And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, If now Joseph should be hostile to us, and should indeed requite us all the evil that we did to him!
Genesis 50 closes with Joseph's brothers standing at their father's fresh grave. With Jacob dead, they assume the only reason Joseph ever treated them well has died too.
The brothers had watched Joseph's generosity for years. They still treated it as a performance, and now the man they thought it was for was gone.
Back in Egypt, one last test confronted Joseph. His brothers sent him a message. It showed that they had never quite trusted his generous attitude towards them. They felt it was too good to be true. They suspected it was a kindness put on for the sake of his old father, Jacob. If that had been so, now was the time for the true Joseph to reveal himself in paying off the old score.
But they had read it wrong. Joseph's kindness had never rested on Jacob at all.
But it was not his father standing between them that caused Joseph to show kindness to them for their ill treatment. What moved him was his relationship to God. He had shown them the kindness of God. In a higher way, the Lord Jesus has shown the love and grace of God to sinners who had rebelled against Him. More than that, Joseph's words to them had only been good (ch. 45:4-8). Could they not simply trust his word?
The verse gives their reasoning in their own words: he will hate us, he will pay us back. Notice where that logic came from.
They remember that when Joseph was only a boy of seventeen "they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him." So now they conclude, "It may be that Joseph will hate us." Conscience recalls how wickedly they had acted towards Joseph. So now they say, "He will pay us back for all the evil that we did to him." They judge his thoughts by their thoughts, his heart by their hearts, and his acts by their acts.
They knew Joseph's power and his provision. What they did not know was Joseph himself.
Joseph had saved their lives with a great deliverance (Gen. 45:7); he had put them in possession of "the best of the land" of Egypt, and he had provided them with bread (Gen. 47:12). For seventeen years they had received Joseph's generosity. They had been the special objects of his loving care. Yet when a crisis arises, it becomes clear that they have no personal knowledge of Joseph. They know something of his greatness and glory. They know the great work he has done. They know that every blessing they enjoy comes from his position and work. But they had no personal acquaintance with his mind and heart. It is as if they said, "We know what he has done for us, but we do not know how he feels about us."
They did not go to Joseph in person. They sent a message quoting an order from their father.
And worse, they try to hide their own unbelief and mistrust of Joseph. They pretend they are only carrying out the dying commands of Joseph's father. It is impossible to believe that Jacob left any such command. They have completely forgotten that Joseph forgave all their sad past, and now they beg to be forgiven. Joseph had shown them grace and love all along. Still their uneasy conscience holds on to the thought that Joseph has something against them.
The chapter records Joseph's reaction to the message in a single line: he wept.
He had forgiven them freely and fully. He had spared their lives when they were entirely in his power. How could they suppose that after so many years of kindness he would turn on them in anger and revenge? It was indeed a grievous wrong. No wonder that "Joseph wept when they spoke to him." What an answer to all their unworthy fear and dark suspicion! A flood of tears! Such is love!
The pattern is not locked in ancient Egypt. Commentators apply it to Christians who know Christ's work but not His heart.
We know something of the glory of the Person of Christ. We know something of the power of His work. We enjoy the benefits that flow from His finished work on the cross and His present service in the glory. But when some little crisis arises in our history, it becomes clear how little we know of His heart, and so how little confidence we have in Him personally.
- Trigger. Jacob's death removed the only reason the brothers thought Joseph had for kindness. They had never trusted the kindness itself.
- Mirror. Their fear was a self-portrait, not a prophecy. They judged his thoughts by their thoughts, his heart by their hearts.
- Gap. Seventeen years of Joseph's provision taught them what he had done for them, but not how he felt about them.
- Cover. They hid their unbelief behind a command they said their father left. They never went to Joseph himself.
- Answer. Their suspicion wounded a loving heart. Joseph's answer to years of doubt was tears, not revenge.
And they sent a messenger to Joseph, saying, Thy father commanded before he died, saying,
The brothers have buried Jacob. Now the ten men who once sold Joseph into slavery stand alone with the man they wronged. They do not go to him. They send words ahead instead — words that put their father's dying wish between themselves and Joseph.
For years the brothers had lived under Joseph's care. Nobody raised the old wrong. The funeral changed that.
Let us go into the room where the dead man lies. It will do you no harm. It was not for one day, but for forty days. Every one of those ten men then said to himself, It has come, the old man is gone, and what will happen now? Again conscience woke up. As they look at the body of their father, their conscience works.
