What Does Genesis 41:56 Mean?

So when the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. Joseph's opening of the storehouses is the activation of the seven-year preparation. The storehouses: built up through the collection of one-fifth of seven years of abundant harvests, filled to the point that the grain could not be measured (v.49): are now opened. The system Joseph designed is functioning: stored grain moves from city storehouses to the people who need it. The famine is severe; the system is adequate; the preparation was sufficient.

The sale of grain rather than its free distribution is noted without apology. Joseph sells to the Egyptians: a commercial transaction, not a gift. This commercial structure will be elaborated in Genesis 47:13 to 26, where the extended sale of grain eventually leads to the Egyptians selling their livestock, their land, and ultimately their persons to Pharaoh in exchange for food. The economic system that Joseph operates during the famine years transforms Egypt's wealth distribution comprehensively, concentrating land ownership in Pharaoh's hands. The grain sale at commercial rates is the beginning of that transformation.

"The famine was severe in the land of Egypt": the severity Joseph predicted in verse 31 is confirmed as the reality of the famine's impact. Despite Egypt having stored grain, the famine is severe enough to consume what was stored; the storehouses are needed and used, and the reserves are being drawn down. The severity of the famine also explains why the nations of "all the earth" will come to Egypt in verse 57: only Egypt has the reserves to meet a famine of this severity. Joseph's seven-year preparation project has made Egypt the food capital of the world at precisely the moment when the world needs one.