Genesis 45:4

4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near me.” And they did so. “I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt!

Genesis 45:4 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 45:4

And Joseph said unto his brethren, come near to me, I pray
you
Very probably Joseph sat in a chair of state while they were under examination, and through reverence of him they kept at a proper distance; or being frightened at what he had said, he might observe them drawing back, as Jarchi remarks, and so encourages them in a kind and tender manner to return and come nearer to him, and the rather, that they might more privately converse together without being overheard; as also that they might, by approaching him discern and call to mind some of his features still remaining, by which they might be assured he was Joseph indeed: and they came near, and he said, I [am] Joseph your brother;
not only his name was Joseph, but he was that Joseph that was their brother; he claims and owns the relation between them, which must be very affecting to them, who had used him so unkindly: whom ye sold into Egypt:
which is added, not so much to put them in mind of and upbraid them with their sin, but to assure them that he was really their brother Joseph; which he could not have related had he not been he, as well as to lead on to what he had further to say to them for their comfort.

Genesis 45:4 In-Context

2 But he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household soon heard of it.

3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But they were unable to answer him, because they were terrified in his presence.

4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near me.” And they did so. “I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt!

5 And now, do not be distressed or angry with yourselves that you sold me into this place, because it was to save lives that God sent me before you.

6 For the famine has covered the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting.