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Genesis 47:22
ESV Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh and lived on the allowance that Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land.
NIV However, he did not buy the land of the priests, because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.
NASB Only the land of the priests he did not buy, because the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh, and they lived off the allotment which Pharaoh gave them. Therefore, they did not sell their land.
CSB The only land he did not acquire belonged to the priests, for they had an allowance from Pharaoh. They ate from their allowance that Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land.
NLT The only land he did not buy was the land belonging to the priests. They received an allotment of food directly from Pharaoh, so they didn’t need to sell their land.
KJV Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they sold not their lands.

What does Genesis 47:22 mean?

People must eat to survive. The only source of food during a crippling seven-year famine has been Joseph, second-in-command to Pharaoh over all the land of Egypt (Genesis 41:44). The people have spent all their cash, have traded all their livestock, and now have sold their land and their freedom to Pharaoh. He owns everything (Genesis 47:13–21).

The one exception are the priests. Priests facilitated the worship of the various gods the Egyptians served. Priests were prominent people in society supported by Pharaoh himself with a fixed income. As such, they would have continued to have money to use to buy food from Joseph. They had no need to sell their land to Pharaoh to get food. In this way, the temples and the priest class maintained a level of independence from Pharaoh.
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