Genesis 45:4

Summary

Joseph speaks twice to his brothers: first commanding them to come closer, and after they approach, he identifies himself as their brother and refers directly to the fact that they had sold him into Egypt. The verse marks the turning point where Joseph reveals his identity explicitly.

Key words

• gshu ("draw near", H5066G) — qal imperative, plural, a direct command addressed to "you all," softened by the following particle of entreaty.
• na ("please", H4994) — interjection attached to the imperative, adding a tone of request rather than mere command.
• achi ("brother", H0251G) — masculine singular construct, here bound to the suffix "your" (chem, H9026), forming "brother of you (pl.)," i.e., "your brother."
• mekhartem ("you sold", H4376) — qal perfect, second person plural, marking a completed past action performed by the brothers.
• oti ("me", H0853 + H9030) — the direct object marker with a first-person suffix, showing Joseph himself as the object of the selling.

What the text says

The verse is built from three short narrative units, each introduced by the narrative va- ("and", H9001) attached to a form of yomer ("he said", H0559): Joseph speaks, the brothers act, Joseph speaks again. The first speech is a two-word command-plus-particle, gshu na ("draw near, please", H5066G + H4994), directed el-echai ("to my brothers", H0413 + H0251G + H9023). The narrative verb va-yigashu ("and they drew near", H5066G) reports the brothers' compliance using the same root as the imperative, linking command and fulfillment through repetition of the verb nagash.

The second speech opens with the independent pronoun ani ("I", H0589) followed immediately by the proper name Yosef ("Joseph", H3130G), forming a nominal clause without a copula verb — the Hebrew simply juxtaposes "I" and "Joseph," a construction that in narrative Hebrew serves as a strong, self-identifying declaration. This is followed by achikhem ("your brother", H0251G + H9026), an appositional phrase further identifying Joseph in relation to his hearers. The relative clause asher mekhartem oti Mitzraymah ("whom you sold me to Egypt") uses the relative particle asher (H0834A) to attach a subordinate clause describing the addressees' prior action; the object marker oti (H0853 + H9030) marks Joseph explicitly as the recipient of that action, and the final word Mitzraymah carries the directional he (H9011), indicating motion "toward" Egypt.

Differences between versions

The LXX omits the first exchange (Joseph's command to draw near and the brothers' approach) found in the Hebrew, moving directly to Joseph's self-identification: "καὶ εἶπεν Ἐγώ εἰμι Ἰωσήφ..." The Vulgate, by contrast, preserves both parts of the Hebrew sequence ("Accedite... Ego sum, ait, Joseph"), matching the Hebrew structure of command, action, and declaration more closely than the LXX text given here.