Psalms 105:16 · Bible study
Psalms 105:16 Commentary: God's Sovereign Call in Famine
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Examines how God's direct summons of famine fits his covenant faithfulness in Psalm 105:16, with lexical and cross-reference analysis.
Research Summary
- Meaning: God sovereignly orchestrated the famine that moved Israel to Egypt, using hardship to fulfill his covenant promises.
- Key words: Qara (call, summon), divine command; matteh-lechem (staff of bread), metaphor for essential sustenance.
- Main debate: No significant interpretive debate on the verse itself; the theological tension (loving God sending calamity) is resolved by viewing the famine as part of a redemptive plot.
- Theological theme: Divine sovereignty and covenant faithfulness, even through trials.
- Best use: Preaching on God’s providence in hardship; teaching the Joseph narrative as a model of trust.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
He called down famine on the land and cut off all their supplies of food.
WEB World English Bible 2000
He called for a famine on the land. He destroyed the food supplies.
KJV King James Version 1769
Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
And he called for a famine upon the land; He brake the whole staff of bread.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
And He calleth a famine on the land, The whole staff of bread He hath broken.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And he called for a famine upon the land; he broke the whole staff of bread.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
And they provoked Moses in the camp, Aaron the holy one of the Lord.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Y llamó al hambre sobre la tierra, y quebrantó todo mantenimiento de pan.
E chamou a fome sobre a terra; ele interrompeu toda fonte de alimento;
Il appela sur le pays la famine,
Und er ließ Teuerung ins Land kommen und entzog allen Vorrat des Brots.
Hij riep ook een honger in het land; Hij brak allen staf des broods.
Poi chiamò la fame sul paese, e fece mancar del tutto il sostegno del pane.
Gdy przywoławszy głód na ziemię, wszystkę podporę chleba pokruszył.
И позавидовали в стане Моисею и Аарону, святому Господню.
他命 饑荒 降在 那地上，將所倚靠 的糧食 全行 斷絕，
And he took away all food from the land, so that the people were without bread.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Psalms 105:16
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree this verse asserts direct divine causation. Barnes states the famine was “not by chance; not by the mere operation of physical laws, but because God ‘ordered’ it.” The Cambridge Bible notes “the emphasis upon direct Divine agency.” Calvin, though not commenting on this verse specifically, frames the whole psalm as magnifying “the singular grace of God” in his covenant dealings.
The phrase “brake the whole staff of bread” (KJV, ASV) is a metaphor drawn from Leviticus 26:26. Wesley explains it as “bread, which is the staff or support of our lives.” Gill adds that when the staff is broken, either the nourishing virtue is removed or there is scarcity of bread. The famine in view is the one that drove Jacob’s family into Egypt (Genesis 41, 42), part of the providential plan to preserve the covenant people.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: The verse plainly teaches that God directly caused the famine and the collapse of food supplies as part of his sovereign plan, as the surrounding context (Joseph’s exaltation and the migration to Egypt) demonstrates his covenant faithfulness.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Location of the famine | The famine affected both Canaan and Egypt (Genesis 41:54). | Some commentators (Gill) identify the land as Canaan specifically, while others (Barnes, Cambridge) see it as the whole region including Egypt; the psalm likely has Canaan in view as the stage of the patriarchs. |
| Meaning of 'staff of bread' | It is a metaphor for the support that bread provides to life (Lev 26:26, Isa 3:1). | Traditions differ on whether the metaphor emphasizes the removal of sustenance, the removal of God’s blessing on the food, or both; most see the physical scarcity as primary. |
| God’s character in sending famine | God is sovereign over creation and history, using famine for his purposes. | Why a good God sends calamity is debated: some stress the covenant‑curse context (discipline for sin), others the redemptive purpose (to bring Israel to Egypt); the psalm itself emphasizes preservation, not punishment. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Psalm 105 recites God’s faithful acts from Abraham to the settlement in Canaan. Verse 16 belongs to the Joseph narrative (vv. 16, 22). The famine “upon the land” (v. 16) is the severe famine that struck Canaan and Egypt, described in Genesis 41:54: “The seven years of famine began to come… there was famine in all lands.” The psalmist telescopes the account to highlight God’s control: He “called for” the famine as a master summons a servant (cf. 2 Kings 8:1; Amos 5:8).
The cross‑reference to Leviticus 26:26 grounds the “staff of bread” in the covenant‑curse language: when Israel disobeyed, God would break the staff of bread. Here, however, the famine is not a punishment but a positioning. It moves Jacob’s family to Egypt, where Joseph, already sent ahead, will preserve them (Genesis 45:5, 7). The psalmist’s purpose is to show that even hardship serves the covenant promise (Psalm 105:42, 44).
In the ancient Near East, famine was often blamed on gods or fate. The psalmist counters: Yahweh, the God of Israel, personally directs such events. He is not a distant deity but one who calls famine as a tool for redemption.
Textual Notes
The supplied sources note no significant textual variants for Psalm 105:16. The Hebrew text is stable, and the verse appears verbatim in the Masoretic Text. Translations differ only in idiom (e.g., “brake the whole staff of bread” vs. “destroyed the food supplies”), reflecting equivalent renderings of the same Hebrew.