The verse turns on one choice: they sent word instead of going themselves. One writer sees in that choice both what kept them unhappy and the only way out.
They send a messenger. They would have been far happier if they had each gone themselves… I have a very grave doubt whether the old man did say this. But they knew the time had now come when they had to get fully right with Joseph, and they could only do that by honestly admitting the past. So with you, my friend, and God. If you do not confess outright you will never get peace.
One writer weighs what the message got right and what it gave away.
Their message was very diplomatic. They invoked the memory of their dead father to shelter themselves. They admitted the wrong they had done many years before, which was good. They also called themselves servants of the God of Jacob. But they still showed all too clearly what they thought: that all his past goodness did not express his real self.
Another writer goes further. He says the command was never given, and he turns the episode into a warning for anyone whose conscience starts to accuse them.
They try to hide their own unbelief and mistrust of Joseph. They pretend they are only carrying out the dying commands of Joseph's father. It is impossible to believe that Jacob left any such command. They have completely forgotten that Joseph forgave their whole sad past, and now they beg to be forgiven… And it is the same with us. Suppose we are not living close to Christ, and have never come to know His heart. Then sin, failure, and a careless walk may leave us thinking, once conscience begins to work, that Christ is against us for something we have done.
The brothers' whole plan assumes that Jacob was the reason Joseph had been good to them. That assumption was false.
Joseph's kindness, after the way they had treated him, did not come from his father standing between them. What moved him was his own relationship to God. He had shown them the kindness of God. In the same way, but higher, the Lord Jesus has shown the love and grace of God to sinners who had rebelled against Him. More than that, Joseph's words to them had only been good. Could they not simply trust his word?
The brothers expected anger. What they got was tears.
Joseph had forgiven them freely and fully. He had spared their lives when they were completely in his power. How could they suppose that, after so many years of kindness, he would turn on them in anger and revenge? It was indeed a grievous wrong. No wonder that "Joseph wept when they spoke to him." What an answer to all their unworthy fear and dark suspicion! A flood of tears! Such is love!
The same writer applies this to us, because we repeat the fault.
We are troubled and upset when we ought to be calm and trusting… Surely few things should humble us more deeply than our tendency to distrust the Lord when difficulties and trials come. And we do grieve the heart of Jesus when we distrust Him, for distrust must always wound a loving heart.
- Conscience. Forty days beside their father's body woke the guilt the brothers had buried for years.
- Fear. They sent a messenger instead of facing Joseph, and hid behind a dying command. Going themselves would have made them happier.
- Cover. Naming their dead father showed what they believed: Joseph had been kind only for Jacob's sake.
- Truth. Joseph's goodness came from his relationship to God, and his word to them had only ever been good.
- Trust. Joseph answered their suspicion with tears. The same distrust still grieves the heart of Christ.
Thus shall ye speak to Joseph Oh forgive, I pray thee, the transgression of thy brethren, and their sin! for they did evil to thee. And now, we pray thee, forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And his brethren also went and fell down before his face, and said, Behold, we are thy bondmen.
After Jacob's funeral the ten brothers stand alone before the man they once sold into slavery. They fall at his feet and call themselves his servants — but is this true repentance, or fear dressed up as humility?
The brothers act only once their father is buried. They had feared his kindness was really for Jacob's sake.
Back in Egypt, one last test confronted Joseph. His brothers sent him a message. It showed that they had never quite trusted his generous attitude towards them. They felt it was too good to be really true, and suspected that it was a kindness put on for the sake of his old father, Jacob. If that had been so, now was the time for the true Joseph to reveal himself and pay off the old score.
Before this they sent their words through a messenger. Now they come themselves.
They would have been far happier if they had gone themselves, one by one... They knew the time had now come to get thoroughly right with Joseph. That could only happen by an honest acknowledgement of the past. So it is with you, my friend, and God. If you do not confess outright you will never get peace.
They came in person once they knew what sort of man they were dealing with.
"His brothers also came and fell down before him," when they found what was in his heart — tenderness, nothing but love. They are at his feet in earnest, and their confession is completely real.
Not every commentator hears the words as pure humility. Their offer shows how little they had taken in Joseph's earlier forgiveness.
The message his brothers sent shows how little they knew of Joseph's heart — and so how little they trusted him. Worse, they try to hide their own unbelief and mistrust. They pretend they are only carrying out the dying commands of Joseph's father. It is impossible to believe that Jacob left any such command. They have completely forgotten Joseph's forgiveness of all their sad past, and now they beg to be forgiven. Joseph had shown them love and grace. Even so, their uneasy conscience leads them to hold on to the thought that Joseph still has something against them.
