“The archers provoked him, And shot at him and were hostile toward him;
Parallel translations
- WEB The archers have severely grieved him, shot at him, and persecute him:
- KJV The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:
- BSB The archers attacked him with bitterness; they aimed at him in hostility.
- NKJV The archers have bitterly grieved him, Shot at him and hated him.
- NLT Archers attacked him savagely; they shot at him and harassed him.
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 was bitterly attacked and persecuted by hostile 'archers.'
Overview
Looking back over Joseph's life, Jacob recalls the grief, hatred, and assaults he endured from his brothers and others. The verse honestly acknowledges the suffering of a righteous man. Joseph's persecution foreshadows Christ, the truly righteous One despised and afflicted by His own (Isaiah 53:3).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Gen 37:24and they took him, and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty. There was no water in it.
- Ps 118:13You pushed me back hard, to make me fall, but Yahweh helped me.
- Ps 64:3who sharpen their tongue like a sword, and aim their arrows, deadly words,
- Gen 37:28Midianites who were merchants passed by, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. They brought Joseph into Egypt.
- Gen 37:4His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn’t speak peaceably to him.
- Gen 37:18They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him.
- Acts 14:22confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that through many afflictions we must enter into God’s Kingdom.
- Gen 42:21They said to one another, “We are certainly guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us, and we wouldn’t listen. Therefore this distress has come upon us.”
- John 16:33I have told you these things, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have oppression; but cheer up! I have overcome the world.”
- Gen 39:7–20After these things, his master’s wife set her eyes on Joseph; and she said, “Lie with me.”
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 49:23 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.