Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon 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.
Tears Instead of Reproach
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.
J. G. BellettNow 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.
Why Benjamin First
Joseph singles out Benjamin. The reason lies in who Benjamin was, and in what he had no part in.
J. G. BellettHe 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.
F. B. HoleIn 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.
The Kiss of Forgiveness
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.
C. KnappThe 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 Driven Out by Love
Fear stands between these men and Joseph. His tears and his kiss remove it.
Hamilton SmithWith 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.
J. T. MawsonHis 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.
A Rehearsal of a Greater Meeting
One writer reads this scene as a picture of a future day when Israel meets the Christ they rejected.
F. B. Hole"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.
F. B. HoleThe 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.
Summary
- 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.