And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.

GENESIS 41:35KJV
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Genesis 41:35 (KJV)

What does Genesis 41:35 mean?

Genesis 41:35 describes Joseph’s plan to collect and store food during the years of abundance in Egypt, placing the gathered grain under Pharaoh’s control and keeping it safely in the cities. The verse emphasizes careful preparation for the coming years of famine by organizing food storage at the highest level.

Pharaoh’s officials are being instructed, based on Joseph’s advice, to gather all the food (especially grain) produced during the good years. The food is to be stored “under the hand of Pharaoh,” meaning it will be managed by Pharaoh’s authority, and kept in the cities for safekeeping. This is part of Joseph’s broader strategy to ensure Egypt’s survival during the predicted famine.

The Hebrew behind Genesis 41:35

  • The word for “gather” is אָסַף (ʼāsaf, H6908), which means to collect or assemble. This highlights the active effort to bring together all available resources, not just passively storing what happens to be left over.
  • The word for “food” is אֹכֶל (ʼokhel, H400), a general term for food, but in this context, it refers especially to staple crops like grain.
  • The word for “corn” is בָּר (bar, H1250), which in ancient Hebrew refers to grain in general, not specifically maize (which did not exist in Egypt at the time). This clarifies that the storage was of staple grains, likely wheat or barley.
  • The phrase “under the hand” uses יָד (yad, H3027), meaning authority or control. Storing food “under the hand of Pharaoh” means it is under his direct supervision, emphasizing centralized management.

Why Genesis 41:35 matters

  • Genesis 41:35 clarifies that Joseph’s plan was not just about saving food, but about organizing a national effort under Pharaoh’s authority, showing the seriousness and scale of the preparation.
  • The verse helps readers understand that “corn” in the King James Version means grain in general, not the modern maize, avoiding confusion about what was actually stored.
  • This verse connects to the larger story by showing Joseph’s wisdom and administrative skill, setting up how Egypt would later become a place of refuge during the famine.

Where else these words appear

“up” Hebrew H6651 · used in 7 verses

  • Genesis 41:49 And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number.
  • Job 27:16 Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay;
  • Habakkuk 1:10 And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it.

“corn” Hebrew H1250 · used in 14 verses

  • Genesis 41:49 And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number.
  • Job 39:4 Their young ones are in good liking, they grow up with corn; they go forth, and return not unto them.
  • Jeremiah 23:28 The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.

“food” Hebrew H400 · used in 41 verses

  • Genesis 14:11 And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way.
  • Exodus 16:16 This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents.
  • Job 38:41 Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.

“gather” Hebrew H6908 · used in 121 verses

  • Genesis 41:48 And he gathered up all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same.
  • 2 Chronicles 32:6 And he set captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the street of the gate of the city, and spake comfortably to them, saying,
  • Jeremiah 31:8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither.