Genesis 41 · Verse 16

Genesis 41:16

And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.
Genesis 41:16, King James Version

Genesis 41:16 in other translations

BSB“I myself cannot do it,” Joseph replied, “but God will give Pharaoh a sound answer.”
WEBJoseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It isn’t in me. God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”
ASVAnd Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.
YLTand Joseph answereth Pharaoh, saying, ‘Without me--God doth answer Pharaoh with peace.'
DARBYAnd Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me:God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.
BBEThen Joseph said, Without God there will be no answer of peace for Pharaoh.
WebsterAnd Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.

What does Genesis 41:16 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 41:15-16

15-16. Pharaoh said, ... I have dreamed a dream--The king's brief statement of the service required brought out the genuine piety of Joseph; disclaiming all merit, he ascribed whatever gifts or sagacity he possessed to the divine source of all wisdom, and he declared his own inability to penetrate futurity; but, at the same time, he expressed his confident persuasion that God would reveal what was necessary to be…

Read the full comment on Genesis 41:15-16 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 16 It is not in me, etc. - בלעדי biladai, without or independently of me - I am not essential to thy comfort, God himself has thee under his care. And he will send thee, or answer thee, peace; thou shalt have prosperity (שלום shelom) howsoever ominous thy dreams may appear. By this answer he not only conciliated the mind of the king, but led him to expect his help from that God from whom alone all comfort, protection, and prosperity, must proceed.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Genesis 41:9-32

God's time for the enlargement of his people is the fittest time. If the chief butler had got Joseph to be released from prison, it is probable he would have gone back to the land of the Hebrews. Then he had neither been so blessed himself, nor such a blessing to his family, as afterwards he proved. Joseph, when introduced to Pharaoh, gives honour to God. Pharaoh had dreamed that he stood upon the bank of the river…

Read the full comment on Genesis 41:9-32 →

Genesis 41:16 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיַּ֨עַןvai.Ya.'anand he answeredH6030
יוֹסֵ֧ףyo.SefJosephH3130
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
פַּרְעֹ֛הpar.'OhPharaohH6547
לֵאמֹ֖רle.Mor<to> sayingH559
בִּלְעָדָ֑יbil.'a.Daiapart from meH1107
אֱלֹהִ֕ים'E.lo.HimGodH430
יַעֲנֶ֖הya.'a.Nehhe will answerH6030
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
שְׁל֥וֹםshe.Lom[the] welfare ofH7965
פַּרְעֹֽה\׃par.'OhPharaohH6547

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Genesis 41:16

  • 2 Corinthians 3:5

    Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;

  • Genesis 40:8

    And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you.

  • Daniel 2:47

    The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.

  • Acts 3:12

    And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?

  • Numbers 12:6

    And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.

  • 1 Corinthians 15:10

    But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

  • Daniel 4:2

    I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me.

  • Acts 3:7

    And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

  • Daniel 2:18-23

    That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: …

  • Daniel 2:28-30

    But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.

  • Acts 14:14-15

    Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:

  • Genesis 37:14

    And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
It is not.
40:8; Nu 12:6; 2Ki 6:27; Da 2:18-23,28-30,47; 4:2; Ac 3:7,12
Ac 14:14,15; 1Co 15:10; 2Co 3:5
peace.
37:14; Lu 19:42

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Genesis 41:15

    And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it.

  • Genesis 41:16

    And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.

  • Genesis 41:17

    And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:

Read all of Genesis 41

Genesis 41:16 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y respondió José á Faraón, diciendo: No está en mí; Dios será el que responda paz á Faraón.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Et Joseph répondit au Pharaon, disant: Cela n’est pas à moi; Dieu donnera une réponse de paix au Pharaon.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und Joseph antwortete dem Pharao und sprach: Das steht nicht bei mir; Gott wird antworten, was dem Pharao zum Heil ist.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Respondit Joseph: Absque me Deus respondebit prospera Pharaoni.