At the harvests you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh: that is, “When you [plural] harvest your crops, you must give one-fifth of your crops to the king.” At the harvests is also expressed as “When the food in your garden is ripe” or “When you grow any kind of food.” In some languages a fifth is expressed as taking one part from five parts; for example, “You must make five piles with your grain and take one pile and give it to the king.”

And four fifths shall be your own: following the model of divided piles: “and four piles will be for you,” or in such languages we may also say “and the rest is for you.”

As seed for the field: that is, “You must use some for planting your fields.”

And as food for yourselves and your households, and … little ones: that is, “and the rest you and your families can eat,” or more fully “the rest is for you [plural] to eat. It is for you and all those who live with you, including your small children.” For another model of the shorter version, see Good News Translation.

For your little ones is similar to verse 12.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .