As 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.
Parallel translations
- WEB As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is today, to save many people alive.
- KJV But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
- NKJV But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
- NASB As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to keep many people alive.
- NLT You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.
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 declares that what they meant for evil, God meant for good, to save many lives.
Overview
This is the theological climax of the Joseph narrative: God's sovereign goodness overrules human evil to accomplish salvation. Without excusing his brothers' sin, Joseph sees God's hand working through it for the preservation of many. It powerfully foreshadows the cross, where the worst evil, the killing of Christ, became the means of saving God's people (Acts 2:23).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Rom 8:28And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
- Ps 119:71It was good for me to be afflicted, that I might learn Your statutes.
- Gen 45:5–8And 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.
- Gen 37:18–20Now Joseph’s brothers saw him in the distance, and before he arrived, they plotted to kill him.
- Acts 2:23He 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.
- Acts 3:13–15The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus. You handed Him over and rejected Him before Pilate, even though he had decided to release Him.
- Gen 37:4When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
- Acts 3:26When God raised up His Servant, He sent Him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”
- Ps 56:5All day long they twist my words; all their thoughts are on my demise.
- Isa 10:7But this is not his intention; this is not his plan. For it is in his heart to destroy and cut off many nations.
- Ps 76:10Even the wrath of man shall praise You; with the survivors of wrath You will clothe Yourself.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 50:20 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.