· Translation: KJV

Genesis 47:13There was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.

The setting

Egypt and Canaan, ~1875 BC. Year 3-4 of seven-year famine. Two great civilizations are starving. People are dying. Trade has collapsed. Governments are failing.

The emotion here: sobered by the magnitude of human suffering

The original word

ra'ab (רָעָב) — violent hunger that weakens and kills, not just being hungry

Why it matters

This famine affected the entire ancient Near East - cuneiform records confirm crop failures across multiple civilizations

Read with care

What most readers miss in Genesis 47:13

The word 'fainted' means these nations were literally collapsing - governments, armies, everything was failing

Common misconceptionPeople think this was a local drought, but this was a global catastrophe affecting multiple continents - the ancient world's first recorded international crisis.

Bible Genome reading

Genesis 47:13 — Bible Genome reading

Speakernarrator
EraPatriarchal
Primary emotionanxious
Literary typenarrative

Emotional genome

Comfort power15%
Quotability50%
Memorability65%
Crisis relevance85%
Standalone60%
Themes:scarcitysuffering

In context

No verse stands alone.

Read the conversation around it.

Open Genesis 47

Genesis 47:13 comes from the book of Genesis, written during the Patriarchal period. The setting is a royal palace. These words are attributed to narrator. The dominant emotion in this verse is anxious, with a comfort power of 15% and a tone that is lamenting. It belongs to the narrative genre of biblical literature. Key themes include scarcity, suffering. Notable phrases: no bread in all the land; famine was very severe.

Your reflection

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