And Joseph could not control himself before all them that stood by him, and he cried, Put every man out from me! And no man stood with him when Joseph made himself known to his brethren.
Joseph has hidden who he is and dealt harshly with his brothers. Now his love can hide itself no longer — so why does he empty the room before telling them who he is?
Joseph's harshness had a purpose. Once it has done its work, he stops hiding.
Up to now Joseph has made himself a stranger to his brothers. He spoke roughly and dealt harshly with them, for their consciences had work to do and repentance had to come. But love's strange work is finished, and Joseph can no longer hold back from making himself known. Having exposed the guilt of their hearts, he must make known the love of his heart. Have they discovered the evil of their hearts? Then he will show them the far greater grace of his heart. It knows all their evil, and it can still rise above it in full, free forgiveness.
So why clear the room first?
No stranger was allowed to witness this sacred scene. What stranger could understand or appreciate it? We are called here to watch, as it were, conviction produced by God in the presence of divine grace. And we may say that when these two meet, they settle every question with ease.
The verse says "no one stayed with him." Writers turn that into a lesson about who a guilty person needs when meeting a Saviour.
And when Jesus wants to reveal Himself to sinners, He too says, as it were, "Make everyone go out from Me!" He is the one Mediator. Before Him all pretenders must step aside... No one stood with Joseph when he revealed himself to his guilty brothers. And when the Son of God shows Himself as Saviour to guilty men, there is no need for mediators. No priest on earth and no "saint" in heaven is necessary.
Their consciences were already awake. But knowing your own heart is not what brings rest.
Joseph must make "himself known." Nothing less will satisfy his heart; nothing less will give rest to their hearts. And this is still the way of the loving Saviour with the anxious sinner. Only one discovery will roll away the burden of guilt: that the One against whom we have sinned knows it all, and forgives it all. Knowing our own hearts, however necessary, will bring no rest to the soul. We may mourn over the past and wear ourselves out over our sins. But no discovery of evil in our hearts will bring comfort to the soul. Nor will repentance, however real. Nor will sorrow for sin, however sincere. For rest and peace Jesus must make Himself known. Then we discover with great delight that His heart is full of grace for a man who is full of sin.
Guilty men were standing in front of someone who could have judged them.
Joseph had not been afflicting his brothers willingly. His whole way with them was only to lead them to this place of repentance. He meets them now not as a judge, but as a brother... His love could no longer hide itself. "Make everyone go out from me," he said, and then he made himself known to his brothers. He showed them his thoughts, how kind they were. He set their guilty conscience free and bound up their broken hearts. The channels were now clear, and grace and blessing flowed through in living, refreshing, gladdening streams.
Writers also read the scene forward, to a day still ahead for Israel.
Here, in Genesis 45, Joseph makes himself known to his brothers. And we look on it all as a living picture of that great event to come. All Israel will just as surely be saved, by a distinct act of divine grace and power, once the fullness of the Gentiles has come in (Romans 11:25-27).
- Restraint. Joseph's earlier roughness was love's strange work, holding back until conscience had done its job — then he "can no longer hold back from making himself known."
- Privacy. No stranger could understand this scene, so Joseph clears the room. There conviction meets grace, and together they settle every question.
- Alone. No one stands between Joseph and his brothers. Writers apply this to Christ, the one Mediator: no priest or saint stands beside Him.
- Revelation. Rest never comes from examining our own hearts. It comes when we discover that the One we wronged knows everything and forgives everything.
- Reunion. He meets them as a brother, not a judge — and commentators see in it the day when all Israel will be saved.
And he raised his voice in weeping; and the Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard.
Judah's plea has just broken through, and the ruler of Egypt stops hiding who he is. He clears the room of every Egyptian, yet his weeping carries through the walls — so why does the most powerful man in Egypt break down now?
One writer ties the outburst to what God's grace had just done in the brothers:
Now the grace of God has worked genuine repentance in the hearts of the brothers, and in Judah in particular. So Joseph is free to reveal to them His own true identity. He was so deeply affected that he could not restrain himself; and called on all his servants to leave the room.
Earlier Joseph had wept out of sight and kept control of himself. This time he cleared the room and let everything out:
Joseph could not, and would not, hold out any longer. He gave way at once to his pent-up affection. So that he could do it freely and fully, he ordered every attendant to leave his presence. No stranger must interfere in such a scene… All must be out now. In Genesis 42:30 he looked for a place to weep alone, and held himself back. Now he let his feelings out without measure, so that they would be free from their fears and sure of the love that was always in his heart. For he knew well that the discovery must fill them with dread as much as astonishment. And he gave way to weeping so loud that the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.
One commentator counted Joseph's tears and set them beside the chapters of his rise to power:
The skill and power of Joseph's hands had carried him to the top. The future of his brothers and of all Egypt now lay in those hands. Then the tender compassions of his heart came out, and they expressed themselves in his tears. In Genesis 39 to 41 Joseph's hands are prominent. Genesis 42 to 50, Joseph's tears. These later chapters record that Joseph wept no less than eight times.
What makes the count striking is where the tears are missing:
It is remarkable that there is no mention of Joseph weeping in his earlier years… Even his hard-hearted brothers had to confess it. They said, "we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen" (Genesis 42:21). They saw the distress of his soul, but as far as the record goes they never saw his tears.
You would expect the guilty men to be the ones crying. They are not:
He told his brothers to come near and said to them, "I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt." We might have expected that they would be the ones who wept — first at recognising the great wrong they had done him, and second at the grace that overflowed their evil. But no, the tears were his and not theirs. They had had to bow down before him. But he deserved it, for he towered above them in the things that are truly great in the sight of God. A faint foreshadowing of the greatness of Christ.
Another writer traces the sound back to Judah's pleading, and finds more in it than natural feeling:
He wept again as he saw the work of repentance going on in his brothers. In his own way, he longed for them greatly. At last Judah's words were too much for him. Conviction of conscience had then ended in restoration of heart. "The old man" and "the lad," again and again on Judah's lips, had a power that prevailed. Joseph could no longer hold himself back. He sobbed aloud, and the house of Pharaoh heard him. But these were more than the tears of nature. This was the heart of Christ, or the tears of the Father on the neck of the prodigal son.
One writer sees in this scene a picture of a day still to come:
Joseph's brothers rejected him, and in the land of Egypt he was exalted to the right hand of the throne. There he stood next to the one who set him in the highest place, and his brothers still did not know him. One day the true Joseph will present Himself to the sons of Israel. Will they not grieve in their souls, as Joseph's brothers did while the house of Pharaoh heard it? There was never such genuine mourning as this for the offspring of Jacob.
- Cause. Joseph waits until repentance is real in his brothers. Only then does he say who he is.
- Cry. He empties the room and lets his love pour out. The weeping removes their fear.
- Contrast. The record shows no tears in his years of suffering. They come in his years of power, from a heart that now holds his brothers' future.
- Reach. The sound carries past the closed door. Egypt and Pharaoh's house hear what no stranger could see.
- Result. The scene points to a coming day. Christ will reveal Himself to Israel, and mourning like this will sound again.
