🌱WEB · Genesis 50:21
What does Genesis 50:21 mean?
"Now therefore don’t be afraid. I will nourish you and your little ones.” He comforted them, and spoke kindly to them."
— Genesis 50:21 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
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.
Joseph lived in Egypt, he, and his father’s house. Joseph lived one hundred ten years.
Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. The children also of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born on Joseph’s knees.
Joseph said to his brothers, “I am dying, but God will surely visit you, and bring you up out of this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”
Explanation
Genesis 50:21 records the words of Joseph to his brothers after the death of their father Jacob. The context is that Joseph's brothers, remembering how years earlier they had sold him into slavery out of jealousy and hatred, feared that once their father was gone, Joseph would finally take revenge on them. They approach him with anxiety, even offering to become his slaves. Joseph's response here is simple and direct: he tells them not to be afraid, promises to provide for them and their children, and speaks to them with genuine kindness and comfort rather than with anger or condemnation.
The context of the whole book of Genesis is essential here. Joseph was the favored son of Jacob, given a coat of many colors and prophetic dreams that his brothers would one day bow to him. Consumed by envy, his brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt, where through a remarkable series of providential events he rose to become second-in-command under Pharaoh. When famine struck the region, Joseph's brothers came to Egypt for grain, not recognizing him, until he eventually revealed his identity. Genesis 50 comes at the very end of this long narrative, after Jacob has died and been buried. This verse is essentially the final resolution of decades of family brokenness—the last recorded conversation between Joseph and his brothers in the book.
Theologically, this verse embodies the themes of forgiveness and divine providence that run through the entire Joseph narrative. Just a few verses earlier, Joseph explicitly states, "you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good" (
Compare translations
Go deeper with ScriptureCompanion AI
Ask questions about any verse, follow reading plans, write personal prayers, and track your daily habit — all grounded in verified scripture text.