בראשית, פרק מ״א, פסוק מ״ז

During the years of plenty, Egypt experienced unprecedented agricultural fertility that required special preparation for the approaching famine. As the earth yielded its harvest, a question arises regarding who was primarily responsible for the resulting wealth. One perspective suggests that the land itself was the focal point, producing a massive crop and receiving a unique blessing of unparalleled growth [רשב״ם, רבנו בחיי, לבוש האורה]. Conversely, another approach interprets the action as belonging to the people of Egypt. In this view, the focus is not on the natural growth of the crop but on human effort, with the residents actively gathering the grain and building storehouses [מזרחי, שפתי חכמים, גור אריה]. Even when the action is understood primarily as gathering and storing, this immense effort of collecting the produce into reservoirs is considered a monumental achievement in its own right [רש״י, דברי דוד, ברכת אשר על התורה].

The staggering volume of the harvest is understood through several distinct lenses. From an agricultural standpoint, the abundance was almost unimaginable. Some explain that a single stalk sprouted an entire handful of ears [רשב״ם, ביאור יש״ר], or that every individual grain produced multiple handfuls of wheat [רד״ק]. Others suggest that a single ear of grain grew so large and full that its kernels could fill an entire hand [ספורנו, העמק דבר, רש״ר הירש]. However, some commentators qualify these descriptions, viewing them not as literal measurements but as poetic exaggeration meant to illustrate the sheer magnitude of the yield [שד״ל, רלב״ג, בכור שור].

Beyond the physical size of the crop, the method of collection reveals the behavioral discipline of the time. The primary approach among commentators is that the residents gathered the grain gradually, handful by handful, carefully building heap after heap throughout the seven years of plenty. Another perspective emphasizes a culture of strict frugality. Despite the overwhelming wealth, the Egyptians did not waste their surplus. Instead, they meticulously collected every small amount they could find to save for the days of famine [הטור הארוך, יריעות שלמה]. This exactness also extended to tax collection, where royal officials would claim a fifth even from a tiny remnant left on the threshing floor [הדר זקנים, דעת זקנים]. Furthermore, a distinction is drawn between the ordinary citizens, who gathered individual handfuls for their own households, and Joseph, who orchestrated a massive, nationwide collection effort [משכיל לדוד, אלשיך].

Finally, the storage of such colossal amounts of food required significant architectural innovation. Rather than referring to handfuls of grain, the descriptions of the gathering process can also be understood as referring to the creation of vast storehouses. To accommodate the immense quantities of grain, deep trenches and large pits were excavated directly into the earth, serving as massive underground silos designed specifically to preserve the nation's food supply [רמב״ן, רבנו בחיי, מיני תרגומא, נתינה לגר].