Discovery BoxGenesis 50:19-26
Context50:19 But Joseph answered them, “Don’t be afraid. Am 1 I in the place of God? 50:20 As for you, you meant to harm me, 2 but God intended it for a good purpose, so he could preserve the lives of many people, as you can see this day. 3 50:21 So now, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your little children.” Then he consoled them and spoke kindly 4 to them.
50:22 Joseph lived in Egypt, along with his father’s family. 5 Joseph lived 110 years. 50:23 Joseph saw the descendants of Ephraim to the third generation. 6 He also saw the children of Makir the son of Manasseh; they were given special inheritance rights by Joseph. 7
50:24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to you 8 and lead you up from this land to the land he swore on oath to give 9 to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” 50:25 Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath. He said, “God will surely come to you. Then you must carry my bones up from this place.” 50:26 So Joseph died at the age of 110. 10 After they embalmed him, his body 11 was placed in a coffin in Egypt.
[50:20] 2 tn Heb “you devised against me evil.”
[50:20] 3 tn Heb “God devised it for good in order to do, like this day, to preserve alive a great nation.”
[50:21] 4 tn Heb “spoke to their heart.”
[50:22] 5 tn Heb “he and the house of his father.”
[50:23] 6 tn Heb “saw Ephraim, the children of the third.”
[50:23] 7 tn Heb “they were born on the knees of Joseph.” This expression implies their adoption by Joseph, which meant that they received an inheritance from him.
[50:24] 8 tn The verb פָּקַד (paqad) means “to visit,” i.e., to intervene for blessing or cursing; here Joseph announces that God would come to fulfill the promises by delivering them from Egypt. The statement is emphasized by the use of the infinitive absolute with the verb: “God will surely visit you.”
[50:24] 9 tn The words “to give” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
