Genesis 50:21

Summary

Joseph tells his brothers not to be afraid, promising to provide for them and their children. The narrator then reports that he comforted them and spoke to their hearts.

Key words

• tiRa'u ("you fear", H3372G) — qal jussive, second person masculine plural, negated by 'al ("not", H0408): a prohibition addressed directly to the brothers, "do not fear."
• 'anoKhi ("I", H0595) — independent personal pronoun, placed before the verb, giving emphasis to the subject "I" as the one who will act.
• 'akhalKel ("I will provide for", H3557) — piel imperfect, first person singular; the piel stem intensifies the basic sense of sustaining/nourishing, and the imperfect points to continuing or future action.
• yenaChem ("he comforted", H5162G) — piel narrative form (vav-consecutive), third person masculine singular; the piel here carries the sense of actively bringing comfort, and the narrative form links this action sequentially to what precedes.
• yedaBer 'al-liBam ("he spoke... to their heart", H1696G + H5921A + H3820A) — piel narrative verb followed by the preposition 'al ("to", H5921A) plus lev ("heart", H3820A) in construct with the suffix "their": a fixed expression describing manner of speech.

What the text says

The verse divides into two parts. The first part is direct speech from Joseph to his brothers, opening with ve'atah ("and now/therefore", H6258), an adverb marking a transition to a conclusion or resolution following prior narrative. The prohibition 'al-tiRa'u uses the jussive form with the negation 'al, a construction typically used for immediate, situation-specific commands rather than absolute prohibitions. The emphatic pronoun 'anoKhi preceding the verb 'akhalKel draws attention to Joseph as the subject who will act, distinguishing him as the one responsible for provision. The object of this provision includes both 'etkhem ("you", via the object marker plus suffix) and taph-khem ("your little ones", H2945), a construct noun referring to dependents/children.

The second part shifts to third-person narration using two verbs joined by the narrative vav: yenaChem ("he comforted") and yedaBer 'al-libam ("he spoke to their heart"). Both verbs are in the piel stem, which in Biblical Hebrew often marks intensive or effective action compared to the simple (qal) stem. The phrase dabber 'al-lev ("to speak to the heart") is an idiomatic expression combining the verb "to speak" with the preposition "to/upon" and the noun "heart," describing a manner of speech aimed at reassurance rather than mere information.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders taph-khem ("your little ones", H2945) as "τὰς οἰκίας ὑμῶν" ("your households"), broadening the Hebrew's specific reference to children into a wider term for family or house. The Vulgate follows the Hebrew more closely with "parvulos vestros" ("your little ones"). For the phrase yedaBer 'al-libam ("he spoke to their heart"), the Vulgate expands this into "blande ac leniter est locutus" ("he spoke gently and mildly"), an interpretive rendering of the Hebrew idiom, while the LXX uses "ἐλάλησεν αὐτῶν εἰς τὴν καρδίαν" ("spoke into their heart"), keeping the heart-idiom more literally.