GEN1560 If you ask for forgiveness, and the person just tells you that it is all right, or it will be okay, or that it was all for the good, this is not the same thing as telling you that he forgives you. He must state explicitly that he forgives you.  Yosef told his brothers that they should not be distressed and should not reproach themselves for having sold him down to Egypt, because Hashem had merely sent him there ahead of them to serve as a provided. [this verse]. Later, Yosef also comforted them and spoke to their hearts. Genesis 50:21 Even so, this was not considered forgiveness and Yosef really never forgave them. [That was the reason for the tragedy of the Asarah Harugei Malchus (the death of the ten great Sages who were martyred and brutally murdered by the Romans, about 1,500 years later.) See Rabbeinu Bachyei Bereshis 44:17 and 50:21.]   Probably, he was not obliged to forgive them since they had treated him so severely that is was impossible to ever repair the damage they caused. Although he told them the reasons why they should not be concerned, this was not equivalent to actually saying that he forgave them, which he never did. [Some say that Yosef’s brothers never really regretted what they did, and continued to believe that what they did was correct. Accordingly, Yosef would definitely not have had to forgive them. If that is the case, and Yosef was unaware of the fact that they had never really repented even if his words were the equivalent of forgiving them they would not have been forgiven because the forgiveness was based on a misconception.] CASTLE 835