Genesis 45:11

_HASTE 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:_ No JFB commentary on these verses....

1-15 Joseph let Judah go on, and heard all he had to say. He found his brethren humbled for their sins, mindful of himself, for Judah had mentioned him twice in his speech, respectful to their father, and very tender of their brother Benjamin. Now they were ripe for the comfort he designed, by making himself known. Joseph ordered all his attendants to withdraw. Thus Christ makes himself and his loving-kindness known to his people, out of the sight and hearing of the world. Joseph shed tears of tenderness and strong affection, and with these threw off that austerity with which he had hitherto behaved toward his brethren. This represents the Divine compassion toward returning penitents. "I am Joseph, your brother." This would humble them yet more for their sin in selling him, but would encourage them to hope for kind treatment. Thus, when Christ would convince Paul, he said, I am Jesus; a...

- Joseph Made Himself Known to His Brethren 10. גשׁן _gôshen_, Goshen, Gesem (Arabias related perhaps to גשׁם _geshem_ “rain, shower”), a region on the borders of Egypt and Arabia, near the gulf of Suez. The appeal of Judah is to Joseph irresistible. The repentance of his brothers, and their attachment to Benjamin, have been demonstrated in the most satisfactory manner. This is all that Joseph sought. It is evident, throughout the whole narrative, that he never aimed at exercising any supremacy over his brothers. As soon as he has obtained an affecting proof of the right disposition of his brothers, he conceals himself no longer. And the speech of Judah, in which, no doubt, his brothers concurred, does equal credit to his head and heart....

EXPOSITION GENESIS 45:1, GENESIS 45:2 THEN (literally, and) JOSEPH COULD NOT REFRAIN HIMSELF (_i.e._ keep himself from giving way to the impulses of love) BEFORE ALL THEM THAT STOOD BY HIM (_i.e._ the Egyptian officials of his household); and he cried (or made proclamation, issued an instruction), CAUSE EVERY MAN TO GO OUT FROM ME. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. It was true delicacy on the part of Joseph which prompted the discovery of himself to his brethren in private; not simply because he did not wish to pain his brethren by a public reference to their past wickedness, ne facinus illud detestabile m

AND THERE WILL I NOURISH THEE,.... Provide for him and his family: FOR YET [THERE ARE] FIVE YEARS OF FAMINE; still to come, two of the seven only being past: LEST THOU, AND THY HOUSEHOLD, AND ALL THAT THOU HAST, COME TO POVERTY; his whole posterity be consumed, as it would be in all probability, if he did not procure food for his family during the famine....

Genesis 45:1. _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, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And he wept aloud:_ Emotion long pent up grows violent; and when at last it does burst forth, it cannot be restrained: «He wept aloud.» Genesis 45:2. _And the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. And 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._ What a rush of thoughts must have passed through their minds when they remembered all their unkind behavior toward him! There is no wonder that «they were troubled at his presence.»...

CHAPTER 45 JOSEPH REVEALS HIMSELF _ 1. He reveals himself (Genesis 45:1)_ 2. His address (Genesis 45:4) 3. He kissed his brethren (Genesis 45:14) 4. Pharaoh's command (Genesis 45:16) 5. His brethren sent away and their return to Jacob (Genesis 45:21) These three Chapter s belong together because they lead up to the great climax in the story of Joseph. The nobility of the character of Joseph is here fully brought out. Besides being a wise man, the great statesman of Egypt, he had a heart of tender

WILL NOURISH THEE. This is Joseph's pledge for all the years of famine, his guarantee to Jacob and his family with food and to maintain him and all his house during the rigors of the next five years. He speaks as one having authority. THY HOUSEHOLD. The household of Abraham and Isaac consisted of many servants and dependents, besides their own immediate families. So Jacob, when he came from Padan Aram, had become "two bands." It is probable that besides the "seventy-two souls" in Jacob's family, several hundred dependents accompanied him in his descent into Egypt and settled with him in the land of Goshen. It must not be forgotten that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were the patriarchal rulers of the tribes....

Joseph makes himself known to his Brethren 1. _refrain himself_ As in Genesis 43:31. The vehemence of Joseph's emotion forms a trait in his character and a feature in the narrative. Cf. Genesis 45:2_; Genesis 45:14_; Genesis 42:24; Genesis 43:30; Genesis 46:29....

3. _Joseph as Prime Minister of Egypt_ (Genesis 41:46 to Genesis 47:31) 46 And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. 47 And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls. 48 And he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same. 49 And Joseph laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left off numbering; for it was without number. 50 And unto Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-phera priest of On, bare unto him. 51 And Joseph called the name