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1 Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said unto his sons, “Why do you look one upon another?”

2 And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there, and buy for us from there; that we may live, and not die.”

3 And Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.

4 But Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob was not sent with his brothers; for he said, “It may be that harm will befall him.”

5 And the sons of Israel came to buy among those that came; for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

6 And Joseph was the governor over the land; he it was that sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down themselves to him with their faces to the earth.

7 And Joseph saw his brothers, and he knew them, but acted differently in front of them, and spoke roughly with them; and he said to them, “Where do you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”

8 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they didn't recognize him.

9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, “You must be spies! You have come to scout out the lands of Egypt while it is preoccupied with famine.”

10 And they said unto him, “No, my lord, but we have come to you as servants to buy food.”

11 “We are all one man’s sons; we are true men, your servants and not spies.”

12 And he said unto them, “No, but to see the nakedness of the land you have come.”

13 And they said, “We your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no longer with us.”

14 And Joseph said unto them, “Now it may be proven as I said, saying, 'You are spies;'

15 hereby you shall be proved: by the life of Pharaoh you shall not leave this place, except your youngest brother come here.

16 Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and you shall be bound, that your words may be proven, whether there be truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely you are spies.”

17 And he put them all together into jail for three days.

18 And Joseph said to them on the third day, “This do, and live; for I fear God:

19 if you are men of truth, let one of your brothers remain in the prison, and the others go and carry grain for the famine of your houses;

20 and bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and you shall not die.” And they did so.

21 And they said one to another, “We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.”

22 And Reuben answered them, saying, “Didn't I tell you, 'Do not sin against the child;' and you would not listen? therefore will his blood be required of us.”

23 And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for there was an interpreter between them.

24 And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and he returned to them, and spake to them, and took Simeon from among them, and bound him before their eyes.

25 Then Joseph commanded to fill their bags with grain, and to return every man