The BibleTruth.cc Torah Study Series

Parashat Vayigash

"And He Drew Near"

Bereshith [Genesis] 44:18-47:27

When Yehudah realizes the predicament he is in, he "draws near" to Yoseph to beg for his brother Binyamin's freedom in exchange for his own slavery to Yoseph.  Yoseph sees that his brothers have repented (changed) of having sold him into slavery, and reveals himself to his brothers.

Theme

The theme of Parashat Bereshith

Sedarim

Yehudah Offers Himself in Slavery in Exchange for Binyamin's Freedom

Yoseph Reveals Himself to His Brothers

Yisrael Comes to Mitzrayim

Yisrael Settles in Goshen

Yisrael Appears Before Pharaoh

The Famine in Mitzrayim

Prophetic Pictures in this Week's Torah Portion

Messiah in the Torah Parashah

Prophetic End Time Shadows in the Torah Parashah

Yehudah Offers Himself in Slavery in Exchange for Binyamin's Freedom

44:18 Then Yehudah went up to him and said: "Please, my master, let your servant speak a word to my master. Do not be angry with your servant, though you are equal to Pharaoh himself.
19 My master asked his servants, 'Do you have a father or a brother?'
20 And we answered, 'We have an aged father, and there is a young son born to him in his old age. His brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother's sons left, and his father loves him.'
21 "Then you said to your servants, 'Bring him down to me so I can see him for myself.'
22 And we said to my master, 'The boy cannot leave his father; if he leaves him, his father will die.'
23 But you told your servants, 'Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.'
24 When we went back to your servant my father, we told him what my master had said.
25 "Then our father said, 'Go back and buy a little more food.'
26 But we said, 'We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go. We cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.'
27 "Your servant my father said to us, 'You know that my wife bore me two sons.
28 One of them went away from me, and I said, "He has surely been torn to pieces." And I have not seen him since.
29 If you take this one from me too and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in misery.'
30 "So now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant my father and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy's life,
31 sees that the boy isn't there, he will die. Your servants will bring the gray head of our father down to the grave in sorrow.
32 Your servant guaranteed the boy's safety to my father. I said, 'If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before you, my father, all my life!'
33 "Now then, please let your servant remain here as my master's slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers.
34 How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come upon my father."

Yoseph Reveals Himself to His Brothers

45:1 Then Yoseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, "Have everyone leave my presence!" So there was no one with Yoseph when he made himself known to his brothers.
2 And he wept so loudly that the Mitzrayim heard him, and Pharaoh's household heard about it.
3 Yoseph said to his brothers, "I am Yoseph! Is my father still living?" But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.
4 Then Yoseph said to his brothers, "Come close to me." When they had done so, he said, "I am your brother Yoseph, the one you sold into Mitzrayim!
5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that Elohim sent me ahead of you.
6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping.
7 But Elohim sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
8 "So then, it was not you who sent me here, but Elohim. He made me father to Pharaoh, Yahuwah of his entire household and ruler of all Mitzrayim.
9 Now hurry back to my father and say to him, 'This is what your son Yoseph says: Elohim has made me Yahuwah of all Mitzrayim. Come down to me; don't delay.
10 You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me-- you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have.
11 I will provide for you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute.'
12 "You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that it is really I who am speaking to you.
13 Tell my father about all the honor accorded me in Mitzrayim and about everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly."
14 Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping.
15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward his brothers talked with him.
16 When the news reached Pharaoh's palace that Yoseph's brothers had come, Pharaoh and all his officials were pleased.
17 Pharaoh said to Yoseph, "Tell your brothers, 'Do this: Load your animals and return to the land of Canaan,
18 and bring your father and your families back to me. I will give you the best of the land of Mitzrayim and you can enjoy the fat of the land.'
19 "You are also directed to tell them, 'Do this: Take some carts from Mitzrayim for your children and your wives, and get your father and come.
20 Never mind about your belongings, because the best of all Mitzrayim will be yours.'"
21 So the sons of Yisrael did this. Yoseph gave them carts, as Pharaoh had commanded, and he also gave them provisions for their journey.
22 To each of them he gave new clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five sets of clothes.
23 And this is what he sent to his father: ten donkeys loaded with the best things of Mitzrayim, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and other provisions for his journey.
24 Then he sent his brothers away, and as they were leaving he said to them, "Don't quarrel on the way!"
25 So they went up out of Mitzrayim and came to their father Ya'acov in the land of Canaan.
26 They told him, "Yoseph is still alive! In fact, he is ruler of all Mitzrayim." Ya'acov was stunned; he did not believe them.
27 But when they told him everything Yoseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts Yoseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Ya'acov revived.
28 And Yisrael said, "I'm convinced! My son Yoseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die."

