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The Torah · Old Testament

Genesis 45

Joseph reveals himself and invites his family to Egypt

General context

Joseph sends the attendants out and makes himself known to his brothers, weeping loudly enough for the Egyptians and Pharaoh's household to hear. He asks whether his father is still alive, but at first the brothers cannot answer. He calls them near and identifies himself as the brother they sold into Egypt. He tells them not to be distressed, explaining his arrival as God's work to preserve life through the famine. Two years have passed and five remain. Joseph asks them to bring their father and households to Goshen, where he will provide for them. He and Benjamin embrace and weep; he then kisses and weeps over all his brothers, who begin to speak with him. Pharaoh welcomes the news and authorizes wagons for the family's move. Joseph sends clothing, gifts and provisions, giving Benjamin additional silver and garments. He tells the brothers not to quarrel on the road. Jacob initially disbelieves their report that Joseph is alive, but their words and the wagons revive him. He decides to go and see his son before he dies.

Cited passages: Genesis 45:1, Genesis 45:2, Genesis 45:3, Genesis 45:4, Genesis 45:5, Genesis 45:6, Genesis 45:7, Genesis 45:8, Genesis 45:9, Genesis 45:10, Genesis 45:11, Genesis 45:12, Genesis 45:13, Genesis 45:14, Genesis 45:15, Genesis 45:16, Genesis 45:17, Genesis 45:18, Genesis 45:19, Genesis 45:20, Genesis 45:21, Genesis 45:22, Genesis 45:23, Genesis 45:24, Genesis 45:25, Genesis 45:26, Genesis 45:27, Genesis 45:28

Genesis 45 (KJV)

1Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.

2And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.

3And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.

4And Joseph said unto 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.

5Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

6For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.

7And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

8So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

9Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:

10And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children’s children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast:

11And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty.

12And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you.

13And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither.

14And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck.

15Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him.

16And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, Joseph’s brethren are come: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants.

17And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan;

18And take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land.

19Now thou art commanded, this do ye; take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.

20Also regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.

21And the children of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way.

22To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment.

23And to his father he sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way.

24So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way.

25And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father,

26And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not.

27And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived:

28And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

Joseph's attendants leave before he reveals himself to his brothers, though his weeping is heard beyond the room. He says the famine has lasted two years and that five years without plowing or harvest remain. Goshen is the proposed place for his father's household, flocks and herds near him. Pharaoh orders wagons for the children, wives and father. Each brother receives clothing; Benjamin receives three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothes. Ten male donkeys carry goods for Jacob, and ten female donkeys carry grain, bread and food for his journey. The chapter ends in Canaan with Jacob's decision to travel; his meeting with Joseph has not yet occurred.

Cited passages: Genesis 45:1, Genesis 45:2, Genesis 45:3, Genesis 45:6, Genesis 45:9, Genesis 45:10, Genesis 45:11, Genesis 45:13, Genesis 45:16, Genesis 45:17, Genesis 45:18, Genesis 45:19, Genesis 45:20, Genesis 45:21, Genesis 45:22, Genesis 45:23, Genesis 45:24, Genesis 45:25, Genesis 45:26, Genesis 45:27, Genesis 45:28

Literary context

Concealed identity gives way to direct naming, tears and speech. The brothers' initial silence changes after Joseph draws them near and kisses them. His explanation holds their act of selling him beside his conviction that God sent him ahead to preserve life. That is Joseph's interpretation of this family's history, not an erasure of the sale he names. The news then travels outward through Pharaoh's household and back to Jacob. Words and visible wagons overcome Jacob's disbelief, and his closing decision turns the reunion already begun among the brothers toward a future meeting with their father.

Cited passages: Genesis 45:1, Genesis 45:2, Genesis 45:3, Genesis 45:4, Genesis 45:5, Genesis 45:6, Genesis 45:7, Genesis 45:8, Genesis 45:9, Genesis 45:10, Genesis 45:11, Genesis 45:12, Genesis 45:13, Genesis 45:14, Genesis 45:15, Genesis 45:16, Genesis 45:17, Genesis 45:18, Genesis 45:19, Genesis 45:20, Genesis 45:21, Genesis 45:24, Genesis 45:25, Genesis 45:26, Genesis 45:27, Genesis 45:28

Key moments

  1. Joseph names himself (Genesis 45:3). Joseph tells his brothers who he is, leaving them too troubled to answer at first.
  2. Joseph speaks of preserving life (Genesis 45:5). He names their sale of him and says God sent him ahead to preserve life.
  3. The brothers begin to speak with Joseph (Genesis 45:15). After Joseph kisses and weeps over them, his brothers talk with him.
  4. Jacob decides to go (Genesis 45:28). Israel says he will see Joseph before he dies.

For reflection

What does Joseph's explanation ask his brothers to see about their past, and how does he turn that explanation into provision for the family?

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