Discovery BoxGenesis 26:1 
Context26:1 There was a famine in the land, subsequent to the earlier famine that occurred 1 in the days of Abraham. 2 Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar.
Genesis 41:36
Context41:36 This food should be held in storage for the land in preparation for the seven years of famine that will occur throughout the land of Egypt. In this way the land will survive the famine.” 3
Genesis 41:54
Context41:54 Then the seven years of famine began, 4 just as Joseph had predicted. There was famine in all the other lands, but throughout the land of Egypt there was food.
Genesis 47:13
Context47:13 But there was no food in all the land because the famine was very severe; the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan wasted away 5 because of the famine.
1 tn Heb “in addition to the first famine which was.”
2 sn This account is parallel to two similar stories about Abraham (see Gen 12:10-20; 20:1-18). Many scholars do not believe there were three similar incidents, only one that got borrowed and duplicated. Many regard the account about Isaac as the original, which then was attached to the more important person, Abraham, with supernatural elements being added. For a critique of such an approach, see R. Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative, 47-62. It is more likely that the story illustrates the proverb “like father, like son” (see T. W. Mann, The Book of the Torah, 53). In typical human fashion the son follows his father’s example of lying to avoid problems. The appearance of similar events reported in a similar way underscores the fact that the blessing has now passed to Isaac, even if he fails as his father did.
3 tn Heb “and the land will not be cut off in the famine.”
4 tn Heb “began to arrive.”
5 tn The verb לַהַה (lahah, = לָאָה, la’ah) means “to faint, to languish”; it figuratively describes the land as wasting away, drooping, being worn out.
