Genesis 50:16

16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died:

Genesis 50:16 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
16 And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,
English Standard Version (ESV)
16 So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, "Your father gave this command before he died,
New Living Translation (NLT)
16 So they sent this message to Joseph: “Before your father died, he instructed us
The Message Bible (MSG)
16 So they sent Joseph a message, "Before his death, your father gave this command:
American Standard Version (ASV)
16 And they sent a message unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
16 They sent a messenger to Joseph to say, "Before your father died, he commanded us,
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
16 So they sent this message to Joseph, "Before he died your father gave a command:
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
16 So they sent a message to Joseph. They said, "Your father gave us directions before he died.

Genesis 50:16 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 50:16

And they sent a messenger unto Joseph
Not Bilhah, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem, nor her sons, Dan and Naphtali, as Jarchi, grounding it on ( Genesis 37:1-36 ) though it is not improbable that some from among themselves were deputed, who were most interested in Joseph; since it is not very likely they would commit such an affair to a stranger or to a servant; and the most proper persons to be sent on such an errand seem to be Judah and Benjamin, the latter as having had no concern in the affair of selling him, and was his own brother by father and mother's side, and very dear to him; and the former, because he saved his life, when the rest, excepting Reuben, were for shedding his blood, and had endeared himself also to Joseph, by his tender concern both for his father and his brother Benjamin; however, they thought fit first to sound Joseph by a messenger, how he stood affected to them, before they appeared in a body in person, to whom they gave a charge, as the words may be rendered, "they commanded unto Joseph" F20; that is, they commanded those that were deputed by them to him:

saying, thy father did command before he died;
some think, this was no better than a lie, which their fear prompted them to; and that they framed the following story, the more to work upon the mind of Joseph, and dispose it in their favour; seeing it is a question whether Jacob ever knew anything of the affair of their ill usage to Joseph; since otherwise it would have been, in all likelihood, taken notice of in his last dying words, as well as the affair of Reuben, and that of Simeon and Levi; and besides, had he been apprised of it, he knew such was the clemency and generosity of Joseph, that he had nothing to fear from him, nor could he entertain any suspicion of a malevolent disposition in him towards his brethren, or that he would ever use them ill for former offences:

saying,
as follows:


FOOTNOTES:

F20 (Powy-la wwuyw) "et mandaverunt ad Joseph", Montanus; "nuntio misso", Pagninus; "aliquos ad Josephum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Genesis 50:16 In-Context

14 After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, together with his brothers and all the others who had gone with him to bury his father.
15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?”
16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died:
17 ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.
18 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said.

Cross References 1

Scripture quoted by permission.  Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.  NIV®.  Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica.  All rights reserved worldwide.