And Joseph said to his brethren, I am Joseph. Does my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him, for they were troubled at his presence.
Joseph finally tells his brothers who he is, and asks one short question about their father. Their silence in reply is the loudest moment in the chapter: guilt standing face to face with the person it wronged.
The brothers had stood in front of Joseph for chapters and still did not know him. One writer draws a wider lesson from that:
Notice, too, that Joseph's brothers do not recognise him. He has to say to them, "I am Joseph," before they knew it was he. And no one can find out God and Christ by searching. No one, by nature's light or human intelligence, ever comes to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. It is entirely a matter of divine revelation and sovereignty. Take three illustrations: the woman at the well; the man born blind; and Saul of Tarsus (John 4 and 9; Acts 9).
Joseph already knew the answer; Judah had just spoken of their father at length. So the question was not for information:
Exquisite indeed, in the way of grace, this was, and perfect in the skill of love. Joseph could have answered this question himself. Judah's speech had already told him the father was still alive. The echo of it was still in his ears, for it was too precious for him to let it go. But Joseph hurried to bring a third person into the scene. He could not allow the servants or officers of the palace to be present, for that would expose his brothers. And yet he dreaded that being alone with him would be too much for them. So he had to bring someone in to share that moment with them — and the very best of all was the one Joseph's word introduces.
Another writer puts the same motive in one line:
He asked at once, "Is my father still alive?" Why ask this? Because of love; he wanted to take away their fear at once, so he brought their father to their memory.
Their fear was real. Joseph does not deny what they did. He answers it by naming the tie he still owns:
That they did fear is clear enough, for we read, "they were dismayed at his presence" (verse 3). Joseph, however, draws them to himself with the cords of love; "Come near to me," he says. "And they came near." Having drawn them to himself, he seeks to remove every fear by reminding them that he is still their brother: "I am Joseph your brother." He says, in effect: "I know full well how you treated me in the past. You hated me, you rejected me, you sold me. But do not be afraid. I am Joseph your brother. I know too that the day of my exaltation has come. You see me — the very one you rejected — in the place of power. Do not be afraid. Though I am supreme, I am still Joseph your brother."
The brothers could not answer. One commentator sees the same silence in people who are forgiven but cannot believe it:
Too many converts are like Joseph's brothers here. They are full of doubts and misgivings. He says to them, "I am Joseph." And his brothers could not answer him, we read, "for they were dismayed at his presence." Their consciences were not at rest, just like many a truly converted soul today. "Fear has to do with punishment," John writes. And oh, how a tormenting fear haunts and harasses so many of Christ's redeemed people! They fear they are not really accepted by God, or perfectly justified before Him, or that they may yet be cast away and perish. Such people need to know the perfect love of God in Christ towards all who believe. And it is this love that casts out fear.
One writer sees this scene as a preview of Israel meeting their Messiah:
"I am Joseph," he tells them. What a shock for them! "Is my father still alive?" He wanted that confirmation from their own lips, but they were so stunned they could not speak (v. 3). What will the result be when the great Messiah of Israel reveals Himself to the nation as the Lord Jesus whom they had crucified? "When they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn" (Zech. 12:10). Like Thomas, they will be broken down and confess, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28).
- Revealed — They never worked out who he was; he told them. Knowing God comes the same way: by revelation, not investigation.
- Reassured — The question about his father was love's tact. It brought a third person into the room, so being alone with Joseph would not crush them.
- Related — The man in the place of power says "your brother." His new position did not change the relationship.
- Rested — Their silence pictures a forgiven person who still fears. The cure is not better feelings but perfect love believed.
- Returning — One writer reads the scene forward. A rejected brother, now exalted, makes Himself known to a nation that will mourn and confess Him.
And Joseph said to his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
In this verse the ruler of Egypt drops his disguise. He speaks to the men who sold him, and two things stand out: he invites them close, and he names the sin between them.
Their crime and his grace meet in one room.
In Genesis 45 the story reaches its wonderful climax. Joseph reveals himself to them. "I am Joseph." The Joseph they had sold as a slave stood before them as ruler over all the land. Yet he met them in all the grace of his heart. He made everyone else leave, and the guilty stood alone in the presence of the saviour.
Joseph could have said "I am Joseph" at their first visit. He waited. Commentators point to what had to happen inside the brothers first.
Joseph, when he saw them, knew them, but they did not know him. He had purposes of grace towards them, as his conduct throughout proved. They had treated him cruelly, yet he held no bitterness and no wish for revenge. He wanted them at ease before him, and at home with him; but first he had to work repentance in them. How did he bring this about? They had to judge themselves for the past.
The pattern holds beyond Joseph's story:
Once conscience has done its work, the Lord can come near and reveal Himself. He never comes and reveals Himself until the sinner takes his true place — is angry with himself.
Before he says a word about himself, Joseph clears the room. Commentators draw two things from that empty room. One is that this scene fits no audience:
Joseph allowed no stranger to watch this sacred scene. What stranger could understand or value it? Here we watch, as it were, conviction worked by God in the presence of the grace of God. When these two come together, they settle every question with ease.
The other is that no one needs to stand between the guilty and the one they wronged:
When Jesus reveals Himself to sinners, He too says, as it were, "Make everyone go out from Me!" He is the one Mediator. Every pretender must step aside before Him... "This Man receives sinners." "Come to Me," He says to them. And more: He says, "Whoever comes to Me I will never cast out."
They had just heard who he was, and could not answer a word. His invitation breaks that silence. His next words name their crime and still claim them as family.
They were afraid; we read that "they were dismayed at his presence" (verse 3). Joseph, however, draws them to himself with the cords of love. "Come near to me," he says. "And they came near." Having drawn them close, he seeks to remove every fear by reminding them that he is still their brother: "I am Joseph your brother." He says, as it were: "I know full well how you treated me in the past. You hated me, you spurned me, you sold me. But do not be afraid — I am Joseph your brother."
They were owed nothing. What they get instead is an invitation:
What would their thoughts have been when he said, "I am Joseph"? Can you imagine their astonishment?... Justice could have demanded their lives. But in grace, "Joseph said, Come near to me, please." And Jesus says, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
Pardon and welcome are not the same thing. This verse gives both.
It is not only that Joseph is ready to forgive; he desires the company of those he forgives. We rejoice in the grace that meets our need. But how slow we are to see that the One who has removed our guilt wants our company! Christ has come near to us so that we might come near to Him... If love makes us suited to His company, love will not be content without our company.
Writers read this scene as a preview of a day still to come for Israel.
In all this we see a picture of the national repentance of Israel, predicted in Zechariah 12:10-14... They will discover that the One whom they pierced is the LORD Himself. In the same way, the repentance of the brothers here reaches its climax. They discover that the great lord of Egypt is Joseph himself — the one they had pierced with so many sorrows.
- Conscience first. Joseph stayed hidden until his brothers judged themselves. The revealing came after the repenting.
- Room cleared. Joseph sent every stranger out. Conviction and grace settled the matter, with no go-between in the way.
- Come near. Love drew the men who could not speak. Justice could have taken their lives; grace called them close.
