Genesis 45:15

Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
kissed	וַיְנַשֵּׁ֥ק vay.na.Shek	H5401	to kiss · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
brethren	אֶחָ֖יו 'e.Chav	H251	a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relation… · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
wept	וַיֵּ֣בְךְּ vai.Ye.vek	H1058	to weep · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
after	וְאַ֣חֲרֵי ve.'A.cha.rei	H310	properly · conjunction + cardinal number, masculine plural construct
brethren	אֶחָ֖יו 'e.Chav	H251	a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relation… · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
talked	דִּבְּר֥וּ di.be.Ru	H1696	perhaps properly · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person common plural

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Luke 15:20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his…
Genesis 29:11 And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept.
Genesis 29:13 And it came to pass, when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister’s son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and…
Genesis 33:4 And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.
Genesis 45:2 And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.
Exodus 4:27 And the LORD said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him.
Ruth 1:9 The LORD grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and…
Ruth 1:14 And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 45:1-15

Judah and his brethren were waiting for an answer, and could not but be amazed to discover, instead of the gravity of a judge, the natural affection of a father or brother. I. Joseph ordered all his attendants to withdraw, Gen 45:1. The private conversations of friends are the most free. When Joseph would put on love he puts off state, and it was not fit his servants should be witnesses of this. Thus Christ graciously manifests himself and his loving-kindness to his people, out of the sight and hearing of the world. II. Tears were the preface or introduction to his discourse, Gen 45:2. He had dammed up this stream a great while, and with much ado: but now it swelled so high that he could no…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 45:14

And he fell upon . . . Benjamin's neck--The sudden transition from a condemned criminal to a fondled brother, might have occasioned fainting or even death, had not his tumultuous feelings been relieved by a torrent of tears. But Joseph's attentions were not confined to Benjamin. He affectionately embraced every one of his brothers in succession; and by those actions, his forgiveness was demonstrated more fully than it could be by words.

Adam Clarke on Genesis 45:14

He fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck - Among the Asiatics kissing the beard, the neck, and the shoulders, is in use to the present day; and probably falling on the neck signifies no more than kissing the neck or shoulders, with the arms around.

John Gill on Genesis 45:15

Moreover, he kissed all his brethren,.... In their turns, to testify his real affection for them, and hearty reconciliation to them: and wept upon them; that is, upon their necks, as he had on Benjamin's: and after that his brethren talked with him: being emboldened by this carriage of his to them, and encouraged to believe that he really forgave them their sin against him, and was truly reconciled unto them, and had a real affection for them, and had no reason to fear he would avenge himself on them: they entered into a free conversation, and talked of their father and their family, and the concerns of it, and of what passed since the time he was separated from them.

The Church Fathers

You have admired the chastity of Joseph; now behold his generosity. He repays hatred with charity. When he saw his brothers, or rather enemies in his brothers, he gave evidence of the affection of his love by his pious grief when he wanted to be recognized by them. He tenderly kissed each one of them and wept over them individually. As Joseph moistened the necks of his frightened brothers with his refreshing tears, he washed away their hatred with the tears of his charity. He loved them always as with the love of their living father and dead brother. He did not recall that pit into which he had been thrown to be murdered; he did not think of himself, a brother, sold for a price. Instead, by returning good for evil, even then he fulfilled the precepts of the apostles that were not yet given. Therefore, by considering the sweetness of true charity, blessed Joseph, with God's help, was eager to repel from his heart the poison of envy with which he knew his brothers had been struck.
— Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 90.4

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Kiss — Of affection (Gen. 27:26, 27; 29:13; Luke 7:38, 45); reconciliation (Gen. 33:4; 2 Sam. 14:33); leave-taking (Gen. 31:28, 55; Ruth 1:14; 2 Sam. 19:39); homage (Ps. 2:12; 1 Sam. 10:1); spoken of as…
Forgiveness · .Joseph forgives his brothers — .Joseph forgives his brothers
Love To Man · Exemplified: Joseph — Exemplified: Joseph
Readings, Select · JOSEPH REVEALING HIS I — JOSEPH REVEALING HIS I
Salutations · Often accompanied by: Falling on the neck and kissing — Often accompanied by: Falling on the neck and kissing

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Genesis 45:15

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 45:1-15

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 45:14

Adam Clarke on Genesis 45:14

John Gill on Genesis 45:15

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 45:15

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 45:1-15

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 45:14

Adam Clarke on Genesis 45:14

John Gill on Genesis 45:15

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 45:9-15

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 45:1-15

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 45:14-15

Rashi on Genesis 45:4