EXTRA · 45:4 · classical material not listed by Torah Temimah under this passuk

Vayigash 45:4 · EXTRA

Parashas Vayigash · Passuk 45:4

The Complete Passuk

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יוֹסֵ֧ף אֶל־אֶחָ֛יו גְּשׁוּ־נָ֥א אֵלַ֖י וַיִּגָּ֑שׁוּ וַיֹּ֗אמֶר אֲנִי֙ יוֹסֵ֣ף אֲחִיכֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־מְכַרְתֶּ֥ם אֹתִ֖י מִצְרָֽיְמָה׃

Then Yosef said to his brothers, “Please come near to me.” And they came near. And he said, “I am Yosef your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.”

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

Classical midrash (Bereishis Rabbah 93) on Yosef’s revelation and the sign he gave his brothers.

Sefaria — Bereishis Rabbah 93:10

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
גְּשׁוּ נָא אֵלַי וַיִּגָּשׁוּ — הֶרְאָה לָהֶם אֶת הַמִּילָה. אֲנִי יוֹסֵף אֲחִיכֶם — אָמַר לָהֶם: דֶּרֶךְ אַחְוָה אֲנַהֵג בָּכֶם.

English: “Please come near to me, and they came near” — he showed them the circumcision. “I am Yosef your brother” — he said to them: I will conduct myself toward you in the way of brotherhood.

On the daf / in context: The brothers were so alarmed they could not answer. Yosef first invited them closer and displayed the mark of the covenant so they would recognize him, then explicitly identified himself as their brother and promised fraternal conduct.

Type of Learning

Derash on the verse (midrash) — not a formal named middah of the 13. The midrash supplies the concrete sign Yosef used to establish his identity and the tone of the subsequent relationship.

What Is Learned

Yosef proved his identity by showing the milah and immediately framed the reunion as an act of brotherhood rather than accusation.