Yisrael Comes to Mitzrayim

46:1 So Yisrael set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the Elohim of his father Yitzchak.
2 And Elohim spoke to Yisrael in a vision at night and said, "Ya'acov! Ya'acov!" "Here I am," he replied.
3 "I am Elohim, the Elohim of your father," he said. "Do not be afraid to go down to Mitzrayim, for I will make you into a great nation there.
4 I will go down to Mitzrayim with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Yoseph's own hand will close your eyes."
5 Then Ya'acov left Beersheba, and Yisrael's sons took their father Ya'acov and their children and their wives in the carts that Pharaoh had sent to transport him.
6 They also took with them their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in Canaan, and Ya'acov and all his offspring went to Mitzrayim.
7 He took with him to Mitzrayim his sons and grandsons and his daughters and granddaughters-- all his offspring.
8 These are the names of the sons of Yisrael (Ya'acov and his descendants) who went to Mitzrayim: Re'uven the firstborn of Ya'acov.
9 The sons of Re'uven: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi.
10 The sons of Shim'on: Yemuel, Yamin, Ohad, Yakin, Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman.
11 The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath and Merari.
12 The sons of Yehudah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez and Zerah (but Er and Onan had died in the land of Canaan). The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul.
13 The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puah, Yashub and Shimron.
14 The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon and Yahleel.
15 These were the sons Leah bore to Ya'acov in Paddan Aram, besides his daughter Dinah. These sons and daughters of his were thirty-three in all.
16 The sons of Gad: Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi and Areli.
17 The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi and Beriah. Their sister was Serah. The sons of Beriah: Heber and Malkiel.
18 These were the children born to Ya'acov by Zilpah, whom Laban had given to his daughter Leah-- sixteen in all.
19 The sons of Ya'acov's wife Rachel: Yoseph and Benjamin.
20 In Mitzrayim, Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Yoseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On.
21 The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and Ard.
22 These were the sons of Rachel who were born to Ya'acov-- fourteen in all.
23 The son of Dan: Hushim.
24 The sons of Naphtali: Yahziel, Guni, Yezer and Shillem.
25 These were the sons born to Ya'acov by Bilhah, whom Laban had given to his daughter Rachel-- seven in all.
26 All those who went to Mitzrayim with Ya'acov-- those who were his direct descendants, not counting his sons' wives-- numbered sixty-six persons.
27 With the two sons who had been born to Yoseph in Mitzrayim, the members of Ya'acov's family, which went to Mitzrayim, were seventy in all.

Yisrael Settles in Goshen

28 Now Ya'acov sent Yehudah ahead of him to Yoseph to get directions to Goshen. When they arrived in the region of Goshen,
29 Yoseph had his chariot made ready and went to Goshen to meet his father Yisrael. As soon as Yoseph appeared before him, he threw his arms around his father and wept for a long time.
30 Yisrael said to Yoseph, "Now I am ready to die, since I have seen for myself that you are still alive."
31 Then Yoseph said to his brothers and to his father's household, "I will go up and speak to Pharaoh and will say to him, 'My brothers and my father's household, who were living in the land of Canaan, have come to me.
32 The men are shepherds; they tend livestock, and they have brought along their flocks and herds and everything they own.'
33 When Pharaoh calls you in and asks, 'What is your occupation?'
34 you should answer, 'Your servants have tended livestock from our boyhood on, just as our fathers did.' Then you will be allowed to settle in the region of Goshen, for all shepherds are detestable to the Mitzrayim."

Yisrael Appears Before Pharaoh

47:1 Yoseph went and told Pharaoh, "My father and brothers, with their flocks and herds and everything they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in Goshen."
2 He chose five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh.
3 Pharaoh asked the brothers, "What is your occupation?" "Your servants are shepherds," they replied to Pharaoh, "just as our fathers were."
4 They also said to him, "We have come to live here awhile, because the famine is severe in Canaan and your servants' flocks have no pasture. So now, please let your servants settle in Goshen."
5 Pharaoh said to Yoseph, "Your father and your brothers have come to you,
6 and the land of Mitzrayim is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land. Let them live in Goshen. And if you know of any among them with special ability, put them in charge of my own livestock."
7 Then Yoseph brought his father Ya'acov in and presented him before Pharaoh. After Ya'acov blessed Pharaoh,
8 Pharaoh asked him, "How old are you?"
9 And Ya'acov said to Pharaoh, "The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers."
10 Then Ya'acov blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence.
11 So Yoseph settled his father and his brothers in Mitzrayim and gave them property in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh directed.

The Famine in Mitzrayim

12 Yoseph also provided his father and his brothers and all his father's household with food, according to the number of their children.
13 There was no food, however, in the whole region because the famine was severe; both Mitzrayim and Canaan wasted away because of the famine.
14 Yoseph collected all the money that was to be found in Mitzrayim and Canaan in payment for the grain they were buying, and he brought it to Pharaoh's palace.
15 When the money of the people of Mitzrayim and Canaan was gone, all Mitzrayim came to Yoseph and said, "Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? Our money is used up."
16 "Then bring your livestock," said Yoseph. "I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock, since your money is gone."
17 So they brought their livestock to Yoseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their sheep and goats, their cattle and donkeys. And he brought them through that year with food in exchange for all their livestock.
18 When that year was over, they came to him the following year and said, "We cannot hide from our Master the fact that since our money is gone and our livestock belongs to you, there is nothing left for our Master except our bodies and our land.
19 Why should we perish before your eyes-- we and our land as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh. Give us seed so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate."
20 So Yoseph bought all the land in Mitzrayim for Pharaoh. The Mitzrayim, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh's,
21 and Yoseph reduced the people to servitude, from one end of Mitzrayim to the other.
22 However, he did not buy the land of the priests, because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.
23 Yoseph said to the people, "Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you so you can plant the ground.
24 But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children."
25 "You have saved our lives," they said. "May we find favor in the eyes of our Master; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh."
26 So Yoseph established it as a law concerning land in Mitzrayim-- still in force today-- that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. It was only the land of the priests that did not become Pharaoh's.
27 Now the sons of Yisrael settled in Mitzrayim in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number.

Messiah in the Torah Parashah

Prophetic End Time Shadows in the Torah Parashah