Discovery BoxGenesis 41:34 
Context41:34 Pharaoh should do 1 this – he should appoint 2 officials 3 throughout the land to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt 4 during the seven years of abundance.
Genesis 47:24
Context47:24 When you gather in the crop, 5 give 6 one-fifth of it to Pharaoh, and the rest 7 will be yours for seed for the fields and for you to eat, including those in your households and your little children.”
Genesis 47:26
Context47:26 So Joseph made it a statute, 8 which is in effect 9 to this day throughout the land of Egypt: One-fifth belongs to Pharaoh. Only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh’s.
1 tn The imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance here. The Samaritan Pentateuch has a jussive form here, “and let [Pharaoh] do.”
2 tn Heb “and let him appoint.” The jussive form expresses Joseph’s advice to Pharaoh.
3 tn Heb “appointees.” The noun is a cognate accusative of the preceding verb. Since “appoint appointees” would be redundant in English, the term “officials” was used in the translation instead.
4 tn Heb “and he shall collect a fifth of the land of Egypt.” The language is figurative (metonymy); it means what the land produces, i.e., the harvest.
5 tn The words “the crop” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
6 tn The perfect form with the vav (ו) consecutive is equivalent to an imperfect of instruction here.
7 tn Heb “four parts.”
8 tn On the term translated “statute” see P. Victor, “A Note on Hoq in the Old Testament,” VT 16 (1966): 358-61.
9 tn The words “which is in effect” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
