Chapter Forty-Five
Joseph Reveals His Identity
After hearing Judah’s response to this dire scenario and seeing how they did not resent Benjamin during their visit, Joseph knew that his brothers had indeed changed. Now that they “passed” all of his tests and had always responded lovingly regarding their father and Benjamin, Joseph was struck with a wave of intense emotion.
45:1 Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. 3 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence.
No longer able to hold back his emotions, Joseph asked for privacy while he spoke with his brothers. He also probably did not want his staff to see him emotionally compromised. When he was alone with his brothers, he revealed his true identity. No longer speaking through an interpreter, Joseph proclaimed, “I am Joseph!” His sobbing was so loud that not only the Egyptians that worked for him heard him cry, but the household of Pharaoh also heard him too. He then asked if his father was still alive, but his brothers were speechless. It would be impossible to imagine what the brothers were thinking; standing before them was a brother that they left for dead many years ago, and now he was the second most powerful man in the nation. The text says that they were ‘dismayed’, that Hebrew word is ‘niḇ·hǎlû’,[1] a verb that refers to being terrified, conveying great fear. From previous statements, they had admitted their guilt regarding what they did to Joseph, but now, standing before him, the guilt was overwhelming.
45:4 So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
They were undoubtedly concerned and worried about a number of things. Such as: Would Joseph retaliate? What form of revenge does he have planned for us? Will he kill us? What would their father think about them lying all these years? Will they become slaves in Egypt themselves? Joseph proceeds to put their minds at ease, telling them that he is not resentful. He explained that all the events through the years were part of God’s plan from the beginning.
Joseph explains that he was brought to Egypt to preserve life, pointing out that the famine will continue for another five years, and that God sent him to preserve for them a remnant and to keep alive many survivors. The Hebrew word that is translated here as ‘survivors’, is ‘pelê·ṭā(h)’[2] referring to deliverance, Joseph was sent to deliver his people from dying. The New International Version renders the verse: “But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.” (Genesis 45:7, NIV) To further calm their anxieties, Joseph once again tells them that it was God who sent him to Egypt, not them.
By saying he had been made a “father to Pharaoh,” Joseph is referring to being able to advise the Pharaoh regarding national affairs and that the Pharaoh gave him authority over his house and all of Egypt.
45:9 Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry. 10 You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. 11 There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty.’ 12 And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. 13 You must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.” 14 Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him.
Joseph wants them to go back home and bring everyone back to Egypt. He is offering them an area in Egypt where they can dwell and grow, with plenty of room for flocks and herds. The land of Goshen was a fertile region in northeastern Egypt. This would also allow Joseph to take care of them more easily, since he knew the famine was going to continue for another five years.
Still dazed and possibly stupefied by Joseph’s unveiling of his true identity, the brothers apparently remained silent. He further encourages them by saying that even Benjamin, who probably was too young to know him well, could see that it was him. He requests that they tell their father about his position of authority in Egypt and once again asks them to go home and quickly bring their father down to Egypt.
Then Joseph and Benjamin embraced each other, joyfully weeping together. Then, one after the other, Joseph kissed and wept over each of his other brothers. They continued to speak to one another as the walls of shame, guilt, and fear eventually disappeared as Joseph offered forgiveness.
45:16 When the report was heard in Pharaoh’s house, “Joseph’s brothers have come,” it pleased Pharaoh and his servants. 17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan, 18 and take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.’ 19 And you, Joseph, are commanded to say, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. 20 Have no concern for your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’ ”
Pharaoh soon heard about Joseph’s brothers who then told Joseph to tell his brothers essentially the same thing Joseph had already discussed with them. To return to the land of Canaan and bring their father, family, and all their belongings back to Egypt as he was giving them the best of the land, where they will “eat the fat of the land.” The Hebrew word for ‘fat’ (‘ḥē’·lěḇ’),[3] in this context, refers to the choicest or best part of the land. He then commanded Joseph to provide wagons and to tell them that they were for his father, women, and children to ride on their way to Egypt. He also said that they should not be concerned over their household goods and other possessions as the Pharaoh would give them all that they needed.
Why would the Pharaoh treat Joseph’s family like royalty? Everyone from the Pharaoh on down to the poorest Egyptian revered Joseph, he was essentially, at least in their eyes, Egypt’s deliverer. Everyone was grateful for what Joseph had done and was continuing to do.
45:21 The sons of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey. 22 To each and all of them he gave a change of clothes, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five changes of clothes. 23 To his father he sent as follows: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey. 24 Then he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, “Do not quarrel on the way.”