Joseph does not deny the fact behind their words. He refuses to use his power the way they expect.
His position in Egypt did make them his servants, as they confessed. But he would use his power to feed and protect them. He comforted them by speaking kindly.
Joseph answers their suspicion with grief, not anger.
This lack of confidence, after all the love that had been poured out on them, broke Joseph's heart. He "wept when they spoke to him." The saddest thing in all this sad world is love that is not returned. But though his tears showed how deeply he felt it, he speaks no word of reproach.
His settled goodwill did not rise or fall with their confidence in it.
Yet his attitude towards them did not change in the face of this display of unbelief... The goodness of his rule was real whether they fully relied on it or not. The smallness of their faith in no way changed the largeness of his heart.
As a boy Joseph had dreamed that his brothers' sheaves bowed to his. Here they bow in person.
Joseph probably did not understand God's purpose in the dream. It was a prophecy that his brothers would one day bow to his authority, as Genesis 42:6 tells us they did. Of course, the most vital lesson here is that all Israel will yet bow to the Lord Jesus, whom they have despised and hated.
Another writer measures the scene against both of Joseph's dreams.
There was a figurative fulfilment when his brothers did homage to him in Egypt. Their sheaves bowed to his. Nor did they fail in homage after they knew him. But this did not meet the full meaning of Joseph's prophetic dreams. The sheaves of Israel are to bow to the Messiah. The second dream goes further. It shows the sun, the moon and the eleven stars bowing to Christ in the person of His representative. They stand for all the appointed authority of the world, whether Gentile or Jewish.
- Fear moves them. They had suspected Joseph's kindness was really for his father's sake. With Jacob gone, they thought their shield was gone too.
- Confession comes close. A messenger was not enough. Only when they came in person and fell at his feet did their confession ring true.
- "Servants" reveals the gap. Offering themselves as servants shows they had never taken in the forgiveness already given. Their uneasy conscience still imagined Joseph held something against them.
- Love answers with tears. Joseph meets their distrust with tears and not one word of reproach. Then he turns his power to feeding and protecting them.
- The bowing points on. The brothers bowing is only a partial fulfilment of Joseph's dreams. Israel is yet to bow to the Lord Jesus.
And Joseph said to them, Fear not am I then in the place of God?
Joseph's brothers have just buried Jacob, and now they panic: they expect the man they once sold to settle the account at last. His answer — a question about who may judge — is the last thing Genesis says about their crime.
The brothers had been living on the wrong security. One writer notes that Joseph's kindness had never depended on the old man who had now died:
When their father had died, Joseph's brothers were afraid. They thought his attitude toward them would turn hostile as he recalled the way they had treated him (v. 15). But it was not his father's mediation that caused Joseph to show kindness to them for their ill treatment. It was rather his relationship to God that moved him... More than that, Joseph's words to them had only been good (Gen. 45:4-8). Could they not simply trust his word? Sometimes those who have trusted the Lord Jesus still have lingering fears that they might be lost. Why is this? Because they do not simply take His word, such as John 5:24, at face value.
Before Joseph says anything, he weeps. A commentator reads those tears as the pain of love that is not believed:
This lack of confidence, after all the love that had been lavished upon them, broke the heart of Joseph. He "wept when they spoke to him" (v. 17). The saddest thing in all this sad world is unrequited love. But though his tears showed how deeply he felt, he speaks no word of reproach. The very tears would surely be enough to wither up their unbelief.
Their suspicion made no sense against Joseph's record:
Joseph had freely and fully forgiven them. He had spared their lives when they were entirely in his power. How could they suppose that, after so many years of kindness, he would turn on them in anger and revenge? It was a grievous wrong, and no wonder that "Joseph wept when they spoke to him." What an answer to all their unworthy fear and dark suspicion! A flood of tears! Such is love!
The question in the verse is a refusal. Joseph will not be the judge of a case in which he is the injured party:
Joseph's reply is beautiful: "Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?" (v. 19). Joseph would not think of judging his own case, for only God is Judge. Also, despite his high position in Egypt, he stayed a faithful brother to all Jacob's sons.
The same words also shape what Joseph does next:
Having wept, Joseph replied, and his words show again how consistently God was before him. He was not in the place of God, and therefore not free to act without reference to Him. God had acted in the whole matter, and meant it for good. Since that was God's intention, he would not for a moment turn aside from it. His acts toward them would also be consistently for their good.
