-
†. Gen 47:21-22 . . and Joseph reduced the people to servitude, from
one end of Egypt to the other. However, he did not buy the land of
the priests, because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh
and had food enough from the allotment Pharaoh gave them. That is
why they did not sell their land.
That regular State allotment must have made religion seem like an attractive
career path. Their constituents may have been suffering, but the priests
were doing just fine and coasting right through all the hard times.
I think it's notable that God wouldn't permit Judaism's priests to own land;
nor permit them to feed at the Federal trough either, thus making them fully
dependent upon the prosperity of ordinary pew warmers. Thus the Aaronic
priests were highly motivated to keep the people in a good standing with
God in order to keep themselves fed because lack of good standing could
easily result in a poor economy in Israel. (cf. Deut 28:1-68)
When Saul was king, there was a time in Israel when the priests didn't even
have enough food of their own on hand to supply David's escape (1Sam
21:1-6). That was a pretty good indication that Saul's kingdom had fallen
into spiritual decline during his administration; and definitely time for a
change in leadership.
†. Gen 47:23-24 . . Joseph said to the people: Now that I have
bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you so
you can plant the ground. But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of
it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the
fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your
children.
Four-fifths is equal to 80% which is a pretty good percentage for share
croppers. In addition, there's no mention of either rents or leases. In other
words, the Egyptians lived on Pharaoh's land essentially for free. The only
rent they paid, if you could call it that, was the one-fifth of the land's
produce.
That was a very good deal for the Egyptians because it was flexible. In other
words; no matter how well or how poorly the land produced in any given
year, whether little or much, the percentage never changed. Thus they were
always able to satisfy their obligation to Pharaoh even in years when disease
and/or insects decimated their crops. It was virtually impossible to ever fall
behind in payments.
Since Pharaoh owned all the land, and exacted neither rent nor lease from
share-croppers; it became possible for Egypt's poor to apply for a piece of
acreage. While the drought was a curse for some people; it was a blessing
for others.
†. Gen 47:25 . .You have saved our lives; they said. May we find
favor in the eyes of our lord; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh.
The word "bondage" is from 'ebed (eh'-bed) which includes all kinds of
servitude; including outright slavery. Another word for "servant" is sakiyr
(saw-keer') which is a person who works for wages; viz: an employee.
It's reasonable to assume that not everyone in Egypt took up farming as
there would still be the need for goods and services like metal smiths,
butchers, seamstresses, barbers, shipwrights, wagon and chariot builders,
longshoremen, pottery, merchant marine, general mercantile, weavers,
shoemakers, freight haulers, and building contractors; et al: every sort of
trade and commercial enterprise imaginable.
Pharaoh had all the money. So then, the barter system probably thrived in
Egypt-- the farmers trading out of their 80% and the merchants and
tradesmen paying Pharaoh his one-fifth out of what trickled down from the
farmers. In other words: in that economy, food was gold.
Apparently few, if any, complained. One thing you could say about the
Egyptians; they didn't look a gift horse in the mouth. If not for Joseph's
providence, they would have all surely died, and lost everything, and they
knew it too. Thanks to him, instead of dying, they all enjoyed a pretty good
standard of living. There were some sacrifices to be made, yes, but all in all,
they fared pretty well under Joseph's administration.
†. Gen 47:26 . . So Joseph established it as a law concerning land in
Egypt-- still in force today --that a fifth of the produce belongs to
Pharaoh. It was only the land of the priests that did not become
Pharaoh's.
The "today" in that passage of course refers of the author's own day.
The 20% flat tax was fair across the board for everybody; rich, poor, and
middle class alike-- no deductions and no exemptions.
Thank God Joseph was a man of integrity because the kind of power he
wielded has a way of tempting men to do some very greedy things; for
example: enforcement of the so-called law of supply and demand. Of one
thing we can be pretty sure: Pharaoh's approval rating no doubt broke all
the records thanks to his selection of Joseph to manage Egypt's affairs
during a very serious national crisis.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
†. Gen 47:21-22 . . and Joseph reduced the people to servitude, from
one end of Egypt to the other. However, he did not buy the land of
the priests, because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh
and had food enough from the allotment Pharaoh gave them. That is
why they did not sell their land.
