Genesis 44:18-47:27
“Then Y’hudah approached Yosef and said, ‘Please my lord! Let your servant say something to you privately; and don’t be angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself’” (Genesis 44:18).
Excerpt:
“At last Yosef could no longer control his feelings in front of his attendants and cried, ‘Get everybody away from me!’ So no one else was with him when Yosef revealed to his brothers who he was. He wept aloud, and the Egyptians heard, and Pharaoh’s household heard. Yosef said to his brothers, ‘I am Yosef! Is it true that my father is still alive?’ His brothers couldn’t answer him, they were so dumbfounded at seeing him. Yosef said to his brothers, ‘Please! Come closer.’ And they came closer. He said, ‘I am Yosef, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But don’t be sad that you sold me into slavery here or angry at yourselves, because it was God who sent me ahead of you to preserve life. The famine has been over the land for the last two years, and for yet another five years there will be neither plowing nor harvest. God sent me ahead of you to ensure that you will have descendants on earth and to save your lives in a great deliverance’” (Genesis 45:1-7).
Joseph cannot contain his emotions any longer. He releases his grief from years of being a stranger in a foreign culture. His heartache from being separated from those he loved ends. He weeps. He weeps so loudly that everyone in Pharaoh’s house hears him along with all the Egyptians.
Joseph cried more than anyone else in Torah. He cries seven times within three Torah portions. The first time he cries is when he realizes his brothers regretted what they did to him (Genesis 42:24). He cries when Benjamin is brought to Egypt (Genesis 43:30). He had missed 22 years of his brother’s life –– marriage and children. In this portion, Joseph releases all of his emotions so that the Egyptians heard and the news reached Pharaoh’s house. He wept when he embraced his brother around the neck (Genesis 45:14). He wept when he revealed himself to his brothers (Genesis 45:15). He weeps when he sees his father, Isra’el. He sees the future; he sees the nation. Finally, Joseph weeps when his father passes away (Genesis 50:1).
The shortest verse in the Bible is “Yeshua wept” (John 11:35). Weeping can be considered weakness in a man, especially a man of power and authority; however Joseph weeps because he has maintained his humanity. He has not become hardened, angry or bitter. Like Yeshua, he remained the son of his father, sensitive to the Spirit of Elohim and the human nefesh.
The Hebrew words for “he wept loudly” are vyiten et qolow. Within that phrase is the little word et, את , the alef and the tav, the ‘sign’ of Yeshua. Yeshua is in the midst of Joseph’s weeping. Yeshua restores the Tribes of Isra’el; salvation comes to Joseph and his brothers.
For a complete copy of this Torah portion, the readings from the Prophets, gospels, letters, and study questions, please purchase Open My Eyes: Wonders of Torah.
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