Yosef Reveals His Identity

The story of Yosef and his brothers takes a surprising turn when Yosef reveals himself to his brothers. Just when it seems that Yosef wishes to permanently cut himself off from his brothers, and when he manages to get his hands on Binyamin, he finally reveals his identity, and everything appears to work out well. What did Yosef see at this time to make this sharp turn? And why did his brothers later fear that he would seek revenge after Yaakov's death?

The Bible creates a parallel between he passage at the end of the book in which Yosef's dreams are fulfilled and the passage in which he reveals his identity, and seeks to hint that the story of Yosef and his brother is a drama of errors. The brothers erred in their false suspicion of Yosef, while Yosef erred in his maintaining an estranged attitude for such a long time. He should have ended that earlier, thereby sparing everyone, and especially his father, unnecessary grief.