Genesis 42:18
in Genesis 42and on the third day he said to them, “I fear God. So do this and you will live:
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God:
KJV
And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God:
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This verse in Genesis 42
Commentary
6 notes on this verseI fear God - את האלהים אני ירא eth haelohim ani yare, literally translated the passage runs thus, I also fear the gods; but the emphatic ה ha is probably added by Joseph, both here and in his conversation with Pharaoh, the more particularly to point out the eminence and perfection of the Supreme Being as contradistinguished from the gods of Egypt. He seems to say to his brethren, I am a worshipper of the true God, and ye have nothing to fear.
This site's exposition
I fear God
on Genesis 42:18-20
On the third day the terms turn around, one brother held and nine sent home with grain. Joseph gives his reason in three words, I fear God, and it is the first word about God these men have heard in Egypt. Adam Clarke notes the definite article in the Hebrew, ha-Elohim, which sets the God Joseph fears apart from the gods of the land he governs. The brothers hear it and consent.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
21 And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us. 22 And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
) put them upon consideration and extorted this reflection. Now see here, (1.) The office of conscience; it is a remembrancer, to bring to mind things long since said and done, to show us wherein we have erred, though it was long ago, as the reflection here mentioned was above twenty years after the sin was committed.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And Joseph said unto them the third day,.... His heart yearning towards them, though he put on such an appearance; finding they could not come to an agreement among themselves who should go on the errand, he thought fit to recede from his former order, and to give them another: this do, and live: meaning what he was about to say to them, which if they punctually observed and performed, it would be the means of saving their lives: for I fear God; and therefore would not do either an unjust or cruel thing.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
put them . . . into ward three days--Their confinement had been designed to bring them to salutary reflection. And this object was attained, for they looked upon the retributive justice of God as now pursuing them in that foreign land. The drift of their conversation is one of the most striking instances on record of the power of conscience [Ge 42:21, 22].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֨אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲלֵהֶ֤ם | ʾalehem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יוֹסֵף֙ | yosef | Joseph | H3130 → | 213 times |
| בַּיּ֣וֹם | baiyom | on the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֔י | hashelishi | <the> third | H7992 → | 107 times |
| זֹ֥את | zot | this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| עֲשׂ֖וּ | ʾasu | do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| וִֽחְי֑וּ | vichyu | and live | H2421 → | 282 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים | haelohim | <the> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֲנִ֥י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| יָרֵֽא׃ | yare' | [am] fearing | H3373 → | 64 times |
וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֲלֵהֶ֤םto them
ʾalehemH413 →5510 times
יוֹסֵף֙Joseph
yosefH3130 →213 times
בַּיּ֣וֹםon the day
baiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֔י<the> third
hashelishiH7992 →107 times
זֹ֥אתthis
zotH2063 →603 times
עֲשׂ֖וּdo
ʾasuH6213 →2628 times
וִֽחְי֑וּand live
vichyuH2421 →282 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים<the> God
haelohimH430 →2601 times
אֲנִ֥יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
יָרֵֽא׃[am] fearing
yare'H3373 →64 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Nehemiah 5:15The governors before me had heavily burdened the people, taking from them bread and wine plus forty shekels of silver. Their servants also oppressed the people, but I did not do this because of…
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:6
By loving devotion and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the LORD one turns aside from evil.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Nehemiah 5:9
So I continued, “What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our foreign enemies?
- Isaiah 50:10
Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of His Servant? Who among you walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD; let him…
- Proverbs 16:6
Through
Nehemiah 5:9So I continued, “What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our foreign enemies?
it leads to
- Leviticus 25:36
Do not take any interest or profit from him, but fear your God, that your countryman may live among you.
- Leviticus 25:36
Through
Genesis 20:11Abraham replied, “I thought to myself, ‘Surely there is no fear of God in this place. They will kill me on account of my wife.’
it leads to
- Genesis 26:7
But when the men of that place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister.” For he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” since he thought to himself, “The men…
- Genesis 26:7
Through
Luke 18:2“In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected men.
it leads to
- Psalms 8:1–4
O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens.
- Luke 18:4
For a while he refused, but later he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect men,
- Proverbs 29:7
The righteous consider the cause of the poor, but the wicked have no regard for such concerns.
- Psalms 8:1–4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.