Portion 11 of 54 · Genesis
וַיִּגַּשׁ
Vayigash
Judah offers himself in his brother's place, and the man he is pleading with breaks down and says who he is.
Start by reading it
Genesis 44:18–47:27
4 chapters. About 16 minutes at an unhurried pace.
Paired reading from the prophets: Ezekiel 37:15–28
What happens
- 01
Judah steps forward and offers to stay a slave so that Benjamin can go home to their father.
- 02
Joseph cannot hold himself in. He clears the room and weeps so loudly the Egyptians hear.
- 03
'I am Joseph; doth my father yet live?' The brothers cannot answer.
- 04
The family comes down to Egypt. Jacob sees his son again, and settles in Goshen.
The thing most people walk past
The brother who once sold him now offers to take the punishment
Judah proposed the sale in chapter 37. Here he volunteers for slavery to spare the other favoured son. The test Joseph designed was exactly the situation that would reveal it.
One verse to carry
I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
He names the wrong plainly and claims the relationship in the same breath. Reconciliation here does not require pretending it did not happen.
A question to sit with
Joseph tells them not to be grieved, because God sent him ahead to preserve life. Does that let them off, or is he choosing to carry it?
There is no answer key. This is the part you take with you.