- Still your brother. He names what they did, and in the same breath calls himself their brother. They face the sin without fear.
- Company, not just pardon. Forgiveness is only the start. The one who removed their guilt wanted them near him. The whole scene points to the day Israel will recognise the One they pierced.
And now, be not grieved, and be not angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither, for God sent me before you to preserve life.
Joseph has kept his identity hidden while he pressed his brothers hard. Now the ruler of Egypt tells the men who sold him not to torment themselves. His reason is not that the crime was small, but that a hand higher than theirs was at work in it.
Joseph does more than pardon. He works to clear away the regret that would spoil their enjoyment of his love.
They had confessed the sin. Joseph will not only forgive them; he will also remove all lingering regrets and self-reproaches. He will assure them that behind their sin, yes, by means of their sin, God was working out His purposes of blessing. It is true that Joseph has to say, "You sold me here." But he adds, "God sent me before you to save your lives by a great deliverance." So he turns his brothers away from thinking about themselves. He engages their thoughts and affections with himself, his glories, and the blessings that flow to them through his exaltation.
The phrase "save your lives by a great deliverance" comes from verse 7 in an older translation.
There is also a simple inference his brothers could draw from the way he speaks to them.
If he did not want them to be angry with themselves, then certainly he was not angry with them. Wonderful attitude for an exalted ruler!
These words are not spoken to men who are still hiding what they did. Joseph waited until their guilt had surfaced.
But when were these words spoken? Not until the guilty brothers had felt and owned their guilt. Repentance came before the pardon... Joseph "spoke roughly" to his brothers at first. He brought them through deep waters, and made them feel and confess their guilt. But the very moment they took the place of repentance, he took the place of forgiveness.
Joseph names God as the sender without erasing what his brothers did. Both statements stand in the same sentence.
Their wrath had sold Joseph into Egypt. God used their sin to make Joseph the great organiser of the day, saving countless lives. There could be no excusing the terrible sin of Joseph's brothers against their brother. But it must have been a great comfort to their accusing hearts to find that God used the wrath of man to praise Him.
Peter's preaching holds the same two truths together. The same words fit Jesus and those who sinned against Him.
You see the same thing in the Acts of the Apostles. In Acts 2 the apostle Peter tells the convicted people that their killing of Christ had in fact been the carrying out of God's purpose, decided beforehand. The guilt of man was no less, of course... Jesus says, I know you have sinned against Me, and you have not loved Me, but see what God sent Me before you to do. To save your lives by a great deliverance.
The rescue is wider than one family's next meal. Joseph is pointing them to a plan already promised to their forefather Abraham.
Here was the true key. It was not merely the disclosure to Pharaoh and the rescue of Joseph. It was not merely the provision in general, in the unusually long plenty and the equally long famine. It was the carrying out of His plans, made known long before to Abram in Genesis 15. By those plans His ancient people would grow up from the family of Jacob in a foreign land of bondage and affliction. God would judge the nation that oppressed them, and His people would come out with great possessions.
Writers read the whole scene as a shadow of something still ahead for Israel.
This is grace indeed, setting the convicted conscience perfectly at rest. The brothers had already condemned themselves completely. So Joseph had only to pour the blessed balm into their broken hearts. This is all a beautiful picture of God's dealings with Israel in the last days, when they will look on Him whom they have pierced, and mourn.
- Sin. The brothers really did sell him. God's purpose never excuses what they did — "there could be no excusing the terrible sin."
- Confession. Joseph spoke roughly first and comforted second. Repentance came before pardon. Forgiveness met them the moment they owned their guilt.
- Grace. He removes the penalty and the self-reproach. He draws their eyes off themselves and onto himself and his glory.
- Purpose. "God sent me" names a second hand on the same event. God used the wrath of man to serve His plan. Peter later said the same of the cross.
- Life. The aim reaches past the famine. God keeps the promise made to Abraham and brings His people out of bondage with great possessions. It ends in a picture of the day Israel looks on the One they pierced.
For the famine has been these two years in the land; and yet there are five years in which there will be neither ploughing nor harvest.
Joseph has just told his terrified brothers who he is. Now he tells them where they stand in time: two years of famine behind them, five worse years ahead. How could he speak about years that had not yet come? And why did his brothers need to hear it now?
Joseph names the two ends of farming: the plowing that starts a crop and the harvest that gathers it. For five years neither would happen — nothing going into the ground, nothing coming out of it.
'Ploughed' and 'ploughing,' as the same Hebrew word is elsewhere translated. Gen. 45:6; Ex. 34:21; 1 Sam. 8:12.
So the sentence describes a total collapse at both ends of farming — nothing put in and nothing taken out. One writer describes how that worked out in practice, and how far it spread.
There were still five years of famine in Egypt. Though the Egyptians planted fields, they got little or nothing. Soon all lands were starving. They went to Pharaoh for help. He said, "Go to Joseph."
Joseph states the length of the famine as plainly as he states the past. He is not guessing. One writer takes that confidence as an answer to everyone who doubts that God tells the future.
What a lesson follows! It rebukes the shameless unbelief of prophecy found in this generation of people who call themselves Christians. Joseph speaks to his brothers with the calmest confidence, just as he had spoken to the king and court of Egypt. He tells them of five years of famine on top of the two that had already driven them to come for the stores of grain. The years of overflowing plenty had enabled him, by his faith, to lay up those stores against the years of want. Near or distant is alike easy to the revealing Spirit of God. Both are beyond man's power. Unbelief would explain both away.
This was hard news. The hunger that had driven them to Egypt was nowhere near its end. Yet notice what is missing from their reply.
Then he lets them know that the two years of famine they had suffered was only the beginning. There were five years to come. They must have wondered how he knew this, but they did not question his word.
Joseph could have read the same seven years as the story of what his brothers had done to him. Instead he reads them as the story of what God was doing.
One more thing marked Joseph out, as we see in verses 5-8. His eye rested on God, not on circumstances, however hard they had been. The evil actions of his brothers had faded into insignificance in his mind. He recognized that God had been behind all they had done. God had worked it in as part of His plan for salvation and deliverance. We are reminded of the prayer of the early church. They acknowledged that Herod, Pilate, Gentiles and Jews gathered together against the Lord Jesus, and yet only did "whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place" (Acts 4:28). Joseph brought about "a great deliverance." Yet it was very small compared with the deliverance won by the death and resurrection of Christ.
The famine did more than ruin crops. It drove everyone, family and foreigner alike, to the feet of the man they had ignored.
During the days of plenty the world paid little attention to Joseph. We hear nothing of his brothers; they were completely indifferent to him. But when the famine set in, need wakes up… The need calls out a cry for bread. So the Gentiles have to learn, and the brothers discover, that no one can meet the need except the man they once scorned and rejected.
Commentators read Joseph's place in Egypt as a picture of something larger. One writer sees in it God preserving Israel through the long centuries while their Messiah is rejected.
In the same way, it is the Lord Jesus by whom God has in fact preserved Israel. He did it by means of the rejected and exalted One being among the Gentiles, as He has been all through this present age of grace, for many centuries now. Yet Israel has not known the glory of their rejected Messiah.
