פירוש על בראשית 41:54

AND THE FAMINE WAS IN ALL LANDS. That is, which surrounded Egypt. Otherwise, what could the distant lands do if there was such a famine in them?¹¹⁵They would not be able to come to Egypt to ease the famine and would have perished. Thus did the Sages say in Bereshith Rabbah:¹¹⁶90:6. “The famine was in three lands: Phoenicia, Arabia and Palestine.”

ובכל ארץ מצרים היה לחם, because Joseph had stored food in the cities.

ותחילנה …כאשר אמר יוסף. The famine began just as Joseph had said. It was necessary for the Torah to repeat "as Joseph had said;" Joseph's interpretation of Pharaoh's dream was proven true especially after the seven years of plenty were followed by the famine. Had the famine not commenced at that time, people would have said that the seven years of plenty had nothing to do with Joseph's forecast.