Genesis 50:21 (DRB)

Passage

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

Nearby Context

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.

Genesis 50:22 And he dwelt in Egypt with all his father's house; and lived a hundred and ten years. And he saw the children of Ephraim to the third generation. The children also of Machir, the sons of Manasses, were born on Joseph's knees.

Genesis 50:23 After which he told his brethren: God will visit you after my death, and will make you go up out of this land, to the land which he swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "fear", "feed", "children", "comforted", "spoke", "gently", and "mildly". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "fear" and "feed", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 20's "You thought evil against me but God..." into verse 22's "And he dwelt in Egypt with all...", so "fear" and "feed" 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 "fear" and "feed" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.