Reception History
Psalm 105 has been used in both Jewish and Christian worship as a recital of God’s faithfulness. The verse on famine (v. 16) has been cited in sermons on providence, especially during times of dearth or economic crisis, as a reminder that God’s hand is present even in scarcity. The metaphor “staff of bread” appears in medieval Jewish commentaries as a figure for total dependence on God. In Christian hymnody, the psalm’s themes echo in songs that celebrate divine guidance through hardship, though no specific hymn is universally tied to this verse. The broader tradition sees in Joseph’s story a type of Christ, and v. 16 as the catalyst for the journey to Egypt that set the stage for deliverance.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- God calls the famine. The Hebrew verb qara (call, summon) presents famine as obedient to God’s command. Not random, not a freak of nature.
- God breaks the staff of bread. Matteh-lechem (staff of bread) is a vivid image: bread is a crutch for life. When God breaks it, human self‑sufficiency collapses.
- God sends a man ahead. V. 17 shifts to Joseph. The famine is not the end; it’s a corridor into Egypt where God’s hidden purpose (preserving the covenant family) is at work.
Five-point outline
- The psalm’s context: reciting God’s covenant faithfulness (vv. 1, 15).
- God’s sovereignty over creation: He calls famine (v. 16a).
- The severity of the crisis: the staff of bread broken (v. 16b; cf. Lev 26:26).
- The purpose: to move the patriarchs to Egypt (via Joseph’s slavery, v. 17).
- The result: deliverance and nation‑building (vv. 23, 45).
Illustration hooks
- A farmer watches drought ruin his crop, then, years later, sees that loss forced his family to move to a city where new opportunities opened.
- A church that faced financial collapse discovered it threw them into deeper dependence on God and even strengthened their fellowship.
- A parent’s job loss seemed like a dead end, but it led to a season of family closeness they would not trade for anything.
Questions your congregation is asking
- If God is loving, why does he send famine and hardship?
- Are natural disasters God’s judgment, or part of a larger plan?
- How can I see God’s hand in my current struggles?
Leading a Discussion
Psalm 105:16 lands in the middle of a hymn that celebrates God’s covenant‑keeping character. The verse is not an isolated statement about calamity; it is a piece of the larger story of how God preserved a people through whom he would bless the world. As your group works through these questions, let the psalm’s tone, gratitude and trust, guide your conversation.
Discussion questions
- Observation: What words and phrases in verse 16 convey God’s personal involvement in the famine? Look at the Hebrew verb “called” and the metaphor “staff of bread.”
- Observation: Read Genesis 41:25, 32 and 41:54. How does the psalmist’s summary (Psalm 105:16) compare with the full account?
- Interpretation: Why does the psalmist emphasize that God “called for a famine” rather than simply saying “a famine happened”? What does that tell us about how the psalmist viewed God’s control over history?
- Interpretation: The “staff of bread” is broken. What does that image reveal about human vulnerability and dependence on God?
- Application: In what current “famines” in your life (economic, relational, emotional) might God be actively working, even before you see the outcome?
- Application: This verse is set in a psalm of thanksgiving. How could thanking God for past hardships be a way of strengthening trust for the present?
- Connection: Together, what do verses 16, 17 teach about the relationship between God’s sovereignty and human suffering? How does the rest of the psalm (Joseph’s exaltation, the exodus) give hope?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Genesis 41:25 | Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dream of Pharaoh is one. What God is about to do he has declared to Pharaoh. |
| Genesis 41:32 | The dream was doubled to Pharaoh, because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. |
| Genesis 41:54 | The seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. |
| Genesis 42:5 | The sons of Israel came to buy among those who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. |
| Genesis 42:6 | Joseph was the governor over the land. It was he who sold to all the people of the land. Joseph’s brothers came, and bowed themselves down to him with their faces to the earth. |
| Genesis 47:13 | There was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine. |
| Genesis 47:19 | Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh. Give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land won’t be desolate.” |
| Leviticus 26:26 | When I break your staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver your bread again by weight. You shall eat, and not be satisfied. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
5 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes stresses that the famine was not accidental or a natural event, but an act God directly commanded. He identifies it as the famine in Jacob's time that drove the family into Egypt. The phrase "staff of bread" pictures bread as what supports life, just as a staff supports a weak person.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin emphasizes that God's countless benefits after delivering Israel from Egypt were not random favors; they were designed to draw faithful covenant keeping and wholehearted service from the chosen people. The psalm celebrates this deliberate purpose, showing the covenant was more than mere words.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
Cambridge Bible Schools notes the strong emphasis on direct divine agency in Psalm 105:16, where God himself calls for the famine and breaks the staff of bread. The commentary points out a consistent pattern in Scripture of Jehovah personally guiding events in the patriarchs' lives.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
Geneva Notes emphasizes that famine is not a natural accident but a direct act of God. He personally summons the famine and shatters the "staff of bread"—the very support that food gives to life—showing absolute control over provision and survival.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley explains that the phrase "staff of bread" is a metaphor: just as a staff supports a person, bread serves as the essential support that sustains human life. Without it, our physical existence would collapse.