- Famine. Five years remained with no plowing and no harvest. Nothing would go into the ground and nothing would come out, until every land was starving.
- Forewarning. Joseph named the future as surely as the past. "Near or distant is alike easy to the revealing Spirit of God," so the verse stands against unbelief in prophecy.
- Faith. His brothers "must have wondered how he knew this, but they did not question his word." They could not check the news, but they trusted the man who gave it.
- Focus. Joseph's eye rested on God, not on circumstances or on his brothers' crime. He saw the seven years as part of God's plan for deliverance — a small picture of the far greater deliverance won by Christ.
- Funnel. The years of want awakened need. Need drove family and nations alike to the one man they had scorned — a pattern commentators trace forward to Christ.
So God sent me before you to preserve you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance.
Joseph traces the whole story — the sale into Egypt, the years of famine — back to one thing: God sent him ahead so that a remnant would survive. The question the verse forces is how one act can be both their crime and God's sending.
Joseph does not soften what they did. He names it, then places it inside a larger purpose so that their guilt cannot keep torturing them.
As to the past, Joseph cannot allow any regrets to rise up and spoil their enjoyment of his love. "Now therefore," says Joseph, "do not be grieved or angry with yourselves that you sold me here" (verse 5). The sin had been confessed, and Joseph will not only forgive; he will remove every lingering regret and self-reproach. He assures them that behind their sin — yes, by means of their sin — God was working out His purposes of blessing. It is true, "You sold me here," Joseph has to say, but he adds, "God sent me before you to save your lives by a great deliverance." So he frees his brothers from being taken up with themselves. He engages their thoughts and affections with himself, with his glories, and with the blessings that flow to them through his exaltation.
The purpose of God never cancels what the guilty did. Another writer puts both truths side by side without blurring either:
You have been guilty, Joseph says, but God had a purpose in it.
Joseph had kept his identity hidden through the events of Genesis 44 and 45. Comfort comes only after conviction.
So it was in that deeply moving scene between Joseph and his brothers recorded in Genesis 44 and 45. The guilty brothers must pass through deep and painful searching of heart. At last they stand in the presence of the brother they wronged, with the arrow of conviction piercing their inmost soul. Then, but not until then, these soothing words fall on their ears: "God sent me before you to preserve life… So it was not you that sent me here, but God."
Joseph points his brothers to a promise made to Abraham long before any of them were born. (The writers quote an older translation: "a posterity in the earth" and "save your lives by a great deliverance," where the ESV has "a remnant on earth" and "keep alive for you many survivors.")
"And God sent me before you to establish for you a remnant on the earth, and to preserve your lives by a great deliverance." Here was the true key. It was not merely the disclosure to Pharaoh and the rescue of Joseph, nor the general provision through the long plenty and the equally long famine. It was the carrying out of God's plans, revealed long before to Abram in Genesis 15. His ancient people would grow up out of the family of Jacob in a foreign land of bondage and affliction. The oppressing nation would be judged, and they themselves would come out with great wealth.
The line God kept alive reached further than Joseph could see.
Also, God had sent Joseph down into Egypt to preserve on earth a posterity for Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He knew what Joseph can hardly have known. Many centuries later, by human descent, the Christ would come from that family line — He who is over all, God blessed forever. Wherever we turn in Scripture, Christ is always before the mind of God. At this point Joseph was the instrument God used to preserve the line of descent that would in the end lead to Him.
Commentators read Joseph here as a picture of Christ.
Joseph was the great saviour of Old Testament days, one of the chief pictures of our Lord Jesus. The name Pharaoh gave him, when he raised him to be lord of all Egypt, carries the meaning of "the Saviour." When he made himself known to his brothers, he worked hard to assure them that God had raised him up to save them: "God sent me… to save your lives by a great deliverance" (Gen. 45:7). By the wisdom God gave him he became the source and centre of salvation to the whole world. At once Acts 4:12 comes to mind: "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
Being saved by Joseph did not mean knowing Joseph.
Joseph had saved their lives with a great deliverance (Gen. 45:7); he had put them in possession of "the best of the land" of Egypt, and he had fed them with bread (Gen. 47:12). For seventeen years they had received Joseph's generosity. They had been the special objects of his loving care. Yet when a crisis comes, it becomes clear that they have no personal knowledge of Joseph. They know something of his greatness and glory. They know the great work he has done. They know every blessing they enjoy comes from his position and work. But they had no personal acquaintance with his mind and heart.
- Sin. They sold him; that is never denied. God worked behind their sin, and even by means of it, without excusing it.
- Sending. The same journey to Egypt was their crime and God's commission — "God sent me before you."
- Survival. God preserved a remnant, and with it the promise made to Abraham and the family line that would lead to Christ.
- Salvation. The rescue of one family from famine pictures a greater deliverance, with salvation found in no other name.
- Seeing. Knowing the deliverance is not the same as knowing the deliverer. Seventeen years of Joseph's kindness still left his brothers strangers to his mind and heart.
And now it was not you [that] sent me here, but God; and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and governor over all the land of Egypt.
Joseph stands at the top of Egypt, facing the brothers who sold him there. He tells them who was behind the journey. His words settle two questions: what to do with their guilt, and how a man robbed of everything became father to Pharaoh.
Joseph does not deny what they did. He looks past it to the hand that used it. One writer shows what Joseph was looking at instead:
His eye rested on God and not on circumstances, however hard they had been. The evil actions of the brothers had faded into insignificance in his mind. He recognised that God had been behind all that they had done, and had worked it in as part of His plan for salvation and deliverance. This reminds us of that prayer of the early church. They acknowledged that Herod, Pilate, Gentiles and Jews had gathered together against the Lord Jesus. Yet they had only accomplished "whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place" (Acts 4:28).
The sin was real. God used it. Another writer shows how Joseph lifts his brothers out of their regret:
He will assure them that behind their sin, yes, by means of their sin, God was working out His purposes of blessing. It is true that Joseph has to say, "You sold me here." But he adds, "God sent me before you to save your lives by a great deliverance." So he frees his brothers from being taken up with themselves. He fills their thoughts and affections with himself, his glories, and the blessings that flow to them through his exaltation.
The order matters. Earlier, these words would have meant nothing. They land only after the brothers stop defending themselves:
The guilty brothers must pass through deep and painful exercises of heart. At last they stand in the presence of the brother they injured, with the arrow of conviction piercing their inmost soul. Then, but not until then, these soothing words fall on their ears: "Now, therefore, do not be distressed or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here… So it was not you who sent me here, but God."
Joseph lists his rank as three distinct things, and each one describes a different sphere:
So then, he assures them, it was not they who had sent Joseph to Egypt, but God. God had made him a father to Pharaoh — one whose goodness and guidance Pharaoh depended on. God had made him "lord of all his house," with authority second only to Pharaoh in his household. And God had made him ruler over all the land of Egypt, in charge of all governmental affairs.
