For those of us who thought government intervention in the private sector was something new, Genesis 47 provides proof the practice is as old as, well, the Bible. It’s also a lesson in the possible perils: why the policy must be undertaken tenderly, and only at the most critical juncture.  

After he and his brothers make up, Joseph supports his extended family. It’s famine time, and all the bread in Egypt and beyond has run out. Joseph takes the drastic step of collecting all of the money in Egypt and Canaan for Pharaoh in exchange for rations; the people are 100% dependent on the state for survival. When their money is depleted, the Egyptians again appeal to Joseph for bread. Joseph suggests they barter their livestock for bread. The Egyptians bring their horses, flocks, cattle, and asses, and Joseph provides them with bread in exchange for the year.

They came again the next year, with no money or cattle to offer. All they had left was was their bodies and their land. They offered this: “Buy us and our land in exchange for food. We with our land will become slaves to Pharaoh; just give us seed, so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate.” (47:19) One outcome for those who don’t save for a rainy day: an offer of indentured servitude for food.

Every Egyptian sold his land, giving Pharaoh control over all of the nation’s real estate. All private assets were nationalized. In this particular case at this exact moment of a major financial crisis, nationalization seemed to stem further chaos. Because Pharaoh recognized his responsibility toward his people, the policy worked: he fed them and kept them safe. 

But he also took it perhaps a step too far. We see a major population shift as a result of the famine. Pharaoh removed the people from their land to the cities from one end of Egypt to the other.  The only land he didn’t buy was that of the priests. 

And let’s not forget all this power in the hands of one held future peril: we all know how a subsequent Pharaoh treated his subjects.