And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you.
This is the moment when Joseph makes himself known to his brothers. He had already recognized them while they did not recognize him, and their bowing before him had brought his earlier dreams to mind. Only after testing them and seeing in them the fruits of true repentance does he speak, so deeply moved that he weeps aloud and declares himself to be Joseph.
His brothers stand confused, astonished, troubled, condemned and amazed, unable to believe that the ruler of Egypt is the brother they envied, would have murdered, and sold as a slave. Their ill treatment of him and his despised dreams rise painfully before them, dreams they themselves helped fulfill by repeatedly making obeisance to him. Seeing their confusion he bids them come near, proving by what their own eyes see, by Benjamin's eyes, and by his own living voice that the one speaking to them is really Joseph himself and that he is alive, with Benjamin also recognizing his voice. He urges this sight and hearing upon them so they will be convinced and can report to their father what they have seen of his position and honor in Egypt.
He speaks in this way to make the meeting as easy as possible for them, to comfort and not to censure them, with no desire to increase their embarrassment, because they have suffered enough. At the same time he reassures them that he has become ruler in Egypt because God sent him ahead to preserve their family, to preserve a posterity and save lives by a great deliverance through the famine, making him a father to Pharaoh and lord and ruler of Egypt. Two years of famine are past, with five years without earing nor harvest yet to come. He therefore charges them to tell Jacob of all his glory in Egypt and to bring him down to dwell near him in Goshen, where he will nourish them through the five remaining years lest they come to poverty.
The proof is sealed when he falls on Benjamin's neck weeping and kisses all his brethren. At this proof they humbly confess the wrongs they committed against Joseph and ask his forgiveness, and rejoice greatly to find that he is alive. Knowing now that they are not guilty of his blood relieves their troubled minds after long remorse and great distress of mind since their cruelty toward him.
This is the moment when Joseph makes himself known to his brothers. He had already recognized them while they did not recognize him, and their bowing before him had brought his earlier dreams to mind. Only after testing them and seeing in them the fruits of true repentance does he speak, so deeply moved that he weeps aloud and declares himself to be Joseph.
His brothers stand confused, astonished, troubled, condemned and amazed, unable to believe that the ruler of Egypt is the brother they envied, would have murdered, and sold as a slave. Their ill treatment of him and his despised dreams rise painfully before them, dreams they themselves helped fulfill by repeatedly making obeisance to him. Seeing their confusion he bids them come near, proving by what their own eyes see, by Benjamin's eyes, and by his own living voice that the one speaking to them is really Joseph himself and that he is alive, with Benjamin also recognizing his voice. He urges this sight and hearing upon them so they will be convinced and can report to their father what they have seen of his position and honor in Egypt.
He speaks in this way to make the meeting as easy as possible for them, to comfort and not to censure them, with no desire to increase their embarrassment, because they have suffered enough. At the same time he reassures them that he has become ruler in Egypt because God sent him ahead to preserve their family, to preserve a posterity and save lives by a great deliverance through the famine, making him a father to Pharaoh and lord and ruler of Egypt. Two years of famine are past, with five years without earing nor harvest yet to come. He therefore charges them to tell Jacob of all his glory in Egypt and to bring him down to dwell near him in Goshen, where he will nourish them through the five remaining years lest they come to poverty.
The proof is sealed when he falls on Benjamin's neck weeping and kisses all his brethren. At this proof they humbly confess the wrongs they committed against Joseph and ask his forgiveness, and rejoice greatly to find that he is alive. Knowing now that they are not guilty of his blood relieves their troubled minds after long remorse and great distress of mind since their cruelty toward him.