He sent a man before them—Joseph, sold as a slave.
Parallel translations
- WEB He sent a man before them. Joseph was sold for a slave.
- KJV He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:
- NKJV He sent a man before them— Joseph—who was sold as a slave.
- NASB He sent a man before them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
- NLT Then he sent someone to Egypt ahead of them— Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
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 into Egypt, though it happened through his being sold as a slave. It matters because God's providence works even through human betrayal.
Overview
Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery (Genesis 37), yet the psalm credits God with sending him 'before them' to prepare a place of refuge. This is the heart of Genesis 50:20, that what others meant for evil God meant for good. It points to Christ, betrayed and handed over, yet sent before us by God to secure our deliverance.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Acts 7:9Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him
- Gen 37:36Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.
- 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.
- Gen 45:4–5Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near me.” And they did so. “I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt!
- Gen 37:27–28Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him; for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And they agreed.
- Gen 39:1Meanwhile, Joseph had been taken down to Egypt, where an Egyptian named Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.
- 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.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 105:17 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.