The big picture
Judah, one of Jacob’s sons, has offered himself in place of Benjamin, Jacob’s youngest son. Jacob is also called Israel. Joseph, their brother whom they sold years earlier, has heard the whole plea. He now oversees Egypt’s food supply during a severe famine. Egypt is the country where the brothers came to buy grain. They still think Joseph is an Egyptian ruler. Jacob remains in Canaan, the family’s homeland. Judah has shown that the brothers will no longer save themselves by giving up a favored younger brother. Joseph can no longer keep his identity hidden.
In this chapter
- Joseph Makes Himself Known Genesis 45:1-8
Joseph sends every Egyptian attendant out of the room.
- Joseph Invites the Family to Egypt Genesis 45:9-20
Joseph tells the brothers to hurry back to Jacob.
- Jacob Learns Joseph Is Alive Genesis 45:21-28
Joseph gives the brothers wagons and food for the trip.
Central truth
Joseph identifies himself, names his brothers’ wrongdoing, and sees God’s preserving purpose working through actions that were meant for harm.
Scripture beside the summary
Genesis · King James Version · 28Genesis 45:1-8
Joseph Makes Himself Known
Joseph sends every Egyptian attendant out of the room. Then he tells his brothers who he is. He weeps so loudly that people outside hear him. His first question is about their father. The brothers are terrified and cannot answer. Joseph calls them closer. He says plainly that he is the brother they sold into Egypt. Then he tells them not to be crushed by what they did. He says God sent him ahead to keep people alive during the famine. Two famine years have passed, and five more are coming. Joseph does not deny the brothers’ wrong. He says God worked through it to preserve the family.
In everyday life
A food-bank director meets relatives who pushed him out of the family years ago. Now a regional shortage has left them needing supplies that pass through his hands. He names what they did and does not pretend it was harmless. Yet his hard path placed him where he can keep them alive. The family faces both guilt and relief at once. Unlike Joseph, the director cannot know a divine purpose behind his career.
Notice
Genesis 45:4 Joseph calls himself the brother they sold. His later words about God’s purpose do not erase what they did or remove their responsibility for it.
Genesis 45:1-8
King James Version1Then 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.
Genesis 45:9-20
Joseph Invites the Family to Egypt
Joseph tells the brothers to hurry back to Jacob. They must tell him Joseph is alive and has great authority in Egypt. Joseph wants the whole household to move near him in Goshen, a district in Egypt. There he can feed them through the five remaining famine years. Joseph embraces Benjamin and then his other brothers. After that, they are able to speak with him. News reaches Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, and he is pleased. Pharaoh tells Joseph to bring Jacob and the whole household to Egypt. He provides wagons for the children, wives, and Jacob. He also tells them not to worry about goods left behind because Egypt will provide what they need.
In everyday life
A father loses his job and home after a major storm. His brother, who now manages housing for a large employer, calls with a clear offer. He has rooms, food, transport, and work nearby for the whole household. The employer sends moving vans and tells the family to leave damaged furniture behind. They can move because help is ready before they arrive. Pharaoh’s offer is broader because it places an entire clan under a king’s care.
Notice
Genesis 45:15 The brothers speak with Joseph only after he embraces them and weeps with them. Their earlier silence came from fear and shock, not from failure to understand him.
Genesis 45:9-20
King James Version9Haste 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.
Genesis 45:21-28
Jacob Learns Joseph Is Alive
Joseph gives the brothers wagons and food for the trip. Each brother receives clothing. Benjamin receives much more, including silver and five changes of clothes. Joseph also sends food and goods for Jacob. Before the brothers leave, Joseph warns them not to quarrel on the road. They return to Canaan and tell Jacob that Joseph is alive and rules over Egypt. Jacob cannot believe them at first. Then they repeat Joseph’s words and show him the wagons. The visible proof changes his response. His strength returns, and he decides to go to Egypt. He wants to see Joseph before he dies.
In everyday life
An elderly father hears that a son missing for years is alive overseas, but the claim sounds impossible. Then a driver arrives with travel papers, food, and luggage sent by that son. The details match what the family was told. The father moves from shock to action and agrees to make the trip. Something he thought was lost is suddenly within reach again. Jacob’s news carries deeper pain because his other sons had helped create years of grief.
Notice
Genesis 45:27 Jacob’s response changes when he sees the wagons Joseph sent. The wagons give visible support to news that had sounded too extraordinary for him to believe.
Genesis 45:21-28
King James Version21And 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.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Genesis 45:1 begins with “Then 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…”
Where the chapter turns
Genesis 45:19 forms a natural hinge: “Now 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.”
The final note
Genesis 45:28 leaves the reader with “And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words Joseph, father, Egypt, land, brethren, Pharaoh help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- earing
- Ploughing or working the soil for crops; the famine will stop normal planting and harvest.
- posterity
- Descendants or a continuing family line preserved for the future.
- tarry
- Delay or remain; Joseph tells Jacob to come to Egypt without waiting.
- raiment
- Clothing or garments; Joseph gives his brothers changes of clothes for the trip.
- fall not out
- Do not quarrel or become angry with one another on the road.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
