Genesis 50:18

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

His brothers also went and fell down before his face; and they said, "Behold, we are your servants."

World English Bible · Public Domain

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Word by word

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וַֽיִּפְּל֖וּ

nâphal

H5307

“and · to fall”

Conjunction + Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural

Appears 435× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Genesis 2:21

Full BDB Definition

Origin: a primitive root

TWOT: 1392

to fall, lie, be cast down, fail - (Qal) - to fall - to fall (of violent death) - to fall prostrate, prostrate oneself before - to fall upon, attack, desert, fall away to, go away to, fall into the hand of - to fall short, fail, fall out, turn out, result - to settle, waste away, be offered, be inferior to - to lie, lie prostrate - (Hiphil) - to cause to fall, fell, throw down, knock out, lay prostrate - to overthrow - to make the lot fall, assign by lot, apportion by lot - to let drop, cause to fail (figuratively) - to cause to fall - (Hithpael) - to throw or prostrate oneself, throw oneself upon - to lie prostrate, prostrate oneself - (Pilel) to fall

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

9: words
8: distinct lemmas
Pentateuch: section

Grammatical profile

3 verbs
3 nouns
1 preposition
2 particles

Verb forms

וַיֵּלְכוּ֙ Qal · Sequential Imperfect
וַֽיִּפְּל֖וּ Qal · Sequential Imperfect
וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ Qal · Sequential Imperfect

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 18 words from the Hebrew and 13 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 9 Hebrew tokens and 9 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Genesis 50:18 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Genesis 37:7–11 for, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves came around, and bowed down to my sheaf."
Genesis 27:29 Let peoples serve you, Nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, Let your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, Blessed be everyone who blesses you."
Genesis 42:6 Joseph was the governor over the land. It was he who sold to all the people of the land. Joseph's brothers came, and bowed themselves down to him with their faces to the earth.
Genesis 44:14 Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, and he was still there. They fell on the ground before him.
Genesis 45:3 Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Does my father still live?" His brothers couldn't answer him; for they were terrified at his presence.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Genesis 50:18 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וַיֵּלְכוּ֙ גַּם אֶחָ֔יו וַֽיִּפְּל֖וּ לְפָנָ֑יו וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ הִנֶּ֥נּֽוּ לְךָ֖ לַעֲבָדִֽים

His brothers also went and fell down before his face; and they said, "Behold, we are your servants."

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Genesis 50:18 Septuagint · lemma form

καί ἔρχομαι πρός αὐτός εἶπον ὅδε ἐγώ σύ οἰκέτης

And they came to him and said, We, these persons, are your servants.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Onkelos Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וַאֲזָלוּ אַף אֲחוֹהִי וּנְפָלוּ קֳדָמוֹהִי וַאֲמָרוּ הָא אֲנַחְנָא לָךְ לְעַבְדִין

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Onkelos — Aramaic: “Onkelos Genesis” (public domain); “Onkelos Exodus” (public domain); “Onkelos Leviticus” (public domain); “Onkelos Numbers” (public domain); “Onkelos Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “J.W. Etheridge. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch. London: Longmans, Green, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וַאֲזָלוּ אוּף אָחוֹי וְאַתְרְכִינוּ קֳדָמוֹי וַאֲמָרוּ הָא אֲנָן לָךְ לְעַבְדִין

And his brethren came also, and bowed themselves before him, and said, Behold, we are thy servants.

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan — Aramaic: “Targum Jonathan on Genesis” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Exodus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Leviticus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Numbers” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, trans. J. W. Etheridge, London, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Genesis 50:18 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Gen 50:18 And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we [be] thy servants.

Ver. 18. Behold, we be thy servants.] Oh that God might hear such words fall from us, prostrate at his feet! How soon would he take us up and embrace us! Deus redire nos sibi, non perire, desiderat, saith Chrysologus; φοβειθαι βουλεται ου φονευσαι, saith Basil; suffundere sanguinem quam effundere, saith Tertullian. I agnized my sin, and the amends was soon made, saith David. {Psa 32:5}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

18. his brethren also went] These words agree with the sending of a message (Gen_50:16), but hardly with the words of Gen_50:17, “when they spake unto him.”

fell down] A final reminiscence of Joseph’s dreams, Gen_37:7; Gen_37:10.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

And Joseph said unto them, fear not,.... That any hurt would be done by him to them, or that he would use them ill for their treatment of him:

for am I in the place of God? to receive such homage from you, that you should be my servants, as Saadiah Gaon gives the sense; or rather to take vengeance for injury done, which belongs to God alone: or, "am I not under God" (u)? subject to him, a servant of his, and why should you be mine? nor is it in my power, if I had a will to it, to change his purposes, to alter his providences, or contradict his will, and do hurt to those whom God hath blessed; and so may have regard to the late patriarchal benediction of his father, under the direction of the Holy Spirit: or, "am I in the place of God?" and under him a father of them, as he had been a provider for them, and a supporter of them, and still would be.

(u) "annon enim sub Deo sum?" Vatablus.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

Ready and willing to undergo that servitude into which we so wickedly sold thee.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants. Both the attitudes assumed and the words spoken were designed to express the intensity of their contrition and the fervor of their supplication.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

unfoldingWord translationNotes

Door43 World Missions Community

lay facedown before him

They lay down with their faces toward the ground. This is a sign of humility and respect for Joseph. (See: Symbolic Action)

Am I in the place of God?

Joseph uses a question to comfort his brothers. AT: "I am not in the place of God." or "I am not God." (See: Rhetorical Question)

you meant to harm me

"you intended to do evil against me"

God meant it for good

"God intended it for good"

So now do not be afraid

"So do not fear me"

I will provide for you and your little children

"I will always make sure you and your children have enough to eat"

He comforted them in this way and spoke kindly to their hearts

Here "hearts" refers to the brothers. AT: "He comforted them by speaking kindly to them" (See: Synecdoche)

translationWords

servant

fear

good

comfort

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

וילכו גם אחיו AND HIS BRETHREN ALSO WENT in addition to sending their messengers.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Genesis, in the Pentateuch, opens this verse with 9 words (8 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is nâphal (“to fall”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

The word nâphal carries the sense “to fall.” How does it shape the verse?
Genesis 37:7–11 shares this passage’s theme. How do the two illuminate each other?
These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
The verb «וַיֵּלְכוּ֙» is Qal Sequential Imperfect. How does its form color the action?
Reading how Trapp's Complete Commentary and The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

This verse counts 9 Hebrew ↔ 9 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 12 words in this verse.
8 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 9 words in this verse.