That regular State allotment must have made religion seem like an attractive
career path. Their constituents may have been suffering, but the priests
were doing just fine and coasting right through all the hard times.
I think it's notable that God wouldn't permit Judaism's priests to own land;
nor permit them to feed at the Federal trough either, thus making them fully
dependent upon the prosperity of ordinary pew warmers. Thus the Aaronic
priests were highly motivated to keep the people in a good standing with
God in order to keep themselves fed because lack of good standing could
easily result in a poor economy in Israel. (cf. Deut 28:1-68)
When Saul was king, there was a time in Israel when the priests didn't even
have enough food of their own on hand to supply David's escape (1Sam
21:1-6). That was a pretty good indication that Saul's kingdom had fallen
into spiritual decline during his administration; and definitely time for a
change in leadership.
†. Gen 47:23-24 . . Joseph said to the people: Now that I have
bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you so
you can plant the ground. But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of
it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the
fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your
children.
Four-fifths is equal to 80% which is a pretty good percentage for share
croppers. In addition, there's no mention of either rents or leases. In other
words, the Egyptians lived on Pharaoh's land essentially for free. The only
rent they paid, if you could call it that, was the one-fifth of the land's
produce.
That was a very good deal for the Egyptians because it was flexible. In other
words; no matter how well or how poorly the land produced in any given
year, whether little or much, the percentage never changed. Thus they were
always able to satisfy their obligation to Pharaoh even in years when disease
and/or insects decimated their crops. It was virtually impossible to ever fall
behind in payments.
Since Pharaoh owned all the land, and exacted neither rent nor lease from
share-croppers; it became possible for Egypt's poor to apply for a piece of
acreage. While the drought was a curse for some people; it was a blessing
for others.
†. Gen 47:25 . .You have saved our lives; they said. May we find
favor in the eyes of our lord; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh.
The word "bondage" is from 'ebed (eh'-bed) which includes all kinds of
servitude; including outright slavery. Another word for "servant" is sakiyr
(saw-keer') which is a person who works for wages; viz: an employee.
It's reasonable to assume that not everyone in Egypt took up farming as
there would still be the need for goods and services like metal smiths,
butchers, seamstresses, barbers, shipwrights, wagon and chariot builders,
longshoremen, pottery, merchant marine, general mercantile, weavers,
shoemakers, freight haulers, and building contractors; et al: every sort of
trade and commercial enterprise imaginable.
Pharaoh had all the money. So then, the barter system probably thrived in
Egypt-- the farmers trading out of their 80% and the merchants and
tradesmen paying Pharaoh his one-fifth out of what trickled down from the
farmers. In other words: in that economy, food was gold.
Apparently few, if any, complained. One thing you could say about the
Egyptians; they didn't look a gift horse in the mouth. If not for Joseph's
providence, they would have all surely died, and lost everything, and they
knew it too. Thanks to him, instead of dying, they all enjoyed a pretty good
standard of living. There were some sacrifices to be made, yes, but all in all,
they fared pretty well under Joseph's administration.
†. Gen 47:26 . . So Joseph established it as a law concerning land in
Egypt-- still in force today --that a fifth of the produce belongs to
Pharaoh. It was only the land of the priests that did not become
Pharaoh's.
The "today" in that passage of course refers of the author's own day.
The 20% flat tax was fair across the board for everybody; rich, poor, and
middle class alike-- no deductions and no exemptions.
Thank God Joseph was a man of integrity because the kind of power he
wielded has a way of tempting men to do some very greedy things; for
example: enforcement of the so-called law of supply and demand. Of one
thing we can be pretty sure: Pharaoh's approval rating no doubt broke all
the records thanks to his selection of Joseph to manage Egypt's affairs
during a very serious national crisis.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=