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So God sent me ahead of you to ensure for you a remnant on the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.
Genesis 45:7 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance.
  • KJV And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
  • BSB God sent me before you to preserve you as a remnant on the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
  • NKJV And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
  • NLT God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors.

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

God sent Joseph ahead to preserve a remnant and bring a great deliverance. The family's survival is part of God's covenant purpose.

Overview

Joseph declares that God's aim in sending him was to preserve a remnant of the family and rescue them from extinction. The language of remnant and deliverance points beyond mere survival to God's faithfulness to his covenant promises. Through this preservation the line leading to the Messiah is safeguarded.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 5

  • Acts 7:35“This Moses, whom they refused, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ — God has sent him as both a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.
  • Ps 44:4You are my King, God. Command victories for Jacob!
  • Judg 15:18He was very thirsty, and called on Yahweh, and said, “You have given this great deliverance by the hand of your servant; and now shall I die of thirst, and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”
  • Ps 18:50He gives great deliverance to his king, and shows loving kindness to his anointed, to David and to his offspring, forever more.
  • 1 Chr 11:14They stood in the middle of the plot, defended it, and killed the Philistines; and Yahweh saved them by a great victory.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Genesis videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Genesis 45:7YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on GenesisMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 45:7 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.