That first title is the strangest, since Joseph was the younger man and the subject. It describes a role rather than an age:
In Genesis 45:8 Joseph is described as a father to Pharaoh. This suggests that he cared for the king's interests: he would advise him, and administer his affairs.
One writer points to what Joseph became for the men who wronged him:
The great point is not the repentance of the brothers, but the generous love of Joseph. He was saviour, for as he says, God sent him ahead of them to preserve a posterity in the earth and to save their lives by a great deliverance. He was also lord, for he added, "He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt."
Joseph's promotion served a plan announced generations earlier, to Abram:
Here was the true key. It was not just the discovery to Pharaoh, the rescue of Joseph, and the provision made in the long years of plenty and the equally long famine. It was the carrying out of His plans, disclosed long before to Abram (in Genesis 15). By them His ancient people would grow up from the family of Jacob in a foreign land of bondage and affliction. The oppressing nation would be judged, and they themselves would come out with great wealth.
after
Writers here read Joseph's place as a picture of Christ exalted — and note what such authority is for:
If we are to be saved from the present power of evil, nothing can be of greater importance than to realise that Christ is in the place of supreme power, and to submit to Him… But if the Father has glorified the Son, it is so that the Son may glorify the Father… And if the Father is glorified, His people are blessed. So we read, "since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him." The glory the Father has given to the Son serves the Father's glory and the blessing of His people.
- Sent, not just sold. Their act was real guilt. God's hand was underneath it, working it into a plan for deliverance.
- Sent after conviction. Comfort comes only after the brothers condemn themselves. Grace answers a conscience already pierced.
- Sent to a place. Three spheres: adviser to the king, head of his household, ruler of the whole land. Joseph credits it all to God.
- Sent for others. Joseph is both saviour and lord. His rank counts for the lives it keeps alive.
- Sent ahead of a bigger story. One famine served the promise made to Abram. Joseph's rise pictures Christ's, and Christ uses His supreme power to bless His people.
Haste and go up to my father, and say to him, Thus says thy son Joseph God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, tarry not.
Joseph has just told his brothers who he is. Now he sends them home with a message that names his new rank, invites his father down, and warns them not to delay.
Joseph's pardon does not leave his brothers idle. He gives them a job.
Joseph not only freely and fully forgives his brothers; he commissions them as well. And we, if reconciled to God, have been commissioned. We have a mission towards this famine-stricken world. We are to make Christ known to men. We are to testify as to His exaltation and glory, just as the burden of the message of the sons of Israel was the lordship of Joseph over all the land.
The order matters. Joseph drew them close before he sent them out.
The love of Joseph has brought his brothers into sweet communion with himself. We read, "And he kissed all his brothers… and after that his brothers talked with him" (v. 15). Now we are to learn that the intimacies of love prepare for the service of love. Those whom Joseph has won for himself he will enlist in his service. His brothers shall become his witnesses.
"Go up to my father" names one hearer: the man they had deceived about Joseph.
They had badly deceived their father. Before him they had denied all knowledge of Joseph. Now he is the very one before whom they must bear witness of Joseph. Nor is it otherwise with Christ and His disciples. The woman of Sychar goes back to the men of the city to bear a bright witness for Christ before those who well knew the manner of her life. In the very place of her sin she is to bear witness to the One who has set her free from sin (John 4:28-29). Peter, too, bears witness to Christ before those in whose presence he had once so shamefully denied Christ.
The brothers carry words that are not their own. The opening line says whose they are.
Fourth, Joseph sends his brothers back with a very definite message. They must deliver it with all the authority of Joseph's word, introduced with a "Thus says your son Joseph" (v. 9). We do well to remember that the power behind the Gospel message is the authority with which it is proclaimed. It goes forth with a "Thus says the Lord."
Joseph names God as the one who gave him his place, and that place is the message itself.
Fifth, the great theme of the message was Joseph and his glory. Tell my father, Joseph can say, that "God has made me lord of all Egypt" (v. 9). And he adds, "You must tell my father of all my honour in Egypt, and of all that you have seen" (v. 13). This is still the message that alone will meet the world's famine. Peter preached it with no uncertain sound to the Jews. On the day of Pentecost he said, "Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." And again before the Gentiles he can say that Christ "is Lord of all" (Acts 2:36; Acts 10:36).
The invitation is personal. Joseph does not just hand out blessing; he draws people to himself.
Sixth, the message that Joseph sends to Jacob is "Come down to me" (v. 9). If Joseph is lord of all with the riches of glory at his disposal for all, yet it is only those who "come" who receive the blessing. If all power is in his hands to bless, all grace is in his heart to attract to himself — the blesser. Joseph says in effect to his father, "I want you," for it is not only "Come," but "Come down to me."
The last words of the verse are a warning. Delay has a cost.
Finally, the message carries with it a word of warning. There is untold blessing for those who come, there is imminent danger for those who delay. So Joseph's word is "do not tarry… lest you and your household, and all that you have, come to poverty" (vv. 9, 11). How far greater the danger if we trifle with that far greater message that comes from the Lord in glory! Well may the apostle ask, "How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?"
Commentators read the shape of Joseph's life as a picture of Christ's.
Joseph presents himself to his brothers as one sent by the father; they reject him, and, so far as lies in them, put him in the place of death; God takes him up from there, and raises him to a position of highest dignity: thus exalted, he gets a bride; and when his brothers, according to the flesh, are thoroughly broken and prostrate before him, he makes himself known to them, calms their hearts, and brings them into blessing; he then becomes the channel of blessing to them and to the whole world.
- Reconciled — Joseph forgives first, then sends. Those he wins for himself become his witnesses.
- Authorised — "Thus says your son Joseph" gives the messengers no opinion to defend, only a word to deliver.
- Exalted — the news is that God has made him lord of all Egypt; the theme is his glory.
- Invited — power to bless is in his hands, but only those who come receive it, and the call is "come down to me."
- Urgent — "do not tarry" is a warning as well as a welcome: blessing for those who come, poverty for those who delay.
And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near to me, thou, and thy sons, and thy sons' sons, and thy sheep, and thy cattle, and all that thou hast.
Joseph has just told his brothers who he is. Now he sends word home to his father — not only "come," but where to come to, and who will be waiting there.
Goshen was a real district in Egypt, known by more than one name.
This was the part of Egypt where the Israelites lived. It is often called "the land of Goshen," and is also termed "the land of Rameses." Pharaoh told Joseph to place his father and his brothers in the best of the land. Most think Goshen lay east of the ancient Delta of the Nile.
Another writer places it more exactly, and reads the settlement as a picture of Israel's future under Christ.
Joseph placed his father and his brothers in the best of the land. That was Rameses, in the land of Goshen, in the north, on the east side of the Nile River. This pictures the Lord Jesus restoring Israel to great blessing, in submission to His authority. We are also told that he nourished them with food. How wonderful it will be for Israel in the millennium to have a settled home and rich provision! Of course the history here is only a picture, for Israel soon after fell into bitter slavery to the Egyptians.
Two things stand out here: when Joseph made this promise, and why he chose that district.
