20So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. All the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe upon them, and the land became Pharaoh’s.
The term that is transliterated as “Joseph” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a sign that relates to a) the coat he wore (see Gen 37:3), b) the holding of his clothes by Potiphar’s wife (see Gen 39:12), and c) the many times Joseph experienced grief. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Joseph” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
In Spanish Sign Language it is translated with a sign that signifies “dream,” referring to Jacob’s dream at Bethel (see Genesis 28:10 and the following verses). (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “sell” in English is translated in Noongar as wort-bangal or “away-barter.” Note that “buy” is translated as bangal-barranga or “get-barter.” (Source: Bardip Ruth-Ang 2020)
The term that is used for monarchs in ancient Egypt and is transliterated as “Pharaoh” in English is translated in Finnish Sign Language with the sign signifying the “fake metal beard (postiche)” that was word by Pharaohs during official functions. (Source: Tarja Sandholm)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 47:20:
Kankanaey: “And Jose bought all the land of Egipto for the king. It was necessary (lit. forced) that those-from-Egipto sell their farms because of the extreme famine and the king came-to-own all the land.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Newari: “In this way Joseph managed to buy all the fields of Egypt for Pharaoh, one by one. Because the famine there was very severe, all the Egyptians had to sell their fields. In this way all the fields of Egypt became Pharaoh’s.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Therefore all who (were) from-Egipto sold their lands to Jose because the famine/hunger (was) now severe. Jose bought all of this for the king, therefore those lands became property of the king.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “So Joseph bought all the farms in Egypt for the king. The people of Egypt each sold their land to him because the famine was very severe, and they had no other way to get money to buy food. So all the farms became the king’s farms.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
In verses 20-22 all the farms and people in Egypt, except the priests and their farms, become the property of the king.
Verse 20 may be seen as two consequences followed by a cause and another consequence. So Joseph bought … for Pharaoh and the Egyptians sold their fields form the two consequences. Because the famine was severe upon them is the reason or cause for the Egyptians selling and Joseph buying. The land became Pharaoh’s is the final consequence. In this case translators may find it more natural to restructure this verse to say, for example, “The famine was so bad in Egypt that the Egyptians sold their fields to Joseph, who bought them for the king. As a result the king owned all the land in Egypt.”
Another view of verse 20 is that the first clause is a summary or consequence of verses 18 and 19: “Thus Pharaoh acquired all the land” (New Jerusalem Bible). A translation of the verse that follows this view is: “In this way Joseph bought all their land for the king. The famine was severe for them, and it forced everybody to sell their land to get food, and all the land in the country became the king’s.”
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 .
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