Vayigash (Hebrew: וַיִּגַּשׁ, "And he drew near") is the eleventh weekly Torah portion, covering Genesis 44:18–47:27. It contains Judah's plea, Joseph's revelation to his brothers, Jacob's descent to Egypt, and the family's settlement in Goshen.
Judah's Plea
Judah approaches Joseph and says: "Oh my lord, let your servant, I pray you, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not your anger burn against your servant" (Genesis 44:18). He recounts the story: how they came the first time, were accused of being spies, left Simeon as hostage, and returned with Benjamin. He tells of Jacob's refusal to send Benjamin, and of Judah's pledge: "I will be surety for him; of my hand shall you require him" (Genesis 44:32). He describes Jacob's grief: "His life is bound up in the lad's life" (Genesis 44:30). Judah offers himself as a slave in Benjamin's place: "Now therefore, I pray you, let your servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren" (Genesis 44:33). "For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? Lest perhaps I see the evil that shall come on my father" (Genesis 44:34).
Joseph Reveals Himself
וְלֹא יָכֹל יוֹסֵף לְהִתְאַפֵּק לְכֹל הַנִּצָּבִים עָלָיו
"And Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him." (Genesis 45:1)
Joseph cries out: "Cause every man to go out from me." No man stands with him when he makes himself known to his brothers. He weeps aloud; the Egyptians and Pharaoh's house hear. Joseph says: "I am Joseph; does my father yet live?" (Genesis 45:3). His brothers cannot answer him, for they are troubled at his presence. Joseph says: "Come near to me, I pray you." They come near. He says: "I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me hither; for God did send me before you to preserve life" (Genesis 45:4–5). He explains: "For these two years has the famine been in the land; and yet there are five years in which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance" (Genesis 45:6–7). "So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God" (Genesis 45:8). He tells them to go up to his father and say: "Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down unto me, tarry not" (Genesis 45:9). He promises to provide for them in Goshen. He embraces Benjamin and weeps; he kisses all his brothers and weeps upon them. Afterward his brothers talk with him.
Invitation to Egypt
The report reaches Pharaoh's house: "Joseph's brethren are come." Pharaoh and his servants are pleased. Pharaoh says to Joseph: "Say unto your brethren, 'Do this: lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan; and take your father and your households, and come unto me; and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land'" (Genesis 45:17–18). Pharaoh gives them wagons and provisions for the way. Joseph gives them changes of raiment; to Benjamin he gives 300 pieces of silver and five changes of raiment. He sends his father ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt and ten she-asses laden with corn and bread. He tells them: "See that you fall not out by the way" (Genesis 45:24).
Jacob's Journey to Egypt
The brothers return to Jacob in Canaan and tell him: "Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt" (Genesis 45:26). Jacob's heart faints, for he believes them not. When they tell him all Joseph's words and he sees the wagons Joseph sent, "the spirit of Jacob their father revived" (Genesis 45:27). Israel says: "It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive; I will go and see him before I die" (Genesis 45:28). Jacob sets out with all that he has. At Beersheba, he offers sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. God speaks to Israel in a vision of the night: "Jacob, Jacob." He says: "Here am I." God says: "I am God, the God of your father; fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of you a great nation. I will go down with you into Egypt; and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph shall put his hand upon your eyes" (Genesis 46:3–4). Jacob's family — 70 souls (including Joseph and his sons) — goes down to Egypt. The parasha lists the descendants of Jacob's sons who went to Egypt.
Jacob and Pharaoh
Jacob sends Judah before him to Joseph, to direct him to Goshen. Joseph makes ready his chariot and goes up to meet Israel his father at Goshen. He presents himself and falls on his father's neck and weeps. Israel says: "Now let me die, since I have seen your face, because you are yet alive" (Genesis 46:30). Joseph tells Pharaoh: "My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen" (Genesis 47:1). Pharaoh says to Joseph's brothers: "The land of Egypt is before you; in the best of the land make your father and brethren to dwell" (Genesis 47:6). Joseph presents Jacob to Pharaoh. Pharaoh asks Jacob's age. Jacob says: "The days of the years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years; few and evil have the days of the years of my life been" (Genesis 47:9). Jacob blesses Pharaoh. Pharaoh gives them the land of Rameses (Goshen).
Settlement in Goshen
Joseph places his father and brothers in the land of Goshen, as Pharaoh commanded, and gives them a possession. He provides bread for his father, brothers, and all his father's household, according to their families.
The Famine in Egypt
The famine is severe; the Egyptians and Canaanites languish. Joseph gathers all the money in Egypt and Canaan for grain. When the money fails, the Egyptians give their cattle. When the cattle fail, they give their land and themselves, becoming Pharaoh's servants. Joseph gives them seed to sow. He establishes a law: "a fifth part shall be Pharaoh's" (Genesis 47:24), and the land belongs to Pharaoh. Only the priests' land is not bought. The Israelites dwell in Goshen, acquire possessions, and are fruitful and multiply exceedingly.
Major themes
- Reconciliation: Joseph's forgiveness of his brothers and the family's reunion.
- Divine providence: "God sent me before you to preserve life" — suffering as part of a divine plan.
- Judah's transformation: From the one who sold Joseph to the one who offers himself as a slave for Benjamin.
- Exile and descent: Jacob's descent to Egypt as the beginning of Israel's sojourn.
- Faith in adversity: Jacob's trust in God's promise to bring his descendants back.
Rashi
Rashi explains that Joseph had the Egyptians leave the room before revealing himself, to avoid embarrassing his brothers. On Judah's plea, Rashi emphasizes Judah's transformation from seller to savior. On Jacob's words "few and evil," Rashi notes that Jacob compared his 130 years to Abraham's 175 and Isaac's 180, and that he suffered 22 years without seeing Joseph.
Ramban
Ramban explains that Joseph's revelation was sudden and overwhelming. On Jacob's descent, Ramban notes that God's promise to bring Israel back refers to the Exodus.
Midrashic interpretations
- Bereshit Rabbah 93:1: Joseph wept because he saw the Shekhinah (divine presence) with his brothers.
- Bereshit Rabbah 93:2: "See that you fall not out by the way" — Joseph warned them not to blame each other for selling him.
- Bereshit Rabbah 94:5: Jacob's 130 years are compared to Abraham's and Isaac's; his life was shortened due to complaints.
- Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 39: The 70 souls who went to Egypt correspond to the 70 nations.
Haftarah
The haftarah (Ezekiel 37:15–28) describes two sticks (Judah and Joseph/Ephraim) joined into one, symbolizing the reunification of the divided kingdom. God promises: "I will make them one nation in the land... and one king shall be king to them all" (Ezekiel 37:22). This connects to Joseph's reconciliation with his brothers.
References
- Genesis 44:18 – 47:27 (Masoretic Text)
- Rashi, Commentary on the Torah
- Ramban, Commentary on the Torah
- Bereshit Rabbah (Midrash)
- Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer
- The JPS Torah Commentary: Genesis (Nahum M. Sarna, 1989)
- Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary (JPS, 2001)
- Sefaria.org, "Vayigash" (parasha)