We may notice the faith and wisdom of Joseph who had already in Gen. 45:10 sent the message about Goshen, before he had said a word to Pharaoh. It was the outlying part of Egypt. There they could best keep their old work. There, too, the idol worship and moral corruption of that land reached them least.
Settling them in one district did more than keep the family fed.
It is easy to see how this suited the purpose of God, which was to make a nation of them, free from any mixing of foreign blood. They would live under Egyptian rule. Even so, from the start a dividing line separated them from the natives of Egypt. Pharaoh was most kind in his attitude. He welcomed them. He gave them the best of the land in Goshen, and offered them important posts as rulers of his cattle. Remember that Egypt, along with the rest of the world, was in the middle of a great famine. Such favourable treatment was extraordinary. Only the moving of God's hand behind the scenes explains it.
Each part of Joseph's message meets a different need.
If Jacob will only come, the days of his wandering will be past, for Joseph says, "You shall dwell in the land of Goshen." Distance and estrangement will be no more, for "you shall be near me." Care and want will be gone, for "there I will provide for you." Still the Lord of glory can say, "Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." The soul that comes to Him finds the days of wandering feet are over. The loneliness of the desolate heart ends. And Christ meets the famine of the distant land. In the company of Christ there is rest for the conscience, satisfaction for the heart, and food for the soul.
The brothers carried that offer to others. Another writer turns it on his reader.
And see what they could put before the people Joseph sent them to! The land of Goshen — the garden spot of Egypt — and near to Joseph! And sinner, we are here to tell you this. In the gospel there is not only full forgiveness for you. There is also a special place of nearness to Christ, and plenty of blessing for your starving soul. For the Christian, the answer to Goshen and nearness to Joseph is to be blessed "in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places."
Joseph does not invite his father alone. The list runs down three generations and out to the livestock.
Joseph sends his brothers not only to the father, but to the father's children and the children's children. Indeed, says Joseph, tell him the good news is for "all that you have." And the message is still, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household."
- Come. The message is an invitation with an address. Joseph does not just save Jacob from famine; he tells him where to go and who will be there.
- Near. The heart of the offer is not the land but the person: distance and estrangement end, and want ends with them.
- Best. Goshen was the choice ground of Egypt. It lay far enough out for the family to keep their own work, clear of Egypt's corruptions.
- Apart. The dividing line from the Egyptians was no accident. It let one family grow into a nation.
- All. Children, grandchildren, flocks, herds — the invitation is as wide as the whole household. The gospel call is just as wide today.
And there will I maintain thee; for yet there are five years of famine; in order that thou be not impoverished, thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast.
Joseph has just told his brothers who he is. Now he sends them home with a message for their father: come down, settle in Goshen, and let Joseph feed the family through the famine still to come. A reunion becomes a rescue plan. Why would a man with every reason to punish his brothers promise to keep them alive instead?
What Joseph promises is the opposite of what his brothers earned. One writer looks past Joseph to someone greater:
Joseph also promises to provide for them during the five years of famine still to come. So Joseph returns great good to his brothers for the evil that they had shown him. The goodness of the Lord Jesus is greater still. He has been treated far more shamefully than Joseph was, yet He will bless Israel — His brothers by natural descent — in overflowing grace in the coming age!
He had the power to do the opposite, and reason enough:
His brothers had thrown him into the pit, the Gentiles had flung him into prison. The world is desperate and his brothers are in need. Will Joseph seize that moment and use his power to take revenge? Nature might act like that, but grace will take another way. Joseph will use his position of supreme power to bless everyone. But while he shows grace, he will still uphold righteousness. Need will force a cry from the Gentiles, and they must submit to Joseph before they receive the blessing. Repentance must come before blessing for his brothers too.
Joseph does not send food to Canaan. He sends for the people. Everything he offers waits at the end of a journey they must make.
Joseph is lord of all, with the riches of glory at his disposal for everyone. Even so, only those who "come" get the blessing. If all power is in his hands to bless, all grace is in his heart to draw people to himself — the blesser. Joseph says in effect to his father, "I want you," for it is not only "Come," but "Come down to me."
With verse 10, the promise answers three problems in Jacob's life at once.
If Jacob will only come, the days of his wandering will be over, for Joseph says, "You shall dwell in the land of Goshen." Distance and estrangement will be no more, for "you shall be near me." Care and want will be driven away, for "there I will provide for you." Still the Lord of glory can say, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." The soul that comes to Him finds an end to the days of wandering feet, an end to the loneliness of the desolate heart, and an end to the famine of the distant land. In the company of Christ there is rest for the conscience, satisfaction for the heart, and food for the soul.
The place named was not chosen at random:
Notice the faith and wisdom of Joseph. In Genesis 45:10 he had already sent the message about Goshen, before he had said a word to Pharaoh. Goshen was the outlying part of Egypt. There they could best keep their old occupation, and there they were least exposed to the idol worship and moral corruption of that land.
The verse ends with a danger: poverty for the whole household. Joseph pairs it with "do not tarry" in verse 9:
Finally, the message carries a word of warning. There is untold blessing for those who come; there is immediate danger for those who delay. So Joseph's word is "Do not tarry … so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty." The danger is far greater if we treat lightly that far greater message that comes from the Lord in glory! Well may the apostle ask, "How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?"
Commentators see a preview here of something far larger:
This leads the soul on to that glorious time when the Son of Man will take the government into His own hand, by divine appointment, and rule over the whole redeemed creation… The house of Israel will be fully restored. His gracious hand will nourish and sustain them, and all the earth will know the deep blessedness of being under His rule.
- Cause. Joseph's power could have been used for revenge; grace turned it into supply — he "returns great good to his brothers for the evil that they had shown him."
- Call. The blessing is real for everyone, but only those who come receive it: "it is not only 'Come,' but 'Come down to me.'"
- Care. One promise ends three troubles at once — a settled home, nearness to Joseph, and food for five more famine years.
- Caution. The same message warns: delay, and the whole household comes to poverty.
- Crown. The scene points ahead. A rejected One will reign, and His hand will nourish a restored Israel.
And behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth which speaks to you.
Joseph has just told his brothers who he is, and now he points to the plainest evidence available: their own eyes and his own voice. The man they sold stands in front of them, speaking their own language.
On earlier visits, the brothers spoke to a foreign official through a translator. Joseph planned it that way.
When the brothers came, they came before the governor himself, not a lesser official. Of course they had no idea that they were bowing down to their brother Joseph, though Joseph recognised them. He spoke roughly to them and asked where they came from. Genesis 42:23 tells us he spoke to them through an interpreter. He knew their language perfectly well, but he would not give them the least hint that he might be known to them.
Now the disguise is over. The voice they hear is his own.
Joseph does not argue them out of their guilt. He gives them something else to look at.
With wonderful skill and infinite love, Joseph makes himself known to his brothers. He drives away their fears. He delivers them from being taken up with themselves. He relieves their anxiety by filling their sight with himself and his glories, and by occupying their thoughts with his gracious words. "Look," says Joseph, "your eyes see … that it is my mouth that speaks to you." Fear driven off, grief eased, cares banished, love can flow without hindrance.
