What Does Genesis 47:24 Mean in the King James?
And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The four retained parts already belong to tomorrow’s field and today’s household; they are not undivided surplus.
THE MEANING
The increase is divided: a fifth goes to Pharaoh, while the remaining four parts hold seed for the field and food for the household, including its little ones. Tomorrow’s planting is part of today’s provision.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the idea that what remains after a required share is free surplus: the four parts already have named work, seed, food, household, and children.
THE ROOT
זֶרַע
zera
GROWS FROM
זרע
To sow; seed that is planted.
The same word זֶרַע (zera, seed) also means offspring. The portion kept for the field therefore carries the possibility of future life inside the household’s present provision.
ALSO GROWS
zara: to sow
זָרַע
The reserved seed remains part of the act that brings another harvest.
zera: offspring, descendants
זֶרַע
The word’s reach from planted seed to descendants links this harvest to life continuing beyond the present.
תְּבוּאֹת
tevu'ot
GROWS FROM
בוא
To come, enter.
The word rendered “increase” is tevu’ot, produce that comes in. The verse first treats the harvest as an arrival, then divides what arrives among several purposes.
ALSO GROWS
bo: to come, enter
בּוֹא
The root gives the harvest the sense of what comes into reach.
mavo: entrance, entry
מָבוֹא
This branch echoes the movement of produce coming in before it is apportioned.
אֹכֶל
okhel
GROWS FROM
אכל
To eat, consume.
Food belongs to the root אכל (ʾ-k-l, eat), while זֶרַע (zera, seed) remains for planting: one harvest holds both what is consumed and what continues. The verse gives each a place in the same provision.
ALSO GROWS
akhal: to eat
אָכַל
It names the act the household’s food makes possible.
ma'akhal: food, something eaten
מַאֲכָל
This branch makes clear that food is the portion for consumption, distinct from seed kept for the field.
THE PATTERN
A harvest is divided into portions with distinct uses, keeping future planting, present eating, and other people’s lives in view.
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.Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands.THE THREAD
While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.The same word זֶרַע (zera, seed) appears in both verses. Genesis 8:22 joins seed and harvest in a continuing rhythm; Genesis 47:24 reserves seed so that rhythm can continue.
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