Psalms 105:17

Old Testament Poetry/Hymns ASV (1901)

What does Psalms 105:17 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “He sent a man before them; Joseph was sold for a servant:” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

He sent a man before them; Joseph was sold for a servant:
Psalms 105:17 — American Standard Version

Context — Psalms 105

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
17He sent a man before them; Joseph was sold for a servant:

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“He sent a man before them, even Joseph, etc.] Who, though but a lad of seventeen years of age when he was sold into Egypt, yet was a grown man when he stood before Pharaoh, and interpreted his dreams of plenty and famine to come; and advised him to lay up store in the years of plenty, against the years of famine; by which he appeared to be a wise man, as the Targum here calls him; (see <013703>Genesis 37:3 41:46). Him God sent before into Egypt; before Jacob and his sons went down thither, to make provision for them, to support them in the time of famine, and preserve their lives. God is said to send him, though his brethren sold him out of envy; there being such a plain hand of Providence…”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“He sent a man before them - That is, He so ordered it by his providence that a man - Joseph - was sent before the family of Jacob into Egypt, that he might make arrangements for their reception and preservation. The whole matter was as God had sent him, or had commanded him to go. And yet it was brought about as the result of a series of acts of the most wicked character; by the envy and the hatred of his brethren; by their guilt and hardness of heart in proposing at first to put him to death, and then in their arrangements for selling him to hopeless slavery; by their plan so to dispose of him that their father might never hear of him again, and that they might be troubled with him no more.…”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“He sent: Gen 45:5, Gen 45:7, Gen 45:8, Gen 50:20 Joseph: Gen 37:27, Gen 37:28, Gen 37:36, Gen 39:1, Gen 45:4; Act 7:9 Psalms 105:18”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification