And now, do not be distressed or angry with yourselves that you sold me into this place, because it was to save lives that God sent me before you.
Parallel translations
- WEB Now don’t be grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.
- KJV Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
- NKJV But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.
- NASB Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me ahead of you to save lives.
- NLT But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives.
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 urges them not to be grieved, for God sent him ahead to preserve life. He interprets their evil act within God's saving purpose.
Overview
Joseph comforts his brothers by lifting their eyes above their sin to God's overruling providence. Without excusing their guilt, he sees the divine hand that turned betrayal into the means of saving many. This profound view of God's sovereignty over human evil anticipates the cross, where the worst sin became the means of salvation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Gen 50:20As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this—to preserve the lives of many people.
- Acts 7:9–15Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him
- Job 1:21saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.”
- Gen 45:7–8God sent me before you to preserve you as a remnant on the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
- Acts 2:23–24He was delivered up by God’s set plan and foreknowledge, and you, by the hands of the lawless, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross.
- Ps 105:16–17He called down famine on the land and cut off all their supplies of food.
- Luke 23:34Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up His garments by casting lots.
- Isa 40:1–2“Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.
- Gen 47:25“You have saved our lives,” they said. “We have found favor in our lord’s eyes, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.”
- 2 Cor 2:7So instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.
- 2 Cor 2:11in order that Satan should not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
- 2 Sam 12:12You have acted in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”
- 2 Sam 16:10–12But the king replied, “What have I to do with you, O sons of Zeruiah? If he curses me because the LORD told him, ‘Curse David,’ who can ask, ‘Why did you do this?’”
- 1 Sam 1:19The next morning Elkanah and Hannah got up early to bow in worship before the LORD, and then returned home to Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her.
- Acts 4:24–28When the believers heard this, they lifted up their voices to God with one accord. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “You made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them.
- 2 Sam 17:14Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than that of Ahithophel.” For the LORD had purposed to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster on Absalom.
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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 45:5 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
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