Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898)
FAM'INE. We have an account of at least 8 famines in Palestine and the neighboring countries. They were among the judgments of God for national sins, and were often prophetically announced. Two famines occurred in the lifetimes of Abraham and Isaac, Gen 12:10; Ex 26:1; another in Jacob's time, Gen 41:56; and the most remarkable one was that of 7 years while Joseph was governor in Egypt. But in severity it was surpassed by the famine of 2 Kgs 7, when people resorted to the dunghills for food. d. d. 1064-1071.
Famine was produced by a variety of causes, as when the Nile did not overflow in Egypt, or rains did not fall in Judaea, at the customary season, or when caterpillars, locusts, or other insects destroyed the fruits.
✦ Scripture References 3 references