Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, “It has nothing to do with me; God will give Pharaoh an answer for his own good.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It isn’t in me. God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”
- KJV And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.
- BSB “I myself cannot do it,” Joseph replied, “but God will give Pharaoh a sound answer.”
- NKJV So Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”
- NLT “It is beyond my power to do this,” Joseph replied. “But God can tell you what it means and set you at ease.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Joseph humbly denies any power of his own, declaring that God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.
Overview
Joseph deflects all credit from himself and points to God as the true source of interpretation. His humility and faith shine in the highest court of Egypt. This God-centered confession models how believers should testify to the Lord's work rather than their own gifts.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- 2 Cor 3:5not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God;
- Gen 40:8They said to him, “We have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it.” Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Please tell it to me.”
- Dan 2:47The king answered to Daniel, and said, Of a truth your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you have been able to reveal this secret.
- Acts 3:12When Peter saw it, he responded to the people, “You men of Israel, why do you marvel at this man? Why do you fasten your eyes on us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him walk?
- Num 12:6He said, “Now hear my words. If there is a prophet among you, I, Yahweh, will make myself known to him in a vision. I will speak with him in a dream.
- Dan 2:18–23that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his companions should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
- Dan 4:2It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked toward me.
- Acts 3:7He took him by the right hand, and raised him up. Immediately his feet and his ankle bones received strength.
- 1 Cor 15:10But by the grace of God I am what I am. His grace which was given to me was not futile, but I worked more than all of them; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
- Dan 2:28–30but there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head on your bed, are these:
- Acts 14:14–15But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of it, they tore their clothes, and sprang into the multitude, crying out,
- 2 Kgs 6:27He said, “If Yahweh doesn’t help you, where could I get help for you? From of the threshing floor, or from the wine press?”
- Luke 19:42saying, “If you, even you, had known today the things which belong to your peace! But now, they are hidden from your eyes.
- Gen 37:14He said to him, “Go now, see whether it is well with your brothers, and well with the flock; and bring me word again.” So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 41:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.