Genesis 45:7

45:7 God sent me ahead of you to preserve you on the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

Genesis 45:1

The Reconciliation of the Brothers

45:1 Joseph was no longer able to control himself before all his attendants, so he cried out, “Make everyone go out from my presence!” No one remained with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers.

Genesis 17:6

17:6 I will make you extremely fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you.

Psalms 33:19

33:19 by saving their lives from death

and sustaining them during times of famine. 10 

Proverbs 10:3

10:3 The Lord satisfies 11  the appetite 12  of the righteous,

but he thwarts 13  the craving 14  of the wicked.

Isaiah 33:16

33:16 This is the person who will live in a secure place; 15 

he will find safety in the rocky, mountain strongholds; 16 

he will have food

and a constant supply of water.

Habakkuk 3:17

3:17 When 17  the fig tree does not bud,

and there are no grapes on the vines;

when the olive trees do not produce, 18 

and the fields yield no crops; 19 

when the sheep disappear 20  from the pen,

and there are no cattle in the stalls,


sn God sent me. The repetition of this theme that God sent Joseph is reminiscent of commission narratives in which the leader could announce that God sent him (e.g., Exod 3:15).

tn Heb “to make you a remnant.” The verb, followed here by the preposition לְ (lÿ), means “to make.”

tn The infinitive gives a second purpose for God’s action.

tn Heb “all the ones standing beside him.”

tn Heb “stood.”

tn This verb starts a series of perfect verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive to express God’s intentions.

tn Heb “exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.

tn Heb “and I will make you into nations, and kings will come out from you.”

tn Heb “to save from death their live[s].”

10 tn Heb “and to keep them alive in famine.”

11 tn Heb “does not allow…to go hungry.” The expression “The Lord does not allow the appetite of the righteous to go hungry” is an example of tapeinosis – a figurative expression stated in the negative to emphasize the positive: The Lord satisfies the appetite of the righteous.

12 tn The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) means “soul” but its root meaning is “throat” and it has a broad range of meanings; here it denotes “appetite” (BDB 660 s.v. 5.a; see, e.g., Pss 63:6; 107:9; Prov 27:7; Isa 56:11; 58:10; Jer 50:19; Ezek 7:19). The term could denote “desire” (BDB 660 s.v. 6.a) which would include the inner urge for success. By contrast, the wicked live unfulfilled lives – as far as spiritual values are concerned.

13 tn Heb “thrusts away” (cf. ASV, NASB); NLT “refuses to satisfy.” The verb הָדַף (hadaf) means “to thrust away; to push; to drive,” either to depose or reject (BDB 213 s.v.).

14 tn This verse contrasts the “appetite” of the righteous with the “craving” of the wicked. This word הַוַּה (havvah, “craving”) means “desire” often in a bad sense, as ‘the desire of the wicked,” which could not be wholesome (Ps 52:9).

15 tn Heb “he [in the] exalted places will live.”

16 tn Heb “mountain strongholds, cliffs [will be] his elevated place.”

17 tn Or “though.”

18 tn Heb “the produce of the olive disappoints.”

19 tn Heb “food.”

20 tn Or “are cut off.”