Genesis 45:4
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. 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.
The verse belongs to the moment when Joseph makes himself known to his brothers, just after he had seen Benjamin and struggled to restrain his brotherly love, while his brothers stood before him anxious about being accused and punished. He reveals himself only after proving his brothers and seeing in them the fruits of true repentance for their sins. Deeply affected and overcome with feeling, he wept aloud, asked to be left alone with his brothers, and declared his identity to them.
His brothers could not answer for surprise, terror, astonishment and confusion, unable to realize that the ruler of Egypt was the brother they had envied, would have murdered, and finally were content to sell as a slave. They stood before him frightened, overwhelmed, condemned and amazed. All their ill treatment passed before them, especially how they had despised his dreams and labored to prevent their fulfillment, yet had acted their part in fulfilling those dreams by repeatedly making obeisance to him.
Seeing their confusion, shame and fear, he called them to come near and plainly repeated his identification of himself as Joseph their brother whom they sold into Egypt. He spoke kindly to make the occasion as easy as possible, with no desire to condemn or to increase their embarrassment by censuring them, feeling they had suffered enough for their cruelty and endeavoring to comfort them and replace fear and self-reproach with reassurance. His naming of himself as the brother sold into Egypt recalls their guilt but turns at once to divine purpose. He explains that God sent him before them to preserve life, to preserve them a posterity in the earth and save lives by a great deliverance through the famine, making him a father to Pharaoh and ruler of Egypt.
The disclosure opens reconciliation, leading the brothers to humbly confess the wrongs they committed against him and to ask his forgiveness. The moment brings great joy at finding him alive and relieves minds long suffering remorse and great distress, knowing they are not guilty of his blood.