Joseph names the evil and still tells them there is nothing to dread:
"As for you," he can say, "you meant evil against me," but he can add, "Do not fear." He says, as it were, "I know all the evil of your hearts toward me, but there is nothing to fear, for there is nothing but love in my heart toward you." And so once again he removes all fear about the past and all anxiety about the future. He adds, "I will provide for you and your little ones."
This answer was not a one-off flash of nobility. It matched how Joseph had spoken in every setting of his life:
Wherever he was found, God was in all his thoughts. When tempted, he said, "How can I... sin against God?" When brought to Pharaoh, his first words are, "God will give...". When he makes himself known to his brothers, he says, "Do not be distressed or angry with yourselves, for God sent me before you." When they distrust him, he says, "Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?"
One writer hears Joseph's opening words later on the lips of the Lord Jesus:
"And Joseph said to them, Do not fear." That is just the way the Lord Jesus loves to comfort the soul. To win the confidence of the heart, He says to the trembling one, "Do not fear: I am Jesus."
- Fear — the brothers dreaded a change of heart. They leaned on their father's mediation instead of on Joseph's own good word.
- Tears — disbelief wounds love; Joseph wept, but sent back no reproach.
- Refusal — "am I in the place of God?" is Joseph declining the judge's seat in his own case, since only God judges.
- Restraint — because he is not God, he is not free to act apart from God, so he uses his power for their good.
- Comfort — Joseph names the evil, does not excuse it, and takes away the fear anyway. The Lord Jesus speaks the same "do not fear" to a trembling heart.
Ye indeed meant evil against me God meant it for good, in order that he might do as [it is] this day, to save a great people alive.
Joseph's brothers have just buried their father. Now they expect the man they sold into slavery to take his revenge. Joseph's answer does not deny what they did. It also does not leave them sitting in their fear. In one sentence he puts their evil and God's purpose side by side.
Joseph refuses the judge's seat while still calling their act what it was. One writer holds both halves of the verse together:
Joseph's reply is beautiful: "Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?" (v. 19). Joseph would not think of judging his own case, for only God is Judge. Also, though he had been raised to power in Egypt, he still kept his place as brother to all of Jacob's sons. He did not excuse their evil thoughts against him (v. 20). But he insisted that God had used their evil to bring about great good, saving many people from death.
The brothers aimed to destroy Joseph's future. What they aimed at became the very road to it:
What his brothers did to Joseph was evil, and Joseph had done nothing to deserve it. But God was at work behind it. He turned the very harm they intended into the means of carrying out His good purpose. Joseph deserved honour, yet he was pushed from one humiliation down to a worse one. God used that road to bring him to honour in the end.
That God used their sin was no excuse for it, yet it was a mercy to men carrying a heavy conscience:
Their wrath had sold Joseph into Egypt. God used their sin to make Joseph the great organizer of that time, and he saved countless lives. Nothing could excuse the terrible sin of Joseph's brothers against him. Yet their consciences accused them, and it must have been a great comfort to find that God used the anger of man to praise Him.
Commentators read this verse as the pattern of something far greater than a famine in Egypt:
Verse 20 is a fine summing up of the whole story. They had committed a grievous wrong but God had overruled it for salvation. This at once directs our thoughts to the Lord Jesus Christ. His brothers plotted evil against Joseph. That was nothing compared with what the Jews did when they rejected and crucified their Messiah. God allowed it because He meant it for good. Through it He carried out an eternal redemption. He laid the foundation on which the whole building of blessing rests, in a new creation that matches His eternal purpose.
Joseph did not say this to just anyone. Notice who was standing in front of him:
But to whom were these wonderful words of grace addressed? To broken hearts and repentant spirits, and convicted consciences. To men who had learnt to say, "In truth, we are guilty concerning our brother." Only people like that can take in the truth we are looking at here.
The brothers' dread came from measuring Joseph by themselves. Their fear exposed how little they had come to know him:
They judged Joseph by what was in their own hearts. They thought he would pay them back for the evil they had done to him. Joseph wept again when they came and confessed their sin. And again he told them he would care for them and provide for them (Gen. 50:21).
Joseph's answer settles both the past and everything still ahead of them:
He can say, "As for you, you meant evil against me." But he can also say, "Do not fear." It is as if he said: "I know all the evil in your hearts toward me. Yet you have nothing to fear. There is nothing but love in my heart toward you." So once more he takes away their fear about the past. And he takes away their worry about the future.
