Genesis 50:19 (DRB)

Passage

And he answered them: Fear not: can we resist the will of God?

Nearby Context

Genesis 50:17 That we should say thus much to thee from him: I beseech thee to forget the wickedness of thy brethren, and the sin and malice they practised against thee: we also pray thee, to forgive the servants of the God of thy father this wickedness. And when Joseph heard this, he wept.

Genesis 50:18 And his brethren came to him; and worshipping prostrate on the ground, they said: We are thy servants.

Genesis 50:19 And he answered them: Fear not: can we resist the will of God?

Genesis 50:20 You thought evil against me: but God turned it into good, that he might exalt me, as at present you see, and might save many people.

Genesis 50:21 Fear not: I will feed you and your children. And he comforted them, and spoke gently and mildly.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "will of God", "answered", "fear", and "resist". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "will of God" and "answered", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 18's "And his brethren came to him and..." into verse 20's "You thought evil against me but God...", so "will of God" and "answered" belong inside that flow. In Genesis context, the local focus is creation, human rebellion, covenant promise, and God's providence.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "will of God" and "answered" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.