Comentário sobre Gênesis 41:34

וחמש — render it as the Targum does “and they shall prepare”. Similar is (Exodus 13:18) “וחמושים and prepared (for war)”.

ויפקד פקידים...וחמש, the general population would be required to hand over one fifth of the non-perishable parts of their harvest to a central storage facility administered by the government. According to Samuel warning the Jewish people of taxation that a king would impose upon them, (Samuel I 8,14-15) such taxation normally amounted to ten percent. Joseph now suggested that during the seven years of plenty this level of taxation be increased to twenty per cent, (a reserve for the people for the years of the famine to follow), not for the king’s needs as regular taxation.

יעשה פרעה ויפקד, and see to it that this man appoint officials as his delegates in each and every city so that these officials will be known locally as their superiors as well as accepting the authority of their economic czar and that all of them work together in harmony. Special conditions require special measures. Once the Jewish people were dispersed in their own country, the Torah also legislated measures of centralising supreme religious authority in Jerusalem as we know from Deuteronomy 17,8 וקמת ועלית אל המקום אשר יבחר ה' אלוקיך בו, “you will arise and ascend to the place which the Lord your G’d will select for being this the seat of this central authority.”

יעשה פרעה פקידים, "let Pharaoh appoint trustworthy officials, etc." Joseph realised that the reason the dream was needed was to ensure that the Egyptians would make prudent use of the years of plenty. Had they not been made aware that the years of plenty would be followed by years of famine, they would become careless with the storage of food after the first year of abundance. Not only would they not build silos, they might even decide to plant less in order to maintain the prices. As a result they would not bother to plough. When they would see another year of bumper crops their negligent attitude would only be further reinforced. This is why G'd explained in Pharaoh's dream that the surplus during the coming seven years was only meant to compensate in advance for the absence of crops during the following seven years. This is why Joseph felt compelled to advise Pharaoh. He wanted Pharaoh to involve as many people as possible in the task of storing and preserving food.

וחמש, he should confiscate one fifth of the harvest.

וחמש את ארץ מצרים, “and divide Egypt into 5 regions;” some claim that the meaning is that Pharaoh should impose a 20% tax, payable in produce,” this tax to be used as food storage in anticipation of the years of famine. Pharaoh would use the accumulated quantity to distribute seed to the farmers for planting. In return, Pharaoh would own one firth of the soil of Egypt in perpetuity.

יעשה פרעה, “let Pharaoh proceed, etc.” to appoint a single ruler over these various civil servants,” i.e. the officials whom Pharaoh would appoint. Clearly, the שליט, would have to appoint officials as he could not possibly perform all this work by himself.

As Onkelos translates it: and prepare... I.e., וחמש does not mean taking a fifth, as Scripture mentions only gathering, which is the preparation.

Was aber von Pharao selbst ausgehen soll, das ist die Steuererhebung eines Fünftels. Da erscheint Josef wieder als חכם. Mit der Anordnung und Erhebung dieser Steuer soll der dem Lande zu bestellende Vormund verschont bleiben, um ihn, der so sehr des moralischen Einflusses auf die Bevölkerung bedürfen wird, von allem Gehässigen frei zu erhalten. Eine jede Steuer, selbst die allernotwendigste und heilsamste, erscheint drückend. Dies soll daher Pharao, resp. durch die von ihm angestellten Steuerbeamten, selbst tun. Dem andern bleibt noch genug zu tun übrig. Mit diesem 1/5 soll nur das Allernötigste versorgt werden. Warum gerade 1/5? Vielleicht deshalb. Nehmen wir einmal an, dass man in Jahren des Überflusses doppelt so viel darauf gehen lässt, als in Jahren gewöhnlicher Verhältnisse; und umgekehrt, dass man in Zeiten der Teuerung sich mit der Hälfte dessen begnügen müsse, was in gewöhnlichen Zeiten verbraucht wird, so ergibt sich, dass im Überflusse viermal so viel verbraucht wird, als im Hungerjahr. Ist das wahr, so ergibt sich einfach, dass jedenfalls 1/5 des in einem Überflussjahr Hervorgebrachten genügen muss, um ein Hungerjahr zu speisen, wenn auch alles übrige, die 4/5, völlig aufgezehrt würden.

וחמש את ארץ מצרים, “and impose a tax of one fifth of the harvest to be given to those in charge for storage under safe conditions.” It is from this stored grain that distribution started to be made as we read in Genesis 46,24.

וחמש את ארץ מצרים, “the overseer should collect a tax of 20% of the harvests of the next seven years to be put at the disposal for the King,” even though during normal years only 10% was set aside for the King’s use, as we know from Samuel I 8,1415. This advice of Joseph was carried out, as we know from Genesis 47,26: על אדמת מצרים לחומש, “all over the land of Egypt one fifth would be taxed for the king.”

וחמש את ארץ מצרים, “let him set aside one fifth of all (the grain) growing during the seven years of plenty.” The economic czar was to confiscate 20% of every farmer’s harvest. An alternate meaning of the word וחמש could be “let this economic czar urge the people to gather, etc.” The word then would resemble the word חמושים עלו בני ישראל, in Exodus 13,18 meaning: “in a pioneering spirit.”

When Joseph spoke about וחמש, he meant that Pharaoh should imbue these officials with a sense of urgency when they would assume their tasks. It could also mean that Pharaoh should impose a harvest tax of twenty percent which would serve as the national grain reserve. This was an innovation, seeing that normally the farmer only has to tithe ten percent of his grain harvest to the king (compare Samuel I 8,15). Pharaoh would do the people a kindness with this tax; he would not touch the grain during the years of plenty, thus not competing with the farmers who were marketing their own grain. I shall explain the procedure in my commentary on the verses following.