Genesis 3:18

3:18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,

but you will eat the grain ¹  of the field.

Genesis 41:6

41:6 Then ²  seven heads of grain, thin and burned by the east wind, were sprouting up after them.

Genesis 41:22-23

41:22 I also saw in my dream ³  seven heads of grain growing on one stalk, full and good. 41:23 Then ⁴  seven heads of grain, withered and thin and burned with the east wind, were sprouting up after them.

Genesis 41:57--42:1

41:57 People from every country ⁵  came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain because the famine was severe throughout the earth.

Joseph’s Brothers in Egypt

42:1 When Jacob heard ⁶  there was grain in Egypt, he ⁷  said to his sons, “Why are you looking at each other?” ⁸ 

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¹ tn The Hebrew term עֵשֶׂב (’esev), when referring to human food, excludes grass (eaten by cattle) and woody plants like vines.

² tn Heb “And look.”

³ tn Heb “and I saw in my dream and look.”

⁴ tn Heb “And look.”

⁵ tn Heb “all the earth,” which refers here (by metonymy) to the people of the earth. Note that the following verb is plural in form, indicating that the inhabitants of the earth are in view.

⁶ tn Heb “saw.”

⁷ tn Heb “Jacob.” Here the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁸ sn Why are you looking at each other? The point of Jacob’s question is that his sons should be going to get grain rather than sitting around doing nothing. Jacob, as the patriarch, still makes the decisions for the whole clan.