Why were the people hungry? Didn't they save food for themselves?
Rashi: Everything that the people had stored, rotted; 1 except for the grain that Yosef stored.
Targum Yonasan: The land did not produce even the amount of seed that they planted. 2
Malbim: There was famine in all lands. Individuals sold their food to outsiders. 3
Refer to 41:55:1.1:1.
I.e. they planted what they had saved, expecting to reap at least the amount that they planted. (PF)
Why would they do so, expecting the famine to be for seven years? Perhaps they received a high price for their food, and assumed that Yosef would sell to them cheaply, since he had saved "Ad... Ein Mispar" (41:49). - PF
What was Pharaoh referring to, when he told the people to do whatever Yosef asked of them?
Rashi, from Bereishis Rabah 90:6: He was referring to Yosef's command that they circumcise. 1
Ha'amek Davar: Yosef told the Ba'alei ha'Bayis 2 to subsist with minimal bread. For "ha'Am," i.e. the king's legions, he found work for them, e.g. guarding the country from murder, which is common in famine years, and they were fed from the royal treasury. In this way, he was able to check when his brothers came (for he investigated everyone who requested food).
Rashi: When the people complained to Pharaoh, he asked them why they had not stored grain, as Yosef had instructed them to, to which they replied that they had, but that it had rotted. Pharaoh told them to obey Yosef's instructions. If not, just as Yosef had decreed on the grain that it should rot, he may well decree on us that we die! See also Ba'al ha'Turim.
Ha'amek Davar: Three distinct terms are used in this Pasuk, referring to different segments of Egyptian society. Refer to 41:55:152:1.
Why does the verse mention "Kol Eretz Mitzrayim," "ha'Am" and "l'Chol Mitzrayim"?
Ha'amek Davar: At first, the rich had grain that they had hid from Yosef and his men, or in another way; but the poor were hungry. "Ha'Am" refers to the king's legions. When the king needs them, they are fed from the royal treasury. When he does not need them, they are scattered in the land and fed in houses of Amei ha'Aretz. When the Amei ha'Aretz felt rising prices and hungry, they were stingy about feeding them, so the legions cried to Pharaoh. Pharaoh spoke to all of Egypt - also the Ba'alei ha'Bayis who did not scream (but Pharaoh knew their affliction), and his legions, who screamed.
QUESTIONS ON RASHI
Rashi writes that everything that the people (other than Yosef) stored, rotted. What is his source?
Bartenura: The preceding Pasuk says "uv'Chol Eretz Mitzrayim Hayah Lachem" (41:54), whereas the current Pasuk says "va'Tir'av Kol Eretz Mitzrayim."
Rashi writes that Yosef ordered the Egyptians to circumcise. Why did he do so?
Gur Aryeh #1, Oznayim la'Torah: Yosef understood that the famine was a punishment for their unbridled licentiousness. 1 Consequently, circumcising themselves would serve as an atonement for their sins. 2
Pardes Yosef, citing Ya'aros Devash (1:2): Yosef was concerned lest his brothers learn from the Egyptians and not circumcise themselves. He made them circumcise to remove shame from his brothers. 3
In order to prevent the Egyptians, who were a highly immoral nation, from molesting the women in his family. (EC) Refer to 41:33:1:3.
Rosh (Bereishis 42:1), from Bereishis Rabah (91:3): He did not want to feed Arelim. 4
Etz Yosef (to Bereishis Rabah 91:3): Through this, many of them converted. Refer to 41:55:151:3.
Rishon l'Tziyon (of the Ohr ha'Chayim, YD 263:5): Yosef had married Asenas. It is disgraceful to marry daughters of Arelim.
Gur Aryeh #2: Yosef saw that the Egyptians' stores of grain had rotted, while his own remained intact. He realized that this happened because only he had a Milah. 'Bris' in Aramaic is 'Keyama' - which means 'sustaining' or 'existence;' the Egyptians lacked this Kiyum, and therefore their food rotted. Conceptually, the Orlah is the only part of the body that ought not to exist; and someone who is an Arel remains attached to non-existence.
Gur Aryeh #3: How did Yosef merit to be the sustainer of the land? For guarding his Bris and refusing the temptation of the Egyptian woman. Anyone who was uncircumcised was not worthy of being sustained by Yosef.
And Chazal have taught that Bris Milah lessens the desire (Moreh ha'Nevuchim 3:35; also Akeidas Yitzchak 17, from Bereishis Rabah 46:2), also that of women (R. Bechayei 17:13, from Bereishis Rabah 82:11). Keli Yakar - It would reduce intimacy, which is improper at a time of famine.
He did not want his brothers to feel that they were strangers, or that the Egyptians should not treat them as such. And that is also why he moved the Egyptians from one town to another (EC. See Bereishis 47:21.)
Etz Yosef: Surely this was a pretext. There is no difference whether or not a Nochri is circumcised! Rather, they scorned him and his sons for being circumcised. He made them circumcise to stop this.
Rashi writes that Yosef ordered them to circumcise. What is the source for this?
Hadar Zekenim: The Hei in "Himol Yimol" (Bereishis 17:13) is extra. Yosef said "Hei Lachem Zera" (47:23) - fulfill Hei, which alludes to Milah, and I will give seed to you.
Moshav Zekenim - "Asher Yomar Lachem Ta'asu" - We find that 'Amirah' refers to Milah. When David was in the bathhouse, and was consoled through his Mitzvah of Milah, he sang Shirah about it, "Sas Anochi Al Imrasecha" (Tehilim 119:162).
Bereishis Rabah 90:6: The Mitzrim did not say 'Chiyisanu,' rather, 'Hecheyisanu' (Bereishis 43:25) - you gave to us life in this world and the world to come. 1
Maharzu: The Yud and Hei in 'Hecheyisanu' allude to both worlds, as in (Yeshayah 26:4) "Ki b'Kah Hashem Tzur Olamim" (Menachos 29b).
