Genesis Chapter 50 verse 16 Holy Bible
And they sent a message unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,
read chapter 50 in ASV
So they sent word to Joseph, saying, Your father, before his death, gave us orders, saying,
read chapter 50 in BBE
And they sent a messenger to Joseph, saying, Thy father commanded before he died, saying,
read chapter 50 in DARBY
And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,
read chapter 50 in KJV
And they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, Thy father commanded before he died, saying,
read chapter 50 in WBT
They sent a message to Joseph, saying, "Your father commanded before he died, saying,
read chapter 50 in WEB
And they give a charge for Joseph, saying, `Thy father commanded before his death, saying,
read chapter 50 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerses 16, 17. - And (under these erroneous though not unnatural apprehensions) they sent a messenger unto Joseph, - literally, they charged Joseph, i.e. they deputed one of their number (possibly Benjamin) to carry their desires to Joseph - saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying (though not recorded, the circumstance here mentioned may have been historically true), So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil (nothing is more inherently probable than that the good man on his death-bed did request his sons to beg their brother's pardon): and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. Joseph's brethren in these words at once evince the depth of their humility, the sincerity of their repentance, and the genuineness of their religion. They were God's true servants, and they wished to be forgiven by their much-offended brother, who, however, had long since embraced them in the arms of his affection. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him - pained that they should for a single moment have enter-rained such suspicions against his love.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(16, 17) Thy father did command . . . --Many Jewish expositors consider that this was untrue, and that Jacob was never made aware of the fact that his brethren had sold Joseph into slavery. It is, however, probable, from Genesis 49:6, that Jacob not only knew of it, but saw in Simeon and Levi the chief offenders. But besides the father's authority the message brings a twofold influence to bear upon Joseph: for first it reminds him that they were his brethren, and next, that they shared the same religious faith--no slight band of union in a country where the religion was so unlike their own.
