For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.

For it is two years since the famine began to be upon the land, and five years more remain, wherein there can be neither ploughing nor reaping.

For the famine has been these two years in the land; and yet there are five years in which there will be neither ploughing nor harvest.

For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in which there shall neither be tillage nor harvest.

For these two years has the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be ripening nor harvest.

For these two years have been years of need, and there are still five more years to come in which there will be no ploughing or cutting of grain.

For it is two years since the famine began to be upon the land, and five years more remain, in which there can be neither plowing, nor reaping.

Jam enim duo anni famis fuerunt in medio terrae, et adhuc quinque anni sunt, in quibus non erit aratio et messis.

There shall neither be earing nor harvest - Earing has been supposed to mean collecting the ears of corn, which would confound it with harvest: the word, however, means ploughing or seed-time, from the Anglo-Saxon erian, probably borrowed from the Latin aro, to plough, and plainly means that there should be no seed-time, and consequently no harvest; and why? Because there should be a total want of rain in other countries, and the Nile should not rise above twelve cubits in Egypt; See Clarke on Genesis 41:31 (note). But the expressions here must be qualified a little, as we find from Genesis 47:19, that the Egyptians came to Joseph to buy seed; and it is probable that even during this famine they sowed some of the ground, particularly on the borders of the river, from which a crop, though not an abundant one, might be produced. The passage, however, in the above chapter may refer to the last year of the famine, when they came to procure seed for the ensuing year.

For these two years hath the famine been, in the land,.... In the land of Egypt and in the countries round about:
and yet there are five years; still remaining, which he knew by the above dreams and the interpretation of them:
in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest; that is, no tillage of land, neither ploughing nor sowing, and so no reaping, or gathering in of the fruits of the earth, as used to be in harvest; at least, there would be very little ground tilled, only it may be on the banks of the Nile, since they had no corn to spare for seed; and besides, as the Egyptians knew by Joseph's prediction that the Nile would not overflow, it was to no purpose to attempt to plough their land, which through seven years of drought was become very difficult, or to sow, could they get the seed into the ground, since there was no likelihood of its springing up again.

and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest--"Ear" is an old English word, meaning "to plough" (compare 1-Samuel 8:12; Isaiah 30:24). This seems to confirm the view given (Genesis 41:57) that the famine was caused by an extraordinary drought, which prevented the annual overflowing of the Nile; and of course made the land unfit to receive the seed of Egypt.