Genesis 45:4

 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.

[Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

a. NASB 1995: Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come closer to me.” And they came closer. And he said, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. [New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.]

b. NKJV: And Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near to me.” So they came near. Then he said: “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. [Scripture quotations marked "NKJV" are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.]

c. Classic Amplified: And Joseph said to his brothers, Come near to me, I pray you. And they did so. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt! [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Stone Edition THE CHUMASH, Rabbinic Commentary: Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me, If you please,” and they came close. And he said “I am Joseph your brother, it is me, whom you sold into Egypt. [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE CHUMASH Copyright 1998, 2000 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ldt.]

e. ESV: So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

f. Unless otherwise stated, all Greek and Hebrew definitions are from Blue Letter Bible

1. “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.”

a. [And] Joseph [Strong: 3130 Yôwçêph, yo-safe'; future of H3254; let him add (or perhaps simply active participle adding); Joseph, the name of seven Israelites:—Joseph.]

b. said [Strong: 559 ʼâmar, aw-mar'; a primitive root; to say (used with great latitude):—answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, × desire, determine, × expressly, × indeed, × intend, name, × plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), × still, × suppose, talk, tell, term, × that is, × think, use (speech), utter, × verily, × yet.]

c. unto [Strong: 413 ʼêl, ale; (but used only in the shortened constructive form אֶל ʼel, el); a primitive particle; properly, denoting motion towards, but occasionally used of a quiescent position, i.e. near, with or among; often in general, to:—about, according to, after, against, among, as for, at, because (-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, × hath, in (-to), near, (out) of, over, through, to (-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with (-in).]

d. [his] brethren [Strong: 251 ʼâch, awkh; a primitive word; a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relationship and metaphorical affinity or resemblance [like H1]):—another, brother(-ly); kindred, like, other.]

e. Come near [Strong: 5066 nâgash, naw-gash'; a primitive root; to be or come (causatively, bring) near (for any purpose); euphemistically, to lie with a woman; as an enemy, to attack; religious to worship; causatively, to present; figuratively, to adduce an argument; by reversal, to stand back:—(make to) approach (nigh), bring (forth, hither, near), (cause to) come (hither, near, nigh), give place, go hard (up), (be, draw, go) near (nigh), offer, overtake, present, put, stand.]

f. to [me] [Strong: 413 ʼêl, ale; (but used only in the shortened constructive form אֶל ʼel, el); a primitive particle; properly, denoting motion towards, but occasionally used of a quiescent position, i.e. near, with or among; often in general, to:—about, according to, after, against, among, as for, at, because (-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, × hath, in (-to), near, (out) of, over, through, to (-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with (-in).]

g. I pray you [Strong: 4994 nâʼ, naw; a primitive particle of incitement and entreaty, which may usually be rendered; 'I pray', 'now', or 'then'; added mostly to verbs (in the Imperative or Future), or to interjections, occasionally to an adverb or conjunction:—I beseech (pray) thee (you), go to, now, oh.]

h. [And they] came near Strong: 5066 nâgash, naw-gash'; a primitive root; to be or come (causatively, bring) near (for any purpose); euphemistically, to lie with a woman; as an enemy, to attack; religious to worship; causatively, to present; figuratively, to adduce an argument; by reversal, to stand back:—(make to) approach (nigh), bring (forth, hither, near), (cause to) come (hither, near, nigh), give place, go hard (up), (be, draw, go) near (nigh), offer, overtake, present, put, stand.]

i. [And he] said [Strong: 559 ʼâmar, aw-mar'; a primitive root; to say (used with great latitude):—answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, × desire, determine, × expressly, × indeed, × intend, name, × plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), × still, × suppose, talk, tell, term, × that is, × think, use (speech), utter, × verily, × yet.]

j. I [am] [Strong: 589 ʼănîy, an-ee'; contracted from H595; I:—I, (as for) me, mine, myself, we, × which, × who.]

k. Joseph [Strong: 3130 Yôwçêph, yo-safe'; future of H3254; let him add (or perhaps simply active participle adding); Joseph, the name of seven Israelites:—Joseph.]

l. [your] brother [Strong: 251 ʼâch, awkh; a primitive word; a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relationship and metaphorical affinity or resemblance [like H1]):—another, brother(-ly); kindred, like, other.]

m. whom [Strong: 834 ʼăsher, ash-er'; a primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number); who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.:—× after, × alike, as (soon as), because, × every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how(-soever), × if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), × though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither(-soever), who(-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.]

n. [ye] sold [Strong: mâkar, maw-kar'; a primitive root; to sell, literally (as merchandise, a daughter in marriage, into slavery), or figuratively (to surrender):—× at all, sell (away, -er, self).]

d. [into] Egypt [Strong: 4714 Mitsrayim, mits-rah'-yim; dual of H4693; Mitsrajim, i.e. Upper and Lower Egypt:—Egypt, Egyptians, Mizraim.]

1). Twenty two years had gone by between Joseph being sold by his brothers. Joseph was 17 when he was sold by his brothers.

a). Genesis 37:2   These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.

b). Genesis 37:28 Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.

2). Joseph spent 13 years in prison before he was brought before Pharaoh, because he was 30 years old when he was before Pharaoh.

a). Genesis 41:46  And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.

3). Pharaoh's dream covered 14 years, senen plenteous years and seven years of famine.

a). Genesis 41:28-30  This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh.

41:29 Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:

41:30 And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;

4). Joseph revealed himself the second time his brothers came to buy food, in the second year of famine. A total time of 22 years.

a).  Genesis 45:5, 6 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

45:6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.