What Does Genesis 50:20 Mean?
Two renderings of the same sentence, the verses it belongs to, and what the passage is doing — so you can decide what it means rather than take someone's word for it.
"But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive." Genesis 50:20, King James Version
The same verse in modern English
"As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this—to preserve the lives of many people." Genesis 50:20, Berean Standard Bible
What it sits inside
A verse quoted on its own is the commonest way one gets misread. Here it is with what comes immediately before and after, in the King James Version.
Genesis 50:18 And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.
Genesis 50:19 And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?
Genesis 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
Genesis 50:21 Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.
Genesis 50:22 And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father’s house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years.
A conversation built on it
Joseph's brothers threw him in a pit, sold him, and lied about it for decades. And when he had every right to destroy them, he wept and said 'God meant it for good.' Forgiveness doesn't mean what they did was okay. It means you trust that God can redeem even what they ruined.
Questions people ask
What does Genesis 50:20 mean?
In modern English (Berean Standard Bible) it reads: “As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this—to preserve the lives of many people.” The King James rendering most people know is: “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”
What is the context of Genesis 50:20?
The verses immediately around it read: (Genesis 50:18) And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants. (Genesis 50:19) And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? (Genesis 50:20) But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. (Genesis 50:21) Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them. (Genesis 50:22) And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father’s house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years.
How is Genesis 50:20 used in a conversation about this?
Joseph's brothers threw him in a pit, sold him, and lied about it for decades. And when he had every right to destroy them, he wept and said 'God meant it for good.' Forgiveness doesn't mean what they did was okay. It means you trust that God can redeem even what they ruined.
Reading it is one thing. Saying what it stirs up is another.
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