Creation & Patriarchs
7 years of famine
7 years of famine is dated ≈ 1878 BC in the Modern reckoning and 1708 BC in the Traditional. It is told in Genesis 41:54–43:34. Joseph (son of Jacob), Jacob (Israel), Reuben, Zebulun, Simeon are part of it.
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.
When did it happen?
- Modern reckoning
- ≈ 1878 BC (placed between the dated events around it)
- Traditional reckoning
- 1708 BC
Dates before about 900 BC depend on how the Bible's own numbers are added up. Why the two reckonings differ.
Where is it in the Bible?
Who was there, and where?
Which verses connect to Genesis 41:54?
The strongest cross-references of the key verse, ranked by reader votes (OpenBible.info).
- Acts 7:116 votes
Then famine and great suffering swept across Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers could not find food.
- Genesis 45:115 votes
And there I will provide for you, because there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise, you and your household and everything you own will come to destitution.’
- Psalm 105:165 votes
He called down famine on the land and cut off all their supplies of food.
- Genesis 41:304 votes
but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will devastate the land.
- Genesis 41:3–42 votes
After them, seven other cows, sickly and thin, came up from the Nile and stood beside the well-fed cows on the bank of the river. And the cows that were sickly and thin devoured the seven sleek, well-fed cows. Then Pharaoh woke up,
- Genesis 41:6–72 votes
After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted, thin and scorched by the east wind. And the thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven plump, ripe ones. Then Pharaoh awoke and realized it was a dream.
Events, people and places: Theographic Bible Metadata (Robert Rouse), CC BY-SA 4.0, reshaped; dates also from the sources named on each anchor.