Skip to main content

Joseph Reveals Himself to His Brothers

Illustration of Joseph Reveals Himself to His Brothers
Era
Patriarchs
Date
c. 1876 BC ≈ Approximate
Reference
Genesis 45:1-15
Twenty-two years after they sold him, Joseph's brothers stood before the ruler of Egypt and heard him say, "I am Joseph."

After testing his brothers through two journeys to Egypt, and hearing Judah offer to remain as a bondman in Benjamin's place, Joseph could no longer refrain himself. He sent every Egyptian out of the room and wept so loudly that the house of Pharaoh heard, and then he said, 'I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.' His brothers were too troubled to answer, but Joseph told them not to be grieved or angry with themselves, 'for God did send me before you to preserve life.' Two years of famine had passed and five more were coming, so he urged them to hurry home and bring their father Jacob down to dwell near him in the land of Goshen. It is one of Scripture's great scenes of forgiveness, showing God's providence at work even through a brother's betrayal.

0:00

Did You Know?

1

Joseph was about thirty-nine: thirty when he stood before Pharaoh, plus seven years of plenty and two of famine.

2

Three times Joseph told his brothers that it was God who had sent him to Egypt.

3

Judah, who once proposed selling Joseph, was the brother who offered to stay as a bondman in Benjamin's place.

Key Passage

Joseph Reveals Himself to His Brothers

Genesis 45:1-15

T1hen 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.

2 And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. 3 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. 4 And 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. 5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. 6 For 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. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8 So 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. 9 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: 10 And 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: 11 And 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. 12 And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you. 13 And 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. 14 And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15 Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him.

Read full chapter: Genesis 45 →

Meanwhile in the World

Egypt's Old Kingdom builds the pyramids (c. 2600-2100 BC). Mesopotamia is dominated by Akkad and then Ur III. The Indus Valley civilization flourishes. Stonehenge is being constructed in Britain. This is the era of the great ziggurats and the first law codes (Ur-Nammu).

When: c. 2100 - 1800 BC

Key Civilizations: Ur III (Sumer), Old Kingdom Egypt

Biblical Parallels: Genesis 12-50