Joseph did as the Pharaoh commanded and provided his brothers with wagons and provisions for the journey. In addition, Joseph provided each of his brothers with two changes of clothes, except for Benjamin, to whom he gave five changes of clothes and 300 shekels of silver. For his father, Israel, Joseph sent ten male donkeys (Hebrew word ‘ḥǎmō·rîm’)[4] loaded with “good things of Egypt,” and ten female donkeys (Hebrew word ‘âtonōt’),[5] loaded with grain, bread and other provisions for his trip to Egypt. Once everything was loaded and ready to go, Joseph sent them on their way with the final words of “Do not quarrel on the way.” The Hebrew word that is translated here as ‘quarrel’ is ‘tir·gezû’,[6] which is often translated as troubled or agitated, has the root meaning to tremble or quake. Joseph wanted them to not to be troubled, as there was nothing to fear, what he promised was true, he was not going to retaliate.
45:25 So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob. 26 And they told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them. 27 But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. 28 And Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”
There is no record in the text regarding any discussions on the way home. Once they arrived in Canaan, they quickly gave Jacob the good news about Joseph. At first Jacob did not believe them, but then he was surrounded by evidence that their story was true. Seeing the Egyptian wagons, donkeys loaded with all sorts of stuff and each son wearing new clothes, it would be hard to explain any other way. Jacob began to accept the fact that Joseph was alive and not only was he alive, but he was also the ruler over all of Egypt. At that time Israel became excited with the prospect of seeing Joseph before he died.
It is interesting to note that once again the text reflects Jacob’s attitude and heart in how his name changed. In verses 25-27, the narrative calls him by his old name “Jacob,” and then once he accepts and acknowledges that Joseph is alive, he is again called “Israel”.[7]
There is no mention, nor did Israel apparently ask, how Joseph ended up in Egypt. The only thing that mattered for Israel at this time was that Joseph was alive, and that was enough for him.
Considerations
Illogical!
It would certainly be a huge understatement to say that God’s way of doing things is different than our way of doing things. But to cause a wide-spread famine, send Joseph to a prison in Egypt, and then promote him to be Pharaoh’s right-hand person, in order just to bring Israel and his family together in Egypt, that would, at least in our minds, not make a lot of sense. Since God is all mighty, all knowing, and always present, from our perspective one would think that He would have found an easier way to bring Israel down to Egypt! But since we only see and know a small fraction of what God sees and knows, we simply cannot fully comprehend God, and as a result, we need to fully trust Him.
We can see and learn from Joseph’s experience is that his life is a model of the coming Messiah, often referred to as the “suffering servant” (see Appendix 2). Another thing we can learn from Joseph’s experience for ourselves, is that there will be situations in life that will seem to be upside down and feel as though we are totally removed from God, but we all need to remember, He is always there with us and He is always in control.
As discussed earlier, we see in the Bible that the term “Egypt” is often synonymous with the world’s way of thinking (see commentary for Genesis 12:10). We read that seventy people of Israel’s family entered Egypt (see Genesis 46:27) and that potentially several million came out during the Exodus. They went into Egypt as a family and exited Egypt over 400 years later as a nation. So, why Egypt? Why would God want to build a nation inside a pagan-worshiping nation? Again, from our perspective it really does seem illogical. Once again, we need to remember that the greatest dichotomy in the Bible is the way of the world versus God’s truth.
Man, from the very beginning has been exposed to temptation and lusts, and we know that without God there would be no reason to hold back responding to those passions and desires. God created man to respond freely, however, if there is no influence to tempt, how can man’s loyalty to God be tested, or for that fact, be strengthened through endurance? Going into Egypt did influence, and to some degree shape, who the Israelites became in multiple ways. Some of those influences (or perhaps they should be called distractions) included a pantheon of many gods, including an organized idol worship and sacrificial system; rampant hedonism, promoting the pursuit of pleasure, self-indulgence, self-beauty, and the possession of things that bring great delight; slavery, to promote a tyrannical lifestyle; and a dictator, the Pharaoh, to oppress surrounding nations. It seems that Egypt was the embodiment of everything a God-fearing person was to reject. Israel’s time in Egypt also produced several Biblical models (see Introduction to Exodus)[8] to help us understand future events and people.
We also saw earlier that Abraham was told about this period in history: “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.” (Genesis 15:13-14) In that regard, sending Israel and his family to Egypt is in fulfillment of that prophecy. However, with this said to Abraham, it gave Satan several hundred years to prepare and establish vile and despicable practices in the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel), in an attempt to prevent Israel from returning and claiming the land when they leave Egypt. The land would need to be completely purged of all life prior to God allowing Israel to return.
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[1] Strong’s Hebrew 926.
[2] Strong’s Hebrew 6413.
[3] Strong’s Hebrew 2459.
[4] Strong’s Hebrew 2543.
[5] Strong’s Hebrew 860.
[6] Strong’s Hebrew 7265.
[7] See Considerations after Genesis 32:32 regarding Israel’s name change.
[8] See also Considerations under Genesis 2:15-17 regarding the use of the literary device known as a ‘type’ or ‘model’ in the Bible.