Two patriarchs die in this chapter. It starts with the death of Yisra’el (Ya’akov) and ends with the death of Yosef. When the brothers realized the depths of Yosef’s love and forgiveness they make a vow to him, which their descendants fulfilled 200 years later.
We read the prophesies of the last days given to Joseph and Benjamin by Israel, their father. He also gives the final instructions for his burial. He wanted to be buried with his father and grandfather.
We finish this chapter discussing the prophesies related to Dan, Naphtali, Asher, Yosef (Joseph) and Ben-Yamin (Benjamin). If we look at these prophesies as only relevant to the sons of Ya’akov (Jacob), we are missing out on the messianic significance of every one of these prophesies.
We read more about how the land of Egypt survived the seven-year famine thanks to God’s revelation to Yosef (Joseph) and his stewardship of Pharaoh’s land. Later, Ya’akov (Jacob) gives Yosef his double portion of the blessing vicariously through his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.
Ya’akov asks God’s permission to go to the Land of Egypt, Mitsraim in Hebrew, to meet his son Yosef (Joseph) again. When God gives him the green light, he leaves the land of Canaan and travels to Mitsraim in the entourage Pharaoh provides him and his family. Ya’akov’s and Yosef’s joy are complete.
Ya’akov’s family finally ran out of Egyptian grain and had little choice but to return to Egypt to get more. The 10 brothers had a duty to fulfill beyond their father’s call to get more grain: get Simeon released from prison. Ben-Yamin (Benjamin) was the only key to obtain that release, but Ya’akov (Jacob) did not want to let him go. Once Ya’akov acquiesced, the 10 brothers went to Egypt. Yosef (Joseph) celebrated their arrival with a feast rather than another interrogation. “The man” was full of surprises.
Yosef’s (Joseph) scheme to discover how his brothers really felt about Benjamin (and by extension, himself) came to a head. The “revealer of what is concealed” forced his brothers to reveal their own secrets, not only to him but to their father.