🌱WEB · Genesis 50:18
What does Genesis 50:18 mean?
"His brothers also went and fell down before his face; and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.”"
— Genesis 50:18 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us, and will fully pay us back for all the evil which we did to him.”
They sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father commanded before he died, saying,
‘You shall tell Joseph, “Now please forgive the disobedience of your brothers, and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ Now, please forgive the disobedience of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
His brothers also went and fell down before his face; and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.”
Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for am I in the place of God?
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is today, to save many people alive.
Now therefore don’t be afraid. I will nourish you and your little ones.” He comforted them, and spoke kindly to them.
Explanation
Genesis 50:18 records a moment of deep vulnerability. After their father Jacob has died and been buried, Joseph's brothers come to him, physically prostrate themselves before him, and declare, "Behold, we are your servants." In plain language, they are throwing themselves at his mercy, essentially saying, "We belong to you; do with us as you will." This is not a casual gesture — bowing to the ground was a full act of submission, acknowledging Joseph's power over their lives.
The context is crucial for understanding why this happens. Years earlier, these same brothers had sold Joseph into slavery out of jealousy and hatred, deceiving their father into believing he was dead. Joseph rose from slavery and imprisonment to become the most powerful man in Egypt under Pharaoh, and during a famine he arranged for his entire family to relocate to Egypt for survival. While their father Jacob was alive, the brothers seemed to trust that Joseph would not harm them, but once Jacob dies, their old guilt resurfaces. They fear that Joseph's earlier kindness was only for their father's sake, and that now, with Jacob gone, Joseph might
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