sha.var denotes obtaining grain or food, and in Hiphil clauses can describe supplying it for sale.

The predominant use concerns people going, returning, or being told to obtain grain or food, especially in the famine setting of Genesis. Hiphil forms occur in clauses that portray grain being supplied or sold, although Deuteronomy 2:28 uses a Hiphil form in the request that grain be bought with silver.

1. Obtaining grain or food · dominant

   Qal forms mark the purpose of travel and repeated instructions to secure food: in Genesis 42:2 the imperative directs the brothers to go down to Egypt, and the APB renders the clause "buy grain for us from there." Infinitive constructs describe people coming to Egypt or speaking of their earlier journey for this purpose in Genesis 41:57, Genesis 42:7, and Genesis 43:22; the Qal active participle in Genesis 47:14 occurs in the clause about people exchanging silver for grain.

   Genesis 42:2Genesis 41:57Genesis 42:7Genesis 43:22Genesis 47:14Isaiah 55:1
2. Supplying or selling grain · common

   Hiphil forms occur where a person is presented as the supplier of grain: in Genesis 42:6 the Hiphil active participle identifies Joseph in the clause the APB renders "he was the one who sold grain to all the people of the land." The Hiphil sequential imperfect in Genesis 41:56 and the active participle in Proverbs 11:26 likewise stand in clauses rendered as selling grain; Amos 8:5 has a first-person plural cohortative in a plan to sell grain.

   Genesis 41:56Genesis 42:6Proverbs 11:26Amos 8:5Deuteronomy 2:28

In the Anselm Project Bible: Across the Qal occurrences, the APB commonly uses "buy grain," "buy food," or "purchase food." In Hiphil clauses it often uses "sold grain" or "sells it," though Deuteronomy 2:28 renders its Hiphil form "buy grain for me".