ומקצה אחיו לקח, in order that Pharaoh would understand through conversing with them that their vocation was that they were shepherds, raisers of flocks and cattle.

כמה ימי שני חחייך?, Pharaoh was utterly amazed at Yaakov’s age as the Egyptians did not know of any life-prolonging ingredients and people of Yaakov’s age simply did not exist in Egypt.

מעט ורעים היו ימי שני חיי, concerning your question how many years I am old, I must confess that actually I am relatively young in years, and I have certainly not benefited from any life-extending drugs or herbs, on the contrary, I have experienced enough troubles to hasten my old age and my death. Years during which a person is beset with major problems do not even count as “years of his life.” But if you want to know how many years I have been sojourning on this planet, I am 130 years old.

ולא השיגו ימי שני חיי אבותי, even though my parents and grandparents were also “aliens” in the land where they spent their lives or most of their lives, they enjoyed ימי חיים, a relatively sorrow-free existence. My own life is in no way a repetition of their experiences.

לחם לפי הטף. Even though Joseph was in a position to allocate generous rations to the members of his family, he did not show them any preference and treated them on the basis of need, each family according to the number of souls. Our sages have stated that at a time when the general population suffers shortage even those who have ample are to limit themselves.

ויבא יוסף את הכסף ביתה פרעה, because he did not permit himself to recompense himself on his own accord without being given his compensation by Pharaoh

וינהלם בלחם, he guided them slowly, as in Isaiah 40,11 עלות ינהל. He handed out food a little at a time. It was to be eaten but one should not stuff oneself on it. This is the proper way to conduct oneself during periods of famine. There is a saying that if one starves oneself a little during periods of famine he avoids dying an unnatural death Physicians confirm the reverse of this when they said that if someone overeats after starving for a period, he contracts a potentially fatal illness.

בשנה ההיא, after they money had run out, the sixth year of the famine.

בשנה השנית, the second year after the money had run out. This was the seventh year of the famine.

לא נכחד מאדוני, that we still possess some livestock, כי אם תם הכסף ומקנה הבהמה.

למה נמות לעיניך?, even assuming that both the money and the livestock had completely been exhausted, it is not be fair to let us die because we have no means to pay

העביר אותו לערים, he transferred them so that they should encourage him to keep the grain safe.

I have today purchased you. Since he had purchased both them and their lands he was required to feed them and supply them with seed, but all the produce would belong to him.

הא לכם זרע וזרעתם, here is seed for you, work

את האדמה, which is his, והיה בתבואות When it come to the crops, which are his,

ונתתם חמישית לפרעה, you will hand over one fifth to Pharaoh, for this is what you have to pay him in return for what he has done for you.

וארבע הידות יהיה לכם לזרע השדה, including the seed which he has to provide for you as any other owner of a field.

ולאכלכם, and for you to eat, something he is also obligated to provide for his slaves. Considering that he will keep his part of the bargain, he is entitled to keep the remaining fifth for himself.

וישם אותה יוסף לחק, Joseph anchored this arrangement in a law after he had convinced the people that this did not represent a new hardship for them.

אל נא תקברני במצרים, even temporarily, in a coffin, as was done with Joseph (50,26). Yaakov reasoned that if he allowed himself to be interred even temporarily, Joseph would never be allowed to take his remains to the land of Canaan at a later date. They would argue that the honour done to him and burial in the soil of Egypt was adequate as it had been for the most outstanding kings. [we must understand the preoccupation the Egyptians had with the cult of death and what they presumed to be their afterlife. The whole culture of that people revolved around burial, hence the pyramids. Ed.]

ושכבתי עם אבותי, the matter of “the deceased lying with his fathers,” is the placing the bier with the deceased at the place of the eulogy, surrounded by the mourners and those eulogising him. This is why the same expression is used throughout the Book of Kings, whether describing the burial of kings, the righteous, or the wicked.

ונשאתני ממצרים, when you will follow this procedure you will be able to carry me out of Egypt, for when the days of lying in state will have come to an end, people will no longer be in a state of sorrow over my passing, as we know from 50,4 ויעברו ימי בכיתו, and no one will protest if you will transport my remains to another country.

אנכי אעשה כדברך, I will do this on my own, making every effort to fulfill your command.

השבעה לי!. This was only a device to enable Joseph to overcome objections by the Egyptians if they would not permit transfer of Yaakov’s remains to another country.

וישתחו ישראל, to give thanks to His Creator for enabling him to exact this promise from his son.. We find that Eliezer, after hearing that Rivkah’s family agreed that he take Rivkah as a wife for Yitzchok, reacted in the very same fashion in 24,52 וישתחו ארצה לה', “he prostrated himself on the earth to G’d.”