Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.

GENESIS 50:21KJV
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Genesis 50:21 (KJV)

What does Genesis 50:21 mean?

Genesis 50:21 shows Joseph assuring his brothers that they and their children will be cared for. His promise answers their fear that he might punish them for the harm they had done to him.

Their father Jacob had died, and the brothers feared Joseph would now take revenge. After speaking about their actions in the preceding verse, Joseph addresses their fear directly and speaks to them with kindness.

The Hebrew behind Genesis 50:21

  • “nourish” — כּוּל (kul): The word carries the sense of providing or sustaining. Joseph’s promise concerns the ongoing support of his brothers and their families.
  • “little ones” — טַף (taf): The word refers to young children. Joseph includes the brothers’ dependents in his promise, reaching beyond the men who had wronged him.
  • “kindly” — לֵב (lev): The Hebrew word means “heart.” The phrase behind “spake kindly unto them” pictures Joseph speaking to their hearts, an expression for addressing people tenderly.

Why Genesis 50:21 matters

  • Joseph’s response joins words with a practical promise. “Fear ye not” is followed by his pledge to provide for the brothers and their children.
  • The promise comes from someone his brothers had once sold into slavery, as Genesis 37:28 describes. Their past treatment of Joseph explains why his position of power in Egypt made them afraid.
  • Joseph’s reassurance follows his statement in Genesis 50:20 that his brothers had intended harm but God intended good. In verse 21, Joseph tells them how he will treat them despite that past harm.

Where else these words appear

“nourish” Hebrew H3557 · used in 36 verses

  • Genesis 45:11 And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty.
  • 1 Kings 8:64 The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brasen altar that was before the LORD was too little to receive the burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.
  • Psalms 112:5 A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion.

“ones” Hebrew H2945 · used in 42 verses

  • Genesis 34:29 And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house.
  • Numbers 31:9 And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods.
  • Joshua 1:14 Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side Jordan; but ye shall pass before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valour, and help them;

“comforted” Hebrew H5162 · used in 100 verses

  • Genesis 5:29 And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.
  • Job 42:6 Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
  • Jeremiah 18:10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.