Psalms 105:16

“Moreover, he called for a famine upon the land, etc.] On the land of Egypt; or rather on the land of Canaan, where Jacob and his sons sojourned; and which reached to all lands, (<014156>Genesis 41:56,57 42:5) and calling for it, it came, being a servant at the command of the Lord; (see <120801> 2 Kings 8:1 <370111>Haggai 1:11). He brake the whole staff of bread; so called, because it is the support of man’s life, the principal of his sustenance: as a staff is a support to a feeble person, and which, when broke, ceases to be so. The staff of bread is broken, when either the virtue and efficacy of it for nourishment is taken away or denied; or when there is a scarcity of bread corn; which…”

“Moreover, he called for a famine upon the land - It was not by chance; not by the mere operation of physical laws, but it was because God “ordered” it. The famine here referred to, as the connection shows, was that which occurred in the time of Jacob, and which was the occasion of the migration into Egypt. There was also a famine in the time of Abraham Genesis 12:10; but the design of the psalmist here is to refer to that period of the Jewish history which pertained to their residence in Egypt, and to the dealings of God with the nation when there, as furnishing an occasion for gratitude. Genesis 41:0; Genesis 42:0. He brake the whole staff of bread - That which supports life, as a staff…”

“Staff of bread - Bread, which is the staff or support of our lives. Psalms 105:19”

“105:16-22 These verses tell the story of Joseph (see Gen 37–41).”

“Moreover: Gen 41:25-32, Gen 41:54, Gen 42:5, Gen 42:6; Kg2 8:1; Amo 3:6, Amo 7:1-4; Hag 1:10, Hag 1:11, Hag 2:17; Mat 8:8, Mat 8:9; Rev 6:8 brake: Psa 104:15; Gen 47:13, Gen 47:19; Lev 26:26; Isa 3:1; Eze 4:16; Act 7:11 Psalms 105:17”

“"To call up a famine" is also a prose expression in Kg2 8:1. To break the staff of bread (i.e., the staff which bread is to man) is a very old metaphor, Lev 26:26. That the selling of Joseph was, providentially regarded, a "sending before," he himself says in Gen 45:5. Psa 102:24 throws light upon the meaning of ענּה ב. The Kerמ רגלו is just as much without any occasion to justify it as עינו in Ecc 4:8 (for עיניו). The statement that iron came upon his soul is intended to say that he had to endure in iron fetters sufferings that threatened his life. Most expositors take בּרזל as equivalent to בּבּרזל, but Hitzig rightly takes נפשׁו as an object, following the Targum; for ברזל as a name of an…”