Genesis 41:34

RBT Hebrew Literal:

Pharaoh is making and causing to visit overseers upon the Earth, and has armed¹²²⁹ אֶת-the Earth of Dual-Strait in seven second of the Abundance,

RBT Paraphrase:

Five Part Array for Battle

Great House ("Pharaoh") is making and he is appointing officers over the Earth, and has has armed ready the self eternal land of Dual Siege, within the second seven of the Plenty,

Julia Smith Literal 1876 Translation:
And will Pharaoh make and appoint overseers over the land, exacting a fifth part of the land of Egypt, in the seven years of plenty.

LITV Translation:
Let Pharaoh act and let him appoint rulers over the land and take a fifth of the land of Egypt in the seven years of plenty.

ESV Translation:
Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land and take one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plentiful years.

Brenton Septuagint Translation:
And let Pharaoh make and appoint local governors over the land; and let them take up a fifth part of all the produce of the land of Egypt for the seven years of the plenty.

Footnotes

1229

Context of taxation or sacrificial portions? The “exact a fifth” reading is quite specialized and appears in Leviticus 2:2, etc., always with ב (“in”) rather than את־.

See Gesenius’ treatment of the root (חמש), specifically his “No. III” sense, which he and many later commentators understand as “to array for battle, to marshal” (hence a “host” properly divided into five parts: centre, front‑guard, rear‑guard, and two wings).

A few points to note:

1. Root Distinction

   • חמש I (Qal) gives חמש “to fifth” (i.e. levy a 20 % tax or portion).

   • חמש III (Piel) yields חמש, חמיש (part. pass.) “armed,” “arrayed for battle,” “martial”—as Gesenius notes, allied semantically to חמש (“to arm”) and the Arabic حمس ḫamsa “to be eager or manly in battle.”

2. Five‑part Array
   – The notion of “five‑part” military deployment appears in classical sources (e.g. Theodoret’s περσπαττόντες, “five‑divisions”). Gesenius sees this as embedded in the very name חמישׁים “the armed ones” (Ex 13:18; Josh 1:14; Judg 7:11), literally “the five‑divisions,” i.e. the fighting host marshaled for combat.

3. Usage in Biblical Hebrew

   • חמש את־הארץ (Num 31:13 LXX ἐνοπλισμένοι “having been armed,” Vulg. armati) speaks of Israel “arming” itself for war.

   • חמשים (participle‑plural) is twice used of Israel as “the armed host” that marched out of Egypt (Ex 13:18) and into Canaan (Josh 1:14), and once in Gideon’s story (Judg 7:11) of the “well‑armed” band.

4. Etymological Core
   Gesenius connects all these senses—arming, levying a fifth, sharpening, anger/ardor—with a notion of “sharpness,” “acrimony,” which in Semitic diversifies into martial readiness on the one hand and the notion of a portion (a “fifth”) on the other.