And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he says to you, do.
Read Chapter 41
Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
Indeed, anyone who was suffering from famine was sent to Joseph. Who are these people? Those of whom it is said, “They shall return at evening and shall suffer hunger like dogs.” Now there was famine, not in one locality alone but over the whole land, because there was no one to do good. Therefore the Lord Jesus, taking pity on the hungers of the world, opened his granaries and disclosed the hidden treasures of the heavenly mysteries, of wisdom and of knowledge, so that none would lack for nourishment. For Wisdom said, “Come, eat my bread,” and only the one who is filled with Christ can say, “The Lord feeds me, and I shall want nothing.” Therefore Christ opened his granaries and sold, while asking not monetary payments but the price of faith and the recompense of devotion. He sold, moreover, not to a few people in Judea but to all, so that he might be believed by all peoples.
Joseph went out to gather in the grain, and he stored it in every city …. Then at the end of the good years, when those of famine came, Joseph took special care of the orphans, widows and every needy person in Egypt so that there was no anxiety in Egypt.