The verse singles out one brother by name. Writers read Joseph and Benjamin together as two halves of one picture.
Joseph was the long-desired son of his mother Rachel. He took his name from her (Genesis 30:23-24) — Joseph, meaning "adding" — and the name pointed to another son, the son of his father's right hand. For Benjamin figures in that day of earthly power and glory. Joseph is the vessel of divine wisdom in humiliation. His brothers despised him and made him suffer, and sold him to Gentiles who punished him still more. Yet, unknown to Israel, he was raised to the right hand of power, for unmeasured blessing to both Israel and the Gentiles, and married to a Gentile wife.
Real repentance is necessary. By itself, it gives no peace.
Only one discovery will roll away the burden of guilt: the One against whom we have sinned knows it all, and has fully forgiven it all. The knowledge of our hearts, however necessary, will bring no rest to the soul. We may mourn over the past and wear ourselves out over our sins. But no discovery of evil in our hearts will bring comfort to the soul. No repentance, however real, and no sorrow for sin, however sincere, will bring it either. For rest and peace Jesus must make Himself known. Then we discover with great delight that His heart is full of grace for a man who is full of sin. With full knowledge of all our sins, there is nothing but love in His heart towards us. Then we can rest — but we rest in what He is, not in anything we find in ourselves.
Joseph's words are not the end of the scene. Weeping comes next, and then the brothers speak back.
And what could be more touching than his closing words? "… And tell my father all my glory in Egypt, and all you have seen; and hurry, and bring my father here quickly." Not content with this, "he fell on his brother Benjamin's neck and wept. Benjamin wept on his neck. He kissed all his brothers and wept on them. After that his brothers talked with him." Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks — not only he with them, but they with him.
This moment points ahead. Writers read it as a picture of what is still to come for Israel, the nation descended from these brothers.
Joseph no longer spoke to them through an interpreter. He no longer hid himself as with a veil from his repentant brothers. "Your eyes see," he said, "that it is my mouth that speaks to you." And so Israel's eyes will see the King in His beauty, and the veil will be taken away. Jehovah Jesus will return to them with a surer and readier love than the love with which Joseph fell on his brothers' necks and kissed them.
- Seeing. Joseph's proof is first-hand — their own eyes on the brother they sold.
- Hearing. The interpreter used earlier had kept him hidden; now his own mouth speaks to them, and the disguise is over.
- Resting. Sorrow over sin never settles a conscience by itself. Rest comes when the One we sinned against makes Himself known as forgiving.
- Talking. The sight of him and his glory drives fear out, and the brothers end up talking freely with him.
- Waiting. The brothers' eyes saw their lost brother. Writers take it as a picture of the day Israel sees their King, with the veil gone.
And tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen, and haste and bring down my father hither.
Joseph has just told his brothers who he is. These are the men who sold him. Now he sends them home with an errand, and its subject is not their crime but his glory.
The message rests on one fact about Joseph. Where the ESV reads "all my honor in Egypt," older translations read "all my glory," and the writers quoted here work from that word.
The great theme of the message was Joseph and his glory. Tell my father, Joseph can say, that "God has made me lord of all Egypt" (v. 9). And he adds, "You shall tell my father of all my glory, and of all that you have seen" (v. 13). This is still the message that alone will meet the world's famine. Peter preached it clearly to the Jews on the day of Pentecost. He said, "Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." And again before the Gentiles he can say that Christ "is Lord of all" (Acts 2:36; Acts 10:36). It is still our privilege to declare the glories of the One who is Lord of all. There are His personal glories as the eternal Son, His moral glories as the One who is altogether lovely, and His official glories as King of kings and Lord of lords.
The same men who wronged Joseph are the ones he sends. One writer applies that to Christians in a starving world.
Joseph not only freely and fully forgives his brothers; he commissions them as well… And we, if reconciled to God, have been commissioned. We have a mission towards this famine-stricken world. We are to make Christ known to men. We are to testify to His exaltation and glory. The burden of the message of the sons of Israel was the same: the lordship of Joseph over all the land… Joseph sent the sons of Jacob back to the country they had come from, to persuade others to "go to Joseph." And this is our chief business in this world, to speak of the fame of Christ, and to persuade starving sinners to come to Him.
Jacob had seen none of this glory himself. One writer compares him to the queen who travelled to see King Solomon and found the reports had fallen short.
Joseph said, "Tell my father of all my glory in Egypt." How happy our hearts are to hear all the glory of the Lord Jesus!… Jacob had never seen, nor understood, all that glory, just as we know some of the glory in heaven, but cannot understand all. The Queen of Sheba said to Solomon, "I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me." (1 Kings 10:7)
Why speak of glory, when the practical point was "come down"? One writer sees a reason: Jacob was old, and a slow man needs a motive.
A very tender and touching note runs through the message that Joseph sent by his brothers to his father. After the long years of separation he was to be near to his beloved son, and nourished by him. Tenderness and urgency marked his message. He realized that in old age his father might be slow to move, so he gave this incentive: "You shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt."
Joseph trusted this report to weak men. One writer contrasts who carries the message now.
He committed such a task as that to his remorseful brothers — narrow-minded to the last, as their later history proved. None other than a Divine Person — the Holy Spirit — is commissioned to tell us of the glories of Jesus, our risen Lord. By the Spirit's power we can see the face of Jesus, can gaze upon the glory of the Lord. The people of Israel could not look at the reflected glory in the face of Moses, the great lawgiver. We are privileged and empowered to see the face of Him to whom the glory belongs. It is not a reflected glory, but the whole glory of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ.
Joseph's errand runs to a father. One writer hears worship in that.
The restored soul is led into communion with the Lord and is enabled to worship, to tell the Father of all the glories of the Son, the true Joseph.
- Glory first. The errand is about Joseph's exaltation, not the brothers' experience. That message "alone will meet the world's famine."
- Glory commissions. Forgiveness does not stop at relief. Joseph sends the forgiven men back with a mission to a starving world.
- Glory urges. Joseph says "Hurry," and he gives the report of his glory as an incentive to a father slow to move.
- Glory empowers. The brothers carried the report in their own weakness. The Holy Spirit now tells us of the glories of the risen Lord, and we see the whole glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
- Glory returns. The report travels to a father — the restored soul tells the Father of all the glories of the Son.
And he fell on his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept on his neck.
Here the ruler of Egypt stops speaking and weeps on the neck of the one brother who had no part in selling him. Why Benjamin first, why tears instead of words, and what this embrace settled in eleven guilty men — these are the questions commentators press.
Joseph has every right to a reckoning. Instead he gives them affection with nothing held back. One writer explains why such a moment calls for nothing else.
Now a time of reconciliation is, in this, like the hour of parting. The heart claims it for itself. Tenderness alone suits it; faithfulness would be an intruder. And so we find it with Joseph here. He wept aloud, so that the house of Pharaoh heard it. He wept on the neck of all his brothers and kissed them, fell on his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and kissed him. And if he spoke while his tears flowed, it was only to encourage their hearts. He gave them pledges and reasons to be in full confidence and at ease before him.
Joseph singles out Benjamin. The reason lies in who Benjamin was, and in what he had no part in.
