Genesis 45:16

And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, Joseph’s brethren are come: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
fame	וְהַקֹּ֣ל ve.ha.Kol	H6963	a voice or sound · conjunction + definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
heard	נִשְׁמַ֗ע nish.Ma'	H8085	to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, niphal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Pharaoh’s	פַּרְעֹה֙ par.'Oh	H6547	Paroh · noun, masculine singular absolute
house	בֵּ֤ית beit	H1004	a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular construct
saying	לֵאמֹ֔ר le.Mor	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
Joseph’s	יוֹסֵ֑ף yo.Sef	H3130	Joseph · proper noun, a man's name
brethren	אֲחֵ֣י 'a.Chei	H251	a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relation… · noun, common masculine plural construct
come	בָּ֖אוּ Ba.'u	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
pleased	וַיִּיטַב֙ vai.yi.Tav	H3190	to be (causative) make well · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Pharaoh	פַרְעֹ֔ה far.'Oh	H6547	Paroh · noun, masculine singular absolute
well	יָטַב yâṭab	H3190	to be (causative) make well
and	בְּעֵינֵ֣י be.'ei.Nei	H5869	an eye (literally or figuratively) · preposition + noun, common feminine dual construct
servants	עֲבָדָֽיו 'a.va.Dav	H5650	a servant · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Genesis 16:6 But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled fr…
Genesis 20:15 And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.
Genesis 34:18 And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem Hamor’s son.
Genesis 41:33 Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 1:33 Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to shew you by what way ye should go, an…
2 Samuel 3:36 And all the people took notice of it, and it pleased them: as whatsoever the king did pleased all the people.
2 Chronicles 30:4 And the thing pleased the king and all the congregation.
Esther 1:21 And the saying pleased the king and the princes; and the king did according to the word of Memucan:

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 45:16-24

Here is, 1. The kindness of Pharaoh to Joseph, and to his relations for his sake: he bade his brethren welcome (Gen 45:16), though it was a time of scarcity, and they were likely to be a charge to him. Nay, because it pleased Pharaoh, it pleased his servants too, at least they pretended to be pleased because Pharaoh was. He engaged Joseph to send for his father down to Egypt, and promised to furnish them with all conveniences both for his removal thither and his settlement there. If the good of all the land of Egypt (as it was not better stocked than any other land, thanks to Joseph, under God) would suffice him, he was welcome to it all, it was all his own, even the fat of the land (Gen 45:…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 45:14

And he fell upon . . . Benjamin's neck--The sudden transition from a condemned criminal to a fondled brother, might have occasioned fainting or even death, had not his tumultuous feelings been relieved by a torrent of tears. But Joseph's attentions were not confined to Benjamin. He affectionately embraced every one of his brothers in succession; and by those actions, his forgiveness was demonstrated more fully than it could be by words.

Adam Clarke on Genesis 45:14

He fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck - Among the Asiatics kissing the beard, the neck, and the shoulders, is in use to the present day; and probably falling on the neck signifies no more than kissing the neck or shoulders, with the arms around.

John Gill on Genesis 45:16

And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house,.... The report was carried to court, and there it was told by some from Joseph's house, who had overheard what had passed, at least somewhat of it: saying, Joseph's brethren are come; perhaps they might call him by his Egyptian name, though the historian gives him his Hebrew name, and which was his right name, and by which he was best known to the Hebrews, for whose sake chiefly he wrote: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants; for Joseph being greatly beloved both by the king and his courtiers, who are meant by his servants, they were glad of an opportunity of showing their further regard to him, by their respect and civilities to…

The Church Fathers

When the things that needed to be said between them were finished, the doors of that judgment room were opened. The princes entered rejoicing and the army commanders full of gladness. This news was pleasing in the eyes of Pharaoh and his servants, for they had believed that he who had become like a father to Pharaoh and ruler over the freemen and princes of Egypt was no slave but was a son of a freeman from the blessed race of the house of Abraham.
— Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 40:1

And Pharaoh rejoiced because Joseph had known his brothers. From there the news spread in Pharaoh's house, and he urged the holy Joseph to invite his brothers to come with their father. He also gives orders that their packs be filled with grain and loaded onto wagons. What can account for such consideration shown to a stranger? Only that a great mystery was being revealed, a mystery the church today does not deny. The Jews will be redeemed; the Christian people will rejoice at this union, give aid to the limit of their resources and send people to preach the good news of the kingdom of God, so that their call may come sooner.
— Ambrose of Milan, ON JOSEPH 13.74

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Egypt · History of Israel in: Pharaoh invites Jacob into — History of Israel in: Pharaoh invites Jacob into
Hospitality · .Pharaoh to Jacob — .Pharaoh to Jacob
Kindness · .Pharaoh to Jacob — .Pharaoh to Jacob

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Genesis 45:16

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 45:16-24

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 45:14

Adam Clarke on Genesis 45:14

John Gill on Genesis 45:16

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 45:16

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 45:16-24

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 45:14

Adam Clarke on Genesis 45:14

John Gill on Genesis 45:16

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 45:16-21

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 45:16-18

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 45:16–end

Rashi on Genesis 45:4