Joseph could see God's hand when he looked back. In the middle of things, we usually cannot:
We cannot see how everything fits together. We cannot follow the turns of God's providence as it works. And we cannot weigh up how His dealings will finally turn out. So we badly need to wait on God. Above all, we need to hold on to our confidence in His love, which never changes, never fails, and never gets anything wrong. He will make everything plain. He will bring light out of darkness, life out of death, victory out of apparent defeat.
- Evil — real. Joseph never rewrites what his brothers did; their guilt stands, and only God is Judge of it.
- Overruled — higher. God worked above their crime, so the very act meant to ruin Joseph carried out His purpose of good.
- Cross — greater. Commentators see the same pattern at the cross, where man's worst act became the foundation of an eternal redemption.
- Fear — removed. The brothers judged Joseph by their own hearts; his answer told them there was nothing but love in his.
- Today — trusted. We cannot follow God's providence while we are living through it. So we hold to His unfailing love and wait for Him to bring light out of darkness.
And now, fear not I will maintain you and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spoke consolingly to them.
Their father is dead, and Joseph's brothers are afraid. They expect him to pay back the old wrong at last. Instead he promises them food and speaks to their hearts. Every guilty conscience asks the same question: does forgiveness hold when the person who shielded us is gone?
Joseph does not deny what his brothers did to him. He sets their evil and his own heart side by side, and the second one settles the matter.
"As for you," he can say, "you meant evil against me," but he can add, "Do not fear." He says, as it were, "I know all the evil of your hearts toward me, but there is nothing to fear, for there is nothing but love in my heart toward you." And so once again he removes all fear about the past and all anxiety about the future. He adds, "I will provide for you and your little ones." That was how "he comforted them and spoke to their hearts" (margin). Perfect love casts out all fear.
The phrase rendered "spoke kindly to them" carries in the margin a warmer sense: he spoke to their hearts. God wins back His straying people the same way.
How did Joseph dispel the lingering doubts of his brothers, who had treated him so shamefully? We read that "he comforted them and spoke to their hearts" (Gen. 50:21, margin). He confirmed his love to them. And how will the Lord at last restore His backsliding people? We read these touching words in Hosea: "I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her" (Hosea 2:14; older translations read "speak to her heart"). In wilderness circumstances God speaks to her heart and opens a door of hope to her. There, when love has done its work, she sings again as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
Joseph promises all this to men who had just shown they did not trust him.
Yet his attitude toward them did not change in the presence of this display of unbelief. His answer was, "Do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones. Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them." The benevolence of his rule was a reality whether they fully relied on it or not. The littleness of their faith in no way altered the largeness of his heart.
Joseph had already revealed himself to them years before. Their panic showed how little they had learned about the man himself. One writer applies that failure to older believers today.
Again Joseph wept when they came confessing their sin to him, and again he told them he would care for them and provide for them (Gen. 50:21). This loss of their peace showed that they had not grown in the knowledge of Joseph himself since he had made himself known to them. Had they grown, they would never have held such wrong thoughts about him. And this is just what explains the unhappy state of soul that sometimes overtakes older believers. They may have gathered a great deal of knowledge about various things, but the knowledge of God's Son — their Lord and Saviour — has been neglected.
The brothers had just called themselves Joseph's servants. He turns that power into their food supply, so forgiveness comes with a future attached.
He was so exalted in Egypt that they were indeed his servants, as they confessed. But he would use his power to feed and protect them. He comforted them by kindly speech.
What he asked in return was not payment but confidence.
For those who have repented there is not only the fullest forgiveness, but a provision of great blessing. There are words of kindness and comfort too, as we see in Joseph's assurance of blessing for his brothers (v. 21). He simply wanted them to trust him and believe his word. This is what the Lord Jesus desires of us.
The scene also points ahead. One writer sees in it a picture of how Christ will meet Israel.
Just as Joseph spoke kindly to his brothers, so will Christ speak to the repentant of Israel. He will bring them to share in the fruits of His work, with rich provision and blessing.
- Fear — Their fear grew out of how little they knew Joseph, years after he had made himself known to them.
- Love — He knew every wrong they had done and still had nothing but love toward them. Fear about the past and anxiety about the future both fell away.
- Word — "Spoke kindly" reads in the margin as spoke to their hearts. God promised to speak to His straying people the same way in the wilderness.
- Provision — Forgiveness came with food: Joseph spent his power on feeding them and their little ones.
- Trust — Their small faith never shrank his large heart. All he wanted was their trust in his word — and that is what Christ asks of us.