Genesis 41:54

וַתְּחִלֶּינָה שֶׁבַע שְׁנֵי הָרָעָב לָבוֹא כַּאֲשֶׁר אָמַר יוֹסֵף וַיְהִי רָעָב בְּכָל־הָאֲרָצוֹת וּבְכָל־אֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם הָיָה לָֽחֶם׃

✦ Hebrew interlinear

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✦ The same verse in five languages

Hebrew

וַתְּחִלֶּ֜ינָה שֶׁ֣בַע שְׁנֵ֤י הָרָעָב֙ לָב֔וֹא כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר אָמַ֣ר יוֹסֵ֑ף וַיְהִ֤י רָעָב֙ בְּכָל־הָ֣אֲרָצ֔וֹת וּבְכָל־אֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרַ֖יִם הָ֥יָה לָֽחֶם׃

Greek (Septuagint)

καὶ ἤρξαντο τὰ ἑπτὰ ἴτη τοῦ λιμοῦ ἔρχεσθαι, καθὰ εἶπεν καὶ ἐγένετο λιμὸς ἐν πόσῃ τῇ γῇ· ἐν δὲ πάσῃ γῇ Αἰγύπτου οὐκ ἦσαν ἂρτοι.

Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0

Latin (Vulgate)

cœperunt venire septem anni inopiæ, quos prædixerat Joseph: et in universo orbe fames prævaluit, in cuncta autem terra Ægypti panis erat.

Spanish

y comenzaron los siete años de hambre, tal como José lo había anunciado. Hubo hambre en todos los demás países, pero en todo Egipto había alimento.

Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)

Y comenzaron á venir los siete años del hambre, como José había dicho: y hubo hambre en todos los países, mas en toda la tierra de Egipto había pan.

English

the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. And although there was famine in every country, there was food throughout the land of Egypt.

✦ What the text says

Summary

The seven years of famine began exactly as Joseph had predicted. Although famine spread through all the surrounding lands, in the land of Egypt itself there was food available.

Key words

techilleinah ("they began", H2490C) — hiphil (causative) verb, feminine plural, referring back to the "seven years" as the grammatical subject that "began" to arrive.
ravav ("famine", H7458) — masculine singular noun, repeated twice in the verse: once with the definite article referring to the previously announced famine (ha-ravav), once without article introducing its actual onset in the narrative (va-yehi ravav).
ka'asher ("as", H0834D) — relative particle combined with the preposition ka ("just"), forming the comparative clause "just as/according to what."
'amar ("he had said", H0559) — qal perfect, marking a completed prior action; the famine's arrival is measured against Joseph's earlier statement.
lachem ("food", H3899H) — masculine singular noun, the final word of the verse, standing as the predicate of the closing clause about Egypt.

What the text says

The verse divides into two main clauses joined by narrative vav (H9001). The first clause states that the seven years of famine (shev'a shenei ha-ra'av) "began to come" (lavo, infinitive construct with preposition la, H0935G), matching precisely what Joseph "had said" ('amar, qal perfect). The comparative particle ka'asher ties the fulfillment directly to Joseph's earlier words, framing the famine's onset as the realization of a prior prediction rather than a new, independent event.

The second clause switches to a new narrative verb, va-yehi ("and it was", H1961, qal narrative), introducing famine (ra'av, without the article this time) "in all the lands" (be-khol ha-'aratzot). This is then contrasted with the situation "in all the land of Egypt" (be-khol 'eretz Mitzrayim), where the text states plainly hayah lachem — "there was food" (qal perfect hayah, H1961, + lachem, H3899H). The construct chains shenei ha-ra'av ("years of the famine") and kol ha-'aratzot ("all the lands") show typical Hebrew genitive relationships without a separate word for "of."

Differences between versions

The Hebrew states that in the land of Egypt "there was food" (hayah lachem), and the Vulgate follows this with panis erat ("there was bread"). The LXX, however, renders the same clause with a negation: οὐκ ἦσαν ἂρτοι ("there were no loaves"), reversing the polarity of the Hebrew statement. The Vulgate also renders be-khol ha-'aratzot ("in all the lands") as in universo orbe ("in the whole world"), a broader geographic scope than the Hebrew's more neutral "lands."

This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.