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Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you, and bring you again to the land of your fathers.
Genesis 48:21 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.
  • BSB Then Israel said to Joseph, “Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers.
  • NKJV Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers.
  • NASB Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you, and bring you back to the land of your fathers.
  • NLT Then Jacob said to Joseph, “Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will take you back to Canaan, the land of your ancestors.

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

Jacob assures Joseph that, though he is dying, God will be present and return them to Canaan.

Overview

Facing death, Jacob rests not in his own continued presence but in God's covenant promise to bring his offspring back to the land of their fathers. This is faith looking beyond the grave to God's faithfulness across generations, the same hope that sustained the patriarchs (Hebrews 11:21-22). It points forward to the God who is 'with us' in Christ, Immanuel, and who keeps every promise He makes to His people.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 25

  • Gen 46:4I will go down with you into Egypt. I will also surely bring you up again. Joseph will close your eyes.”
  • Gen 50:24Joseph 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.”
  • Gen 28:15Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you, until I have done that which I have spoken of to you.”
  • Gen 26:3Live in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you. For I will give to you, and to your offspring, all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.
  • Heb 7:3without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God), remains a priest continually.
  • Heb 7:23–25Many, indeed, have been made priests, because they are hindered from continuing by death.
  • Deut 31:8Yahweh himself is who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be discouraged.”
  • Zech 1:5–6Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?
  • Deut 1:1–46These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah over against Suf, between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.
  • Josh 3:7Yahweh said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.
  • Josh 1:5No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not fail you nor forsake you.
  • Josh 24:1–33Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God.
  • Josh 1:9Haven’t I commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be dismayed, for Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go.”
  • Gen 12:5Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother’s son, all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they went to go into the land of Canaan. They entered into the land of Canaan.
  • Gen 15:14I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth,
  • 2 Tim 4:6For I am already being offered, and the time of my departure has come.
  • Ps 18:46Yahweh lives; and blessed be my rock. Exalted be the God of my salvation,
  • Luke 2:29“Now you are releasing your servant, Master, according to your word, in peace;
  • Gen 37:1Jacob lived in the land of his father’s travels, in the land of Canaan.
  • Heb 7:8Here people who die receive tithes, but there one receives tithes of whom it is testified that he lives.
  • Acts 13:36For David, after he had in his own generation served the counsel of God, fell asleep, and was laid with his fathers, and saw decay.
  • Ps 146:3–4Don’t put your trust in princes, each a son of man in whom there is no help.
  • 2 Pet 1:14knowing that the putting off of my tent comes swiftly, even as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me.
  • 1 Kgs 2:2–4“I am going the way of all the earth. You be strong therefore, and show yourself a man;
  • Josh 23:14“Behold, today I am going the way of all the earth. You know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which Yahweh your God spoke concerning you. All have happened to you. Not one thing has failed of it.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

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 48:21YouTube · 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 48:21 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.