Verses 13-14 serve as an introduction to this subdivision.

Now there was no food in all the land: Now, which translates the common Hebrew connective, serves as a transition from the story of Joseph’s family to the severity of the famine in Egypt and Canaan. The opening sentence in Revised Standard Version, as in the Hebrew, states a consequence of the next clause, which is followed by still another consequence. In many languages it is more natural to begin with the cause. See Good News Translation.

Food is literally “bread,” the necessary food in a Middle Eastern meal. Some translate food as “grain” or “wheat.” We may also say, for example, “there was nothing to eat.”

In all the land means here “in Egypt and Canaan”; or as a generalization it can be expressed as “there was no food anywhere.”

Languished by reason of the famine: languish means “to faint,” “to be weak,” or to be “without strength.” It is not the land itself that is so described but rather the people of the land. By reason of the famine may be expressed as “from the famine,” “from hunger,” “from starvation,” or “from having nothing to eat.”

Good News Translation is a good model to translate. We may also say, for example, “The people suffered badly from hunger because there was nothing to eat. As a result the people of Egypt and Canaan became weak.”

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 .