1 Then Joseph couldn't control himself before all those who stood before him, and he cried, "Cause every man to go out from me!" There stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
2 He wept aloud. The Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard.
3 Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Does my father still live?" His brothers couldn't answer him; for they were terrified at his presence.
4 Joseph said to his brothers, "Come near to me, please." They came near. "He said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.
5 Now don't be grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.
6 For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are yet five years, in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.
7 God sent me before you to preserve you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance.
8 So now it wasn't you who sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
9 Hurry, and go up to my father, and tell him, 'This is what your son Joseph says, "God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me. Don't wait.
10 You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you will be near to me, you, your children, your children's children, your flocks, your herds, and all that you have.
11 There I will nourish you; for there are yet five years of famine; lest you come to poverty, you, and your household, and all that you have."'
12 Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaks to you.
13 You shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. You shall hurry and bring my father down here."
14 He fell on his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck.
15 He kissed all his brothers, and wept on them. After that his brothers talked with him.
16 The report of it was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, "Joseph's brothers have come." It pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants.
17 Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Tell your brothers, 'Do this. Load your animals, and go, travel to the land of Canaan.
18 Take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.'
19 Now you are commanded: do this. Take wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.
20 Also, don't concern yourselves about your belongings, for the good of all of the land of Egypt is yours."
21 The sons of Israel did so. Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way.
22 To all of them he gave each man changes of clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing.
23 To his father, he sent after this manner: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and provision for his father by the way.
24 So he sent his brothers away, and they departed. He said to them, "See that you don't quarrel on the way."
25 They went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan, to Jacob their father.
26 They told him, saying, "Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt." His heart fainted, for he didn't believe them.
27 They told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them. When he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob, their father, revived.
28 Israel said, "It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die."
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Genesis 45
Commentary on Genesis 45 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
The Recognition. - Genesis 45:1. After this appeal, in which Judah, speaking for his brethren, had shown the tenderest affection for the old man who had been bowed down by their sin, and the most devoted fraternal love and fidelity to the only remaining son of his beloved Rachel, and had given a sufficient proof of the change of mind, the true conversion, that had taken place in themselves, Joseph could not restrain himself any longer in relation to all those who stood round him. He was obliged to relinquish the part which he had hitherto acted for the purpose of testing his brothers' hearts, and to give full vent to his feelings. “ He called out: Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man (of his Egyptian attendants) with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brethren, ” quia effusio illa affectuum et στοργῆς erga fratres et parentem tanta fuit, ut non posset ferre alienorum praesentiam et aspectum ( Luther ).
Genesis 45:2-3
As soon as all the rest were gone, he broke out into such loud weeping, that the Egyptians outside could hear it; and the house of Pharaoh, i.e., the royal family, was told of it (cf. Genesis 45:2 and Genesis 45:16). He then said to his brethren: “ I am Joseph. Is my father still alive? ” That his father was still living, he had not only been informed before (Genesis 43:27), but had just been told again; but his filial heart impels him to make sure of it once more. “ But his brethren could not answer him, for they were terrified before him: ” they were so smitten in their consciences, that from astonishment and terror they could not utter a word.
Genesis 45:4-7
Joseph then bade his brethren approach nearer, and said: “ I am Joseph, your brother, whom he sold into Egypt. But now be not grieved nor angry with yourselves ( בּעיניכם אל־חר as in Genesis 31:35) that ye sold me hither; for God hath sent me before you to preserve life .” Sic enim Joseph interpretatur venditionem. Vos quidem me vendidistis, sed Deus emit, asseruit et vindicavit me sibi pastorem, principem et salvatorem populorum eodem consilio, quo videbar amissus et perditus ( Luther ). “ For, ” he continues in explanation, “ now there are two years of famine in the land, and there are five years more, in which there will be no ploughing and reaping. And God hath sent me before you to establish you a remnant (cf. 2 Samuel 14:7) upon the earth (i.e., to secure to you the preservation of the tribe and of posterity during this famine), and to preserve your lives to a great deliverance, ” i.e., to a great nation delivered from destruction, cf. Genesis 50:20. פּליטה that which has escaped, the band of men or multitude escaped from death and destruction (2 Kings 19:30-31). Joseph announced prophetically here, that God had brought him into Egypt to preserve through him the family which He had chosen for His own nation, and to deliver them out of the danger of starvation which threatened them now, as a very great nation.
