Genesis 45:5–8

Context

In Genesis 45, Joseph, the son of Jacob, is serving as the chief official of Egypt. He reveals himself to his brothers, who have come to buy grain (Genesis 45:1–15). Years earlier the brothers had sold Joseph into slavery (Genesis 37). After Judah pleads to become a slave in place of Benjamin, the youngest brother (Genesis 44), Joseph weeps and discloses who he is. To his astonished and frightened brothers he says, "be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves," and declares, "it was not you that sent me hither, but God."

Verse 6 notes that two of the seven years of famine (Genesis 41) have passed and five remain. The word "earing" in the King James Version refers to plowing. The phrase "a father to Pharaoh" in verse 8 is understood as a title for the king's chief adviser. Some scholars compare it with similar titles from ancient Egypt.

Interpretation

• Providential reading: Many commentators and preachers read this passage together with Genesis 50:20 ("ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good") as a key text on providence, the teaching that God cares for and governs the world and history. In this reading the central point is that even human wrongdoing ultimately led to the preservation of life.
• Reformed reading: The Reformed tradition holds that God sovereignly governs even the sinful acts of human beings, while the responsibility for sin rests with those who commit it. It cites this passage as a leading example of that principle.
• Arminian and Wesleyan reading: This tradition does not regard God as having foreordained the brothers' evil choices. It tends to read the passage as saying that God permitted what took place through free human choice and directed it toward a good outcome.
• Reconciliation reading: Read as Joseph's words of reassurance and forgiveness to his brothers, the passage serves as a model of reconciliation within a broken family.
• Redemptive-historical reading: The word rendered "posterity" in verse 7 is the Hebrew she'erit, meaning "remnant." For this reason the passage is read in connection with God's plan to preserve Israel. There is also a long-standing interpretation that sees Joseph, rejected by his brothers and later exalted to save them, as a type of Jesus Christ. A type is a person or event that foreshadows something yet to come.

Debates and Issues

• The brothers' guilt: Some ask whether the words "not you … but God" erase the brothers' guilt. Many interpreters understand the statement, like Genesis 50:20, as affirming both human malice and the purpose of God. The question is connected to discussions of predestination and free will. The Westminster Confession of Faith, in its treatment of providence, states that God is not the author of sin.
• Application: Some caution against applying this passage hastily to people who are suffering, as when it is used to attribute harm directly to the will of God or to press victims to forgive their offenders quickly. They point out that these words came from Joseph himself, who had endured long suffering.

In the Korean Church

Along with Genesis 50:20, this passage is frequently used as a sermon text on suffering and the providence of God.

Related Passages

• Genesis 50:19–21
• Psalm 105:16–22
• Acts 7:9–10
• Acts 2:23