Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.

Fear not: I will feed you and your children. And he comforted them, and spoke gently and mildly.

And now, fear not: I will maintain you and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spoke consolingly to them.

and now, fear not: I do nourish you and your infants;' and he comforteth them, and speaketh unto their heart.

So now, have no fear: for I will take care of you and your little ones. So he gave them comfort with kind words.

Now therefore fear ye not; I will sustain you, and your little ones.' And he comforted them, and spoke kindly unto them.

Do not be afraid. I will pasture you and your little ones." And he consoled them, and he spoke mildly and leniently.

Nunc itaque ne timeatis, ego alam vos, et parvulos vestros. Et consolatue est eos, et loquutus est ad cor eorum.

I will nourish you. It was a token of a solid and not a feigned reconciliation, not only to abstain from malice and injury, but also to "overcome evil with good," as Paul teaches, (Romans 12:21:) and truly, he who fails in his duty, when he possesses the power of giving help, and when the occasion demands his assistance, shows, by this very course, that he is not forgetful of injury. This requires to be the more diligently observed, because, commonly, the greater part weakly conclude that they forgive offenses if they do not retaliate them; as if indeed we were not taking revenge when we withdraw our hands from giving help. You would assist your brother if you thought him worthy: he implores your aid in necessity; you desert him because he has done you some unkindness; what hinders you from helping him but hatred? Therefore, we shall then only prove our minds to be free from malevolence, when we follow with kindness those enemies by whom we have been ill treated. Joseph is said to have spoken "to the heart of his brethren," because, by addressing them with suavity and kindness, he removed all their scruples; as we have before seen, that Shechem spoke to the heart of Dinah, when he attempted to console her with allurements, in order that, forgetting the dishonor he had done her, she might consent to marry him.

Now therefore, fear ye not,.... Which, is repeated to dispossess them of every fear they might entertain of him on any account whatever:
I will nourish you, and your little ones; provide food for them, and their families, not only for themselves and their sons, now grown up, but their grandchildren and even the youngest and latest of their families should share in his favours:
and he comforted them, and spake kindly to them; even "to their heart" (w); such things as were quite pleasing and agreeable to them, served to banish their fears, revive their spirits, and afford comfort to them. Just so God and Christ do with backsliding sinners, and would have done with his own people by his servants; see Isaiah 40:1.
(w) "ad cor eorum", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius, &c.

Fear not, I will nourish you - See what an excellent spirit Joseph was of, and learn of him to render good for evil. He did not tell them they were upon their good behaviour, and he would be kind to them if he saw they carried themselves well: no, he would not thus hold them in suspence, nor seem jealous of them, though they had been suspicious of him. He comforted them, and, to banish all their fears, he spake kindly to them. Those we love and forgive we must not only do well for, but speak kindly to.