Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 50:21
Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spoke kindly unto them.
21. nourish you ] Cf. Gen 45:11, Gen 47:12.
kindly ] Heb. to their heart. So LXX: cf. Gen 34:3. The Latin gives the sense blande ac leniter.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Gen 50:21
He comforted them, and spake kindly unto them
Josephs last forgiveness of his brethren:
I.
THEIR NEED OF FORGIVENESS.
II. THE PLEA ON WHICH THEY URGE IT (Gen 50:16-18).
1. The dying request of their father.
2. Their own free confession of guilt.
3. Their fathers influence with God.
4. Their willingness to utterly abase themselves.
III. THE COMPLETENESS OF THEIR FORGIVENESS.
1. He speaks words of peace.
2. He will not presume to put himself judicially in the place of God.
(1) As an instrument of vengeance.
(2) As presuming to change does not join forgetfulness. You forgive only so far as you forget. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
I will nourish you; expect not only a free pardon from me, but all the kindness of a loving brother.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Now therefore, fear ye not,…. Which, is repeated to dispossess them of every fear they might entertain of him on any account whatever:
I will nourish you, and your little ones; provide food for them, and their families, not only for themselves and their sons, now grown up, but their grandchildren and even the youngest and latest of their families should share in his favours:
and he comforted them, and spake kindly to them; even “to their heart” w; such things as were quite pleasing and agreeable to them, served to banish their fears, revive their spirits, and afford comfort to them. Just so God and Christ do with backsliding sinners, and would have done with his own people by his servants; see Isa 40:1.
w “ad cor eorum”, Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius, &c.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
21. I will nourish you. It was a token of a solid and not a feigned reconciliation, not only to abstain from malice and injury, but also to “overcome evil with good,” as Paul teaches, (Rom 12:21 🙂 and truly, he who fails in his duty, when he possesses the power of giving help, and when the occasion demands his assistance, shows, by this very course, that he is not forgetful of injury. This requires to be the more diligently observed, because, commonly, the greater part weakly conclude that they forgive offenses if they do not retaliate them; as if indeed we were not taking revenge when we withdraw our hands from giving help. You would assist your brother if you thought him worthy: he implores your aid in necessity; you desert him because he has done you some unkindness; what hinders you from helping him but hatred? Therefore, we shall then only prove our minds to be free from malevolence, when we follow with kindness those enemies by whom we have been ill treated. Joseph is said to have spoken “to the heart of his brethren,” because, by addressing them with suavity and kindness, he removed all their scruples; as we have before seen, that Shechem spoke to the heart of Dinah, when he attempted to console her with allurements, in order that, forgetting the dishonor he had done her, she might consent to marry him.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(21) Your little ones.Heb., your tafs rendered in the LXX., your households, and in the Syriac, your families, your dependentsits usual translation in that Version.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
21. Spake kindly unto them Hebrews, spake to their heart, as in the margin; a beautiful form of speech, which it would have been well to retain in translation .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Gen 50:21 Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.
Ver. 21. I will nourish you. ] To requite your kindness, that consulted to starve me in the waterless pit. This was a noble way of revenging; this was heroical, and fit for Christian imitation. “If thine enemy hunger, feed him.” Rom 12:20
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
kindly. Hebrew spake unto their hearts.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
I will nourish: Gen 45:10, Gen 45:11, Gen 47:12, Mat 5:44, Mat 6:14, Rom 12:20, Rom 12:21, 1Th 5:15, 1Pe 3:9
kindly unto them: Heb. to their hearts, Gen 34:3, Isa 40:2, *marg.
Reciprocal: Gen 43:8 – also our Gen 49:24 – the shepherd Jdg 19:3 – speak