Genesis 42:18

and on the third day he said to them, “I fear God. So do this and you will live:

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Joseph addresses his brothers on the third day of their confinement, speaking directly to them after the initial period of imprisonment. He issues a conditional directive immediately following their detention.

The words — The Hebrew construction זֹאת עֲשׂוּ וִֽ/חְי֑וּ (zot 'asu vi/ch.Yu) literally translates to "do this and live." This imperative pairs a specific required action with the explicit promise of survival.

The thread — The linkage of divine fear with just treatment of others appears in Leviticus 25:43 and Nehemiah 5:15, while the necessity of fearing God in a foreign context recalls Genesis 20:11.

Why it lands — The text presents a clear conditional structure that ties physical survival to a specific obedient response. It requires the reader to identify the exact action demanded and recognize that compliance is the stated condition for life.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וַיֹּ֨אמֶרva/i.Yo.merand/ he said אֲלֵהֶ֤ם'a.le./Hemto/ them יוֹסֵף֙yo.SefJoseph בַּיּ֣וֹםba/i.Yomon the/ day הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֔יha./she.li.Shi<the>/ third זֹ֥אתzotthis עֲשׂ֖וּ'a.Sudo וִֽחְי֑וּvi/ch.Yuand/ live אֶת־'et-<obj.>הָאֱלֹהִ֖יםha./'E.lo.Him<the>/ God אֲנִ֥י'a.NiI יָרֵֽא׃ya.Re'[am] fearing

King James Version

And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God:

Cross-references

Leviticus 25:43 You are not to rule over them harshly, but you shall fear your God.
Nehemiah 5:15 The governors before me had heavily burdened the people, taking from them bread and wine plus forty shekels of silver. Their servants also oppressed the people. But I did not do this, because of my fear of God.
Genesis 20:11 Abraham replied, “I thought to myself, ‘Surely there is no fear of God in this place. They will kill me on account of my wife.’
Luke 18:2 “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected men.
Nehemiah 5:9 So I continued, “What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our foreign enemies?
Luke 18:4 For a while he refused, but later he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect men,

People named

Joseph