Textual Commentary on Genesis 41:56

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Hebrew Masoretic Text: וַיִּפְתַּ֨ח יוֹסֵ֜ף אֶֽת־כָּל־אֲשֶׁ֤ר בָּהֶם֙
“Joseph opened all that was in them”

English Translation of the MT:
“So when the famine was over all the land, Joseph opened all that was in them and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt.”

Greek Septuagint (LXX):
ἀνέῳξεν Ἰωσὴφ πάντα τὰ ἀποθήκια
“Joseph opened all the storehouses”

Syriac Peshitta:
Supports the Septuagint’s rendering: “opened all the storehouses.”

Analysis of the Variant Readings:

The Hebrew clause in Genesis 41:56—וַיִּפְתַּ֨ח יוֹסֵ֜ף אֶֽת־כָּל־אֲשֶׁ֤ר בָּהֶם֙—is a bit syntactically ambiguous. The expression כָּל־אֲשֶׁר בָּהֶם literally means “all that was in them.” The pronoun בָּהֶם (“in them”) must have an antecedent, and the most natural antecedent contextually would be the “cities” or “storehouses” mentioned earlier in the chapter, specifically Genesis 41:48–49. In those verses, Joseph gathers grain and places it “in the cities,” with each city storing grain from the surrounding fields. So the phrase “all that was in them” reasonably refers back to the stored grain.

However, the Greek Septuagint translators and the Syriac Peshitta rendered it as “opened all the storehouses.” This translation does not follow the exact Hebrew wording but rather interprets or clarifies what was meant by “all that was in them.” The translators appear to be smoothing the syntax or resolving the ambiguity for the reader. This indicates an interpretative translation rather than a textual variant per se.

Textual Weight and Consideration:

The Masoretic Text is generally to be preferred unless there is strong manuscript or contextual evidence to the contrary. The Hebrew here does not mention “storehouses” (אוֹצָרוֹת or similar) directly in this verse, though it can be reasonably inferred from the context, especially from Genesis 41:48. The LXX and Syriac likely rendered the meaning more explicitly for clarity, which is not unusual in ancient translations that sometimes employed dynamic equivalence to aid comprehension.

Furthermore, the presence of כָּל־אֲשֶׁר בָּהֶם in the Hebrew, rather than כָּל־הָאוֹצָרוֹת (“all the storehouses”), strongly supports that the original text read as it currently stands in the MT. There is no textual evidence (e.g., Dead Sea Scroll fragments) that indicate a different Hebrew Vorlage behind the LXX and Syr. rendering.

Interpretative Implication:

While the Septuagint and Syriac versions provide a more explicit reading, they do not contradict the essential meaning of the Masoretic Text. They simply make explicit what is implicit in the Hebrew—Joseph opened the places where grain was stored (the storehouses), and sold to the Egyptians. Thus, there is no theological or doctrinal divergence here; it is a matter of translation philosophy.

Conclusion:

The Masoretic Text preserves a more concise and perhaps syntactically ambiguous reading that assumes contextual awareness from the reader. The Septuagint and Syriac Peshitta, by contrast, aim for clarity by specifying that Joseph opened “the storehouses.” Textually, the MT reading is to be upheld, with the alternate readings reflecting interpretive clarifications rather than a superior textual tradition.

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About the Author

EDWARD D. ANDREWS (AS in Criminal Justice, BS in Religion, MA in Biblical Studies, and MDiv in Theology) is CEO and President of Christian Publishing House. He has authored over 220+ books. In addition, Andrews is the Chief Translator of the Updated American Standard Version (UASV).