And let them gather: the overseers are to collect the food. Food in this story does not refer to perishable food but rather to produce from the fields, principally grain or wheat, which can be stored for long periods of time.

Lay up grain under the authority of the Pharaoh for food in the cities: that is, “give them authority to gather grain and store it in the cities.”

And let them keep it: keep here means to “watch,” “preserve,” or “protect.” See Good News Translation “and guard it.” One translation that states this clearly says “and there must be soldiers to guard it.”

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 .