Genesis 45:8
“ And now (this was truly the case) it was not you that sent me hither; but God ( Ha-Elohim , the personal God, on contrast with his brethren) hath made me a father to Pharaoh (i.e., his most confidential counsellor and friend; cf. 1 Macc. 11:32, Ges. thes . 7), and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt; ” cf. Genesis 41:40-41.
Genesis 45:9-11
Joseph then directed his brethren to go up to their father with all speed, and invite him in his name to come without delay, with all his family and possessions, into Egypt, where he would keep him near himself, in the land of Goshen (see Genesis 47:11), that he might not perish in the still remaining five years of famine. הוּרשׁ : Genesis 45:11, lit., to be robbed of one's possessions, to be taken possession of by another, from ירשׁ to take possession.
Genesis 45:12-13
But the brethren were so taken by surprise and overpowered by this unexpected discovery, that to convince them of the reality of the whole affair, Joseph was obliged to add, “Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you.
And tell my father all my glory in Egypt, and all that ye have seen, and bring my father quickly hither.”
Genesis 45:14-15
He then fell upon Benjamin's neck and wept, and kissed all his brethren and wept on them, i.e., whilst embracing them; “ and after that, his brethren talked with him .” כּן אחרי : after Joseph by a triple assurance, that what they had done was the leading of God for their own good, had dispelled their fear of retribution, and, by embracing and kissing them with tears, had sealed the truth and sincerity of his words.
Invitation to Jacob to Come into Egypt. - Genesis 45:16. The report of the arrival of Joseph's brethren soon found it sway into the palace, and made so favourable an impression upon Pharaoh and his courtiers, that the king sent a message through Joseph to his brethren to come with their father and their families (“ your houses ”) into Egypt, saying that he would give them “ the good of the land of Egypt, ” and they should eat “ the fat of the land .” טוּב , “the good,” is not the best part, but the good things (produce) of the land, as in Genesis 45:20, Genesis 45:23, Genesis 24:10; 2 Kings 8:9. חלב , fat, i.e., the finest productions.
At the same time Pharaoh empowered Joseph (“thou art commanded”) to give his brethren carriages to take with them, in which to convey their children and wives and their aged father, and recommended them to leave their goods behind them in Canaan, for the good of all Egypt was at their service. From time immemorial Egypt was rich in small, two-wheeled carriages, which could be used even where there were no roads (cf. Genesis 50:9; Exodus 14:6. with Isaiah 36:9). “ Let not your eye look with mourning ( תּחס ) at your goods; ” i.e., do not trouble about the house-furniture which you are obliged to leave behind. The good-will manifested in this invitation of Pharaoh towards Jacob's family was to be attributed to the feeling of gratitude to Joseph, and “is related circumstantially, because this free and honourable invitation involved the right of Israel to leave Egypt again without obstruction” ( Delitzsch ).
The sons of Israel carried out the instructions of Joseph and the invitation of Pharaoh (Genesis 45:25-27). But Joseph not only sent carriages according to Pharaoh's directions, and food for the journey, he also gave them presents, changes of raiment, a suit for every one, and five suits for Benjamin, as well as 300 shekels of silver. שׂמלות חלפות : change of clothes, clothes to change; i.e., dress clothes which were worn on special occasions and frequently changed (Judges 13:12-13, Judges 13:19; 2 Kings 5:5). “ And to his father he sent like these; ” i.e., not changes of clothes, but presents also, viz., ten asses “carrying of the good of Egypt,” and ten she-asses with corn and provisions for the journey; and sent them off with the injunction: אל־תּרגּזוּ :noitcnu , μὴ ὀργἱζεσθε (lxx), “do not get angry by the way.” Placatus erat Joseph fratribus, simul eos admonet, ne quid turbarum moveant. Timendum enim erat, ne quisque se purgando crimen transferre in alios studeret atque its surgeret contentio ( Calvin ).
When they got back, and brought word to their father, “Joseph is still living, yea ( וכי an emphatic assurance, Ewald , §3306) he is ruler in all the land of Egypt, his heart stopped, for he believed them not;” i.e., his heart did not beat at this joyful news, for he put no faith in what they said. It was not till they told him all that Joseph had said, and he saw the carriages that Joseph had sent, that “ the spirit of their father Jacob revived; and Israel said: It is enough! Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die .” Observe the significant interchange of Jacob and Israel. When once the crushed spirit of the old man was revived by the certainty that his son Joseph was still alive, Jacob was changed into Israel, the “conqueror overcoming his grief at the previous misconduct of his sons” ( Fr. v. Meyer ).