Genesis 42:5

Hebrew
וַיָּבֹ֨אוּ֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לִשְׁבֹּ֖ר בְּת֣וֹךְ הַבָּאִ֑ים כִּֽי הָיָ֥הplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigהָיָה

hebrew

The word הָיָה means “to exist” or “to be” or “to become” or “to come into being” and occurs 3561 times in the Old Testament.

This is the foundational verb of existence, identity, becoming and occurrence.

* It is used in the creation narrative of Genesis 1, represented by the English words Genesis 1:3Exodus 3:12Ruth 1:1Isaiah 2:2
הָרָעָ֖ב בְּאֶ֥רֶץplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigאֶרֶץ

hebrew

Meaning:

* Earth (e.g. Genesis 1:1) or world * Land * Countries or country

The word אֶרֶץ can designate the whole of planet earth, or the inhabitable world or the national territory or ground.

When coupled with heavens (שָׁמַיִם), the phrase indicates the entire created order.Genesis 12:1
כְּנָֽעַן
ESV
Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
NIV
So Israel's sons were among those who went to buy grain, for the famine was in the land of Canaan also.
NLT
So Jacob's sons arrived in Egypt along with others to buy food, for the famine was in Canaan as well.
LXX
ἦλθον δὲplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigδέ

greek

δέ is a conjunction that can mean “but” or “and” or “also” or “moreover”. It is a word that is used very frequently in the New Testament, and is often unexpressed and not translated in English.
οἱplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigὁ, ἡ, τό

greek

Meaning:

* The

The definite article.

Forms

Singular Case Masculine Feminine Neuter Nominative ὁ ἡ τό Genitive τοῦ τῆς τοῦ Dative τῷ τῇ
υἱοὶ Ισραηλ ἀγοράζειν μετὰ τῶνplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigὁ, ἡ, τό

greek

Meaning:

* The

The definite article.

Forms

Singular Case Masculine Feminine Neuter Nominative ὁ ἡ τό Genitive τοῦ τῆς τοῦ Dative τῷ τῇ
ἐρχομένων ἦνplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigεἰμί

greek

εἰμί is the first person singular verb for “to be” (εἶναι [the infinitive form] = “to be”).

It an irregular verb, and, like English, changes significantly between person and tense. For example εἰμί is the word for am and ἦν is the word for was, e.g.
γὰρ plugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigὁ, ἡ, τό

greek

Meaning:

* The

The definite article.

Forms

Singular Case Masculine Feminine Neuter Nominative ὁ ἡ τό Genitive τοῦ τῆς τοῦ Dative τῷ τῇ
λιμὸς ἐνplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigἐν

greek

Preposition meaning “in”.
γῇplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigγῆ

Meaning:

* Soil or ground (e.g. Matthew 13:5) * Land (e.g. Luke 4:5) * Country * Earth (e.g. Matthew 5:5)

Feminine noun. Connected to the English words “ground”, “geometry” and “geology”.

It occurs throughout the LXX and the New Testament (approximately 250 times in the New Testament) and its meaning varies subtly on context, for example, in the LXX:Genesis 1:1Genesis 2:7Genesis 12:1
Χανααν
KJV
And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

Genesis 42:4 ← Genesis 42:5 → Genesis 42:6

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