Joseph, who has listened in silence to Judah’s plea, sees that the brothers have passed the test he put them through—whether or not they would abandon Benjamin as they had done with him. During all of this time Joseph’s emotions have been welling up within him as he struggles inwardly with the desire to be reconciled with them.

Then Joseph could not control himself: Then, which translates the Hebrew connective, signals that the action in this verse follows directly from the end of chapter 44. It may be necessary, however, to show the close link in time with the end of chapter 44 by opening chapter 45 with “When Judah had finished speaking,” “At the end of Judah’s speech,” or “When Joseph heard this, he….” For control himself see 43.31. In this context could not control himself is expressed in some translations as “felt he was going to cry” or “was beginning to cry.”

All those who stood by him refers not to the brothers but rather to his servants, officials, or people of his retinue. These are people who would not understand the emotional overtones of the conflict in Joseph’s family.

Make everyone go out from me: we may assume these words were addressed to those who worked for Joseph and so were spoken in Egyptian, which his brothers probably did not understand. Since everyone does not include the brothers, we may need to make this clear by saying, for example, “Joseph was unable to hide his feelings in the presence of his servants and so he ordered them to leave the room.” Revised Standard Version translates this order as direct speech, which may be preferred in some languages. In that case it may be necessary to adapt what Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch says: “Let all the Egyptians leave the room.” If Joseph’s order for everyone to leave was said in the Egyptian language, then the servants would understand it as addressed exclusively to them. In that case we may translate, for example, “Joseph said in the Egyptian language, ‘Everyone leave the room.’ ” In some languages it is more natural for Joseph to speak directly to the Egyptians; for example, “So he said to his servants, ‘You all go outside.’ ”

So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers: no one means “no one else” or “no one but his brothers.” Another way this may be expressed is “So Joseph was alone with his brothers….” For made himself known see Good News Translation. This statement is best taken as a reference to what Joseph told his brothers in Gen 45.3. It simply summarizes in advance the situation described in Gen 45.3.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .