Komentarz do Rodzaju 47:19

ותן זרע GIVE US SEED — to sow in the ground. Although Joseph had said (Genesis 45:6) “And there are yet five years when there will be no plowing and sowing”, as soon as Jacob came to Egypt a blessing came with his arrival: they began to sow and the famine came to an end. Thus do we read in the Tosefta of Sotah (Tosefta Sotah 10:3).

BUY US AND OUR LAND. Now they said to him that he should also purchase their bodies as servants for Pharaoh, and thus did Joseph say, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land.²⁵⁴Verse 23 here. However, Scripture records, And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field,²⁵⁵Verse 20 here. but it does not say that he bought their bodies, only the land. The reason for it is that the Egyptians told Joseph that he should purchase them as servants to perform the king’s business as he pleases. But Joseph wanted to buy only the land, and he made a condition with them that they work on it forever, thus becoming Pharaoh’s family tenants. Afterwards he said to them, “Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh,²⁵⁴Verse 23 here. not as servants as you told me, but you will belong to him with the land. Now it is proper that the king, who is now lord of the land, take four parts of the harvest and that you take the remaining fifth, but I will deal kindly with you in that you will take the portion due to the owner of the land, and Pharaoh will take the portion due the tenant. However, you will be sold to him in that you will not be able to leave the fields.” This is the meaning of that which they vowed to him, And the land will not be desolate²⁵⁶Verse 19 here. meaning that it will never be desolate. For this reason they said to Joseph, “We have found favor in the sight of my lord,²⁵⁷Verse 25 here. for you have been lenient with us by permitting us to take four parts of the harvest so that we may use them to live, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants,²⁵⁷Verse 25 here. as we have vowed, in that we will work the ground in accordance with his will.”
Vayechi

למה נמות לעיניך?, even assuming that both the money and the livestock had completely been exhausted, it is not be fair to let us die because we have no means to pay

?למה נמות, the reason why the verse speaks also about the death of the land, i.e. גם אדמתנו, is that earth which is desolate is as if “dead.” This is also why the farmers used the expression ולא תשם, “and it would become desolate.”

קנה אותנו ואת אדמתינו בלחם, “acquire us together with our land in return for bread!” They asked Joseph to also acquire their bodies as slave labour, and this is confirmed when Joseph told them in verse 23 that he had indeed acquired both their soil and their bodies on Pharaoh’s behalf. Seeing that this has all been spelled out by the Torah in unmistakable language, what do the words in verse 20: “Joseph acquired all the soil of Egypt on Pharaoh’s behalf,” add to the information we have already received? In fact that verse seems to contradict what we read in both verse 19 and 23 in that it speaks only of soil and not bodies having been sold. The reason for the insertion of this verse was to show that although the Egyptians were willing and eager to even sell their bodies, Joseph did not acquire their bodies,- as he considered the personal freedom of the body of a human being as of paramount importance- but he established a system of share-cropping, the former landowners being legally obligated to work the lands in question on behalf of Pharaoh, but sharing in the success or failure of the annual crops to the extent of 80%. When he did say to them in verse 23 “here I have acquired you,“ he refers to the entitlement to their labour, not to their bodies being owned, and subject to resale to other human beings, (as was the custom in the United States until1866) Moreover, Joseph’s concern for “human rights” was such that instead of allocating to Pharaoh 80% of the fruits of their labour he allocated only 20% to Pharaoh, the remainder belonging to the farmer who had worked the land. The expression קניתי “I have acquired you,” is justified as the farmers were not allowed to leave the land or offer their labour to someone else.

To sow in the ground. [Rashi knows it means this] because otherwise it should say, “Give us bread,” or, “Give us foodstuff.”

גם אדמתינו, “also our land holdings.” The words מיתה, “death,” and חי, “live,“ are here used when speaking of inanimate objects, such as land. Our author points out that such usage of the Hebrew language. He cites as examples: Nechemyah 9,6: ואתה מחיה את כולם, “and You keep them all alive.” If G-d’s creatures do not plough the earth and grow things for themselves, they will not stay alive. In other words, they will be no better than dead. [Manna will not fall from heaven. Being given life is not an end in itself, but only a means to staying alive. Ed.]

לא תשם means it shall not be desolate. The Targum renders it by לא תבור shall not be uncultivated, which has the same meaning as (Mishnah Peah 2:1) שדה בור an uncultivated field — one which is not ploughed.

והאדמה לא תשם, “and the land will not become waste.” Neglect of the land now would result in the land becoming permanently unable to grow crops. In light of this it is not surprising that the farmers said to Joseph (verse 25): “you have kept us alive; let us find favour in your eyes and we will gladly be slaves to Pharaoh.”

They began to sow and the famine ended... You might ask: If so, would people not say that Yoseif is a fraud? For he had interpreted [Pharaoh’s dream] that there would be a seven-year famine! The answer is: The famine ended only in Egypt, not in other lands. And when they observed the Nile rising to meet Pharaoh they knew it was on account of Yaakov’s blessing.

אנחנו ואדמתנו עבדים לפרעה, “both we and our soil will be slaves to Pharaoh.” We will be his slaves, and the soil will he will hand over to us is to be taxed from its yield.