Matthew tells us that Jesus warned his disciples what would happen to them if they did not forgive their brothers and sisters. We may presume that this lesson is about how to keep the church together, but we may also presume that it is about the brothers and sisters who are our kin.
Joseph's brothers had so resented him when, as a youth, he had lorded it over them that they had, after considering murdering him, instead, sold him into slavery. Later, he was able actually to lord it over them. He had risen to a high position in Egypt and had used it to bring his whole family there where they could escape the famine back home.
Now, their father is dead, and the brothers fear that Joseph will finally exact revenge on them. He doesn't. "God intended this for good," he says to them.
Joseph chooses not to do revenge. God gets to handle the revenge.
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