Genesis 45:8

Summary

Joseph tells his brothers that it was not their doing that sent him to Egypt, but God's, who then established him as father to Pharaoh, lord over his household, and ruler over the whole land of Egypt.

Key words

• 'a.Tem ("you", H0859D) — plural personal pronoun placed before the verb, giving emphasis to "you" as the (negated) subject of the sending.
• she.lach.Tem ("you sent", H7971G) — qal perfect, 2nd person masculine plural, describing the brothers' completed action of sending, here negated by lo' ("not", H3808).
• 'E.lo.Him ("God", H0430G) — noun, masculine plural in form (a common feature for this word), functioning as the contrasting subject after ki ("for/that", H3588A).
• y.si.Me.ni ("he has appointed me", H7760A + H9030) — qal verb with narrative va- prefix ("and then..."), continuing the action begun with God as subject, plus 1st person suffix "me" as object.
• mo.Shel ("ruler", H4910) — qal participle, masculine singular, describing an ongoing state/role ("the one ruling") rather than a completed or punctual act.

What the text says

The verse opens with ve-'a.Tah ("and now/therefore", H9002+H6258), marking a logical conclusion drawn from what precedes. The negated clause lo'-'a.Tem she.lach.Tem 'oti Henah ("not you sent me hither") places the pronoun 'a.Tem ("you") directly after the negation lo', which in Hebrew syntax throws emphasis onto the subject being denied — it is "you" specifically who did not do the sending, as opposed to another agent named in the next clause.

The particle ki (H3588A) here functions to introduce the contrasting true agent, ha-'Elohim ("the God/God"), rather than a plain "because." The narrative verb va-yesimeni ("and he appointed me") uses the vav-consecutive construction typical of Hebrew narrative sequence, linking God's action of sending to a further, resulting action: appointing Joseph to three positions, expressed through parallel prepositional phrases: le-'av ("to/as a father", H0001G), u-le-'adon ("and to/as lord", H0113), and u-moshel ("and ruler", H4910). The first two use the preposition le- with nouns, while the third shifts to a participle (moshel), describing Joseph's ongoing governing role over "all the land of Egypt" (kol 'eretz Mitzrayim) rather than a fixed title.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders 'E.lo.Him with the singular ho theos ("the God"), matching the Hebrew's referential singularity despite its plural noun form. The LXX also translates le-'av ("to a father") as hōs patera ("as a father"), and moshel as archonta ("ruler," a noun) rather than reflecting the participial "one who rules" nuance present in the Hebrew. The Vulgate similarly renders the three roles with nouns (patrem, dominum, principem), smoothing the Hebrew's mix of prepositional nouns and a participle into parallel Latin substantives.