He wept again when he saw Benjamin. This was the son of his own mother, her only child besides himself, and her death had come with his birth. Of all his father's children, who were standing there in front of him, he was the only one with no guilt in Joseph's blood.
That same detail shapes how another writer reads Benjamin's tears.
In Genesis 45 we do not read much about the tears of Joseph's brothers. "Benjamin wept on his neck," we read in verse 14, but that is all. In fact, Benjamin had the least reason of all of them to weep, since he took almost no part in their great sin. No, the great point is not the repentance of the brothers, but the generous love of Joseph.
In verse 15 the embrace widens to every brother, including those who sold him. In that culture the kiss carried a meaning they could not miss.
The kiss, in the East, is a token of forgiveness; and when these sons of Jacob felt the touch of Joseph's kiss on their cheeks, they knew, each one in his heart, that they were forgiven. And the result is communion. "After that his brothers talked with him." How beautiful!
Fear stands between these men and Joseph. His tears and his kiss remove it.
With fear dispelled, grief soothed and cares banished, love can flow without hindrance — "He kissed all his brothers"; "and after that his brothers talked with him" (v. 15). Their eyes have seen his glories. His words of grace have charmed their ears. His love has warmed their hearts, and in the warmth of that love they are free to talk with him. No shadow remains to hinder the communion of love between Joseph and his brothers. Perfect love casts out fear.
Another writer hears something homely in that conversation — men who had been strangers in a foreign court speaking again as family.
His love flowed out on them with an irresistible force, sweeping away all their fears, until at last we are told, in the grand simplicity of Bible language, "After that his brothers talked with him." They were at rest in his presence, their mouths were opened, and they talked to him in the family tongue — the language of the homeland and the father's house.
One writer reads this scene as a picture of a future day when Israel meets the Christ they rejected.
"Then Joseph could not control himself … and he wept aloud … and he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept … and he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them." Here we have the full and unhindered expression of Joseph's love... So it will be in the coming time. God's first dealings with the children of Israel will produce some measure of conviction in their hearts. But it is when, according to Zechariah 12:10, "they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced" that "they shall mourn... as one mourns for his only son."
The same writer traces how the brothers came to know him at all.
The brothers did not discover him by any insight or cleverness of their own. It came wholly from Joseph revealing himself... And his revelation was the fruit of his love for them: love so real that he could not hold back any longer, and it moved him to tears.
- Tenderness first. A moment of reconciliation belongs to the heart alone. Tenderness suits it; faithfulness would be an intruder, so Joseph brings tears instead of reproach.
- Love reveals. The discovery came from Joseph's side, not from any insight of theirs. His love was so real he could not hold it back.
- Tears reach the innocent. Joseph embraces Benjamin first, the one brother with no part in the crime. Benjamin weeps too, yet the weight of the scene is Joseph's generous love, not the brothers' grief.
- The kiss reaches the guilty. The kiss went to every brother as the known sign of forgiveness, and each man felt it on his own cheek.
- Then conversation. With fear cast out, nothing hinders love, and they talk with him. That is the order: tenderness, revelation, tears, forgiveness, communion.
And he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them; and after that his brethren talked with him.
Joseph has just told his brothers who he is. The men who sold him into slavery now stand in front of the ruler of Egypt. What he does next is not a speech but an embrace — and the silence breaks.
In that part of the world a kiss carried a settled meaning.
In the East, a kiss is a sign of forgiveness. When these sons of Jacob felt Joseph's kiss on their cheeks, each one knew in his heart that he was forgiven. And the result is communion. "After that his brothers talked with him." How beautiful! And do you, forgiven soul, talk much with Jesus?
One writer sees two things in it: love that will not keep its distance, and the word "all."
His love cannot endure any distance; He wants His loved ones near to Him. The story of Joseph and his brothers illustrates it. He said to his brothers, "Come near to me." In the same way the Lord stretches out His hands to us as His brothers. He says, "Come near to Me." When they came near, Joseph kissed all his brothers and wept over them. He had no favourites. He treated them all alike.
Nothing in the brothers uncovered who Joseph was.
The brothers did not work out who he was by any insight or cleverness of their own. They knew him only because Joseph revealed himself to them. At His second coming Christ will appear in His glory. Then Israel will recognize Him and cry, "My God, we know you" (Hosea 8:2). And Joseph revealed himself out of love for them. That love was so real that he could not hold back any longer, and it moved him to tears.
One writer lists what had to go before they could speak.
Fear is gone, grief is eased, cares are banished. Now love can flow without hindrance — "He kissed all his brothers"; "and after that his brothers talked with him" (v. 15). Their eyes have seen his glories. His gracious words have delighted their ears. His love has warmed their hearts. And in that warmth of love they are free to talk with him. No shadow remains to hinder the communion of love between Joseph and his brothers. Perfect love casts out fear. The story also tells us the way Christ takes with us: He teaches us the evil of our hearts, and then dispels all fear by making Himself known in the love of His heart.
They talked with him — not just about him. One writer builds on that difference, starting from a line in the Psalms. Older translations there read "talk"; the ESV reads "tell."
We read in the Psalms, "Let us talk of all His wondrous works." And that is indeed a privilege, a privilege within the reach of all who know Him. Notice that it does not say, "Let us preach." If it did, we might feel the call was beyond us. But it says let us talk — talk about Him, as a child talks of his father, saying to his playmates, "I wish you knew my father, he is the best in all the world." Yet here it is not talking about Him, but talking with Him. He appreciates our talk about Him; but if we only talk about Him and neglect to talk with Him, we rob Him of what His love prizes so highly.
Closeness is not the end of the story. One writer sees the next step already in view.
Joseph's love has brought his brothers into sweet communion with himself. Now we are to learn that the intimacies of love prepare for the service of love. Those whom Joseph has won for himself he will enlist in his service. His brothers shall become his witnesses.
Writers here read the chapter on two levels at once, and one of them says so directly.
How intensely interesting it becomes to the heart when seen to be a prophetic picture of the repentance of the future Jewish remnant and their once despised and rejected Messiah. This would be the primary application of the narrative. But, I believe, a secondary application may be made of it. It is not merely typical; it is illustrative as well.
One writer reads the scene as a picture of a day still ahead for Israel.
after
Here we have the full and unhindered expression of Joseph's love. In response, the repentance of his brothers reached its proper depth. So it will be in the coming time. God's earlier dealings with the children of Israel will produce a certain measure of conviction in their hearts. But the mourning comes when, according to Zechariah 12:10, "they look on me, on him whom they have pierced." Then "they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child."
after
- Kiss — the kiss was the recognised sign of forgiveness; feeling it on their cheeks, each brother knew his own guilt was cleared.
- All — every brother got the same kiss; Joseph had no favourites and treated them all alike.
- Tears — they never recognised him by their own insight; the truth came out because his love could not stay hidden any longer.
- Talk — fear removed, they speak at last; and the writers press the difference between talking about the Lord and talking with Him.
- Task — the closeness comes first, the commission second: those he has won for himself, he then sends out as his witnesses.