Answers about
famines in the Bible
widespread, severe scarcities of food
The first famine mentioned in Scripture was so grievous that it compelled Abraham to leave southern Canaan and go down to the land of Egypt (Genesis 12:10).
Another is mentioned as having occurred in the days of Isaac, causing him to go to Gerar (Genesis 26:1, 17), where he became rich and powerful.
The most remarkable famine of all was the one that arose in Egypt in the days of Joseph (son of Jacob), which lasted for 7 years and was extremely severe (Genesis 41-45). Under Joseph’s wise leadership, the nation amply prepared in advance and saved numerous lives, including those of his large family in The Promised Land.
The biblical woman Naomi experienced a famine in the days when judges ruled in Israel, causing her family to move to Moab, where her son married Ruth. She returned to Israel with her daughter-in-law after the famine was over, following the death of her husband and sons (Ruth 1).
During the days of David, there were 3 consecutive years of famine due to King Saul and “his bloody house” who wrongly slew the Gibeonites (2 Samuel 21:2, 5) in violation of the Israelite covenant with them (Joshua 9:3-27).
Years later, King David and his land were punished by God with 3 years of pestilence and famine, killing 70,000 men of Israel, due to David’s sin of taking a census against God’s command (1 Chronicles 21).
There were severe famines in Samaria (1 Kings 18:2; 2 Kings 6:25).
A famine across the Roman Empire was predicted by the Christian prophet Agabus and occured during the reign of Emperor Claudius (Acts 11:28).
A notably hungry decade occurred across the Mediterranean region during 40s and early 50s AD. Famine struck Judea and Syria around 44–48 AD, with its height commonly placed in 46–47 AD. Josephus records a severe famine in Judea under the procurators Cuspius Fadus (circa 44–46) and Tiberius Julius Alexander (circa 46–48). Orosius records a great famine in Syria during Claudius’s 4th year (roughly AD 44–45). Eusebius and others explicitly link this crisis to Agabus’s prophecy.
Queen Helena of Adiabene bought grain in Egypt and figs in Cyprus to relieve Jerusalem at this time. The city of Rome (41/42 AD and especially AD 51) was under famine. Tacitus and Suetonius describe Claudius being mobbed in the Forum when the city had only about 15 days of grain left. Greece reported famine around 49 AD and recurring shortages in places such as Corinth.
Jesus Christ prophesied that during the Last Days before His second coming,
…nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. —Matthew 24:7 ESV; also see Mark 13:8; Luke 21:11
…death, and mourning, and famine… —Revelation 18:8
What are causes of famines?
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Lack of rain — This is the dominant physical cause. Canaan depended on seasonal rains (early and latter rains); Egypt depended on the Nile River flood, which itself depended on rain in the African highlands.
- Abraham’s famine in Canaan sent him to Egypt (Genesis 12:10)
- Isaac’s famine in Canaan (Genesis 26:1)
- The 7-year famine in Joseph’s time that hit Egypt and the surrounding lands (Genesis 41–47)
- The famine in the days of the Israelite judges that drove Elimelech’s family to Moab (Ruth 1:1)
- Drought described in Jeremiah 14 and later periods (Haggai 1:11; Nehemiah 5:3)
Q & A
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- What does the Bible say about cisterns?
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Judgments of God on sins — Some famines were sent by God in his anger and judgment against guilty people (2 Kings 8:1-2; Amos 8:11; Deuteronomy 28:22-42; 2 Samuel 21:1; 2 Kings 6:25-28; 25:3; Jeremiah 14:15; 19:9; 42:17, etc.).
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Locusts, caterpillars, and other insects
- Locusts in Joel 1:4, and the covenant curse in Deuteronomy 28:38, 42
- Crickets (Deuteronomy 28:42)
- Caterpillars (Amos 4:9 LSB)
- Grasshoppers
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Mildew and scorching wind combined with drought in Amos 4:9 LSB and Haggai 2:17 LSB
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War, invasion, and siege
Some city-wide famines were caused by enemy sieges. There was a particularly dreadful such famine in Jerusalem.
For example, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon sealed off Jerusalem with his surrounding army for years, until the city ran out of food (2 Kings 25:3; Jeremiah 52:6; Lamentations 4).
Siege of Samaria by Ben-hadad of Aram produced extreme famine, including reports of cannibalism (2 Kings 6:24–29 LSB).
General invasion and confiscation of produce as a covenant curse (Deuteronomy 28:33, 51)
Midianite raids that ruined harvests in the judges period (Judges 6)
Later extra-biblical accounts of the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD describe similar starvation, consistent with Jesus’ predictions of famines (Matthew 24:7; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:11).
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Hail and wind were also agents of crop failure (Exodus 9; Deuteronomy 28:22; Amos 4:9)
Locusts — What are they? What does the Bible say about them?