelah in verse 13; vayyittom, mikne, and vaynahalem in 15–17; geviyyatenu, admatenu, avadim, and qanah in 18–23; he'evir oto le'arim in verse 21; hoq in 22 and 26; and hamishit/homesh in 24 and 26
Open source ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, Digital edition accessed 2026
Supports: Translation, syntax, KJV-language, and material textual-variant cross-checks.
Exact location: NET Genesis 47:13–26 translator and textual notes, especially languishing, exchange, deliberative speech, service, verse 21's Masoretic/Samaritan/Septuagint difference, one-fifth, favor, and statute
Open NET Genesis 47 ↗modern open ethical and lexical interpretive study
Joseph and the Enslavement of the Egyptians
Moshe Soller
Jewish Bible Quarterly 47.1, pages 39–44, 2019
Supports: A full modern defense-oriented alternative and its explicit inferential limits.
Exact location: Jewish Bible Quarterly 47.1, pages 39–44, especially the transition from Genesis 41 to 47, Pharaoh-agency proposal, city-relocation reading, service interpretation, and one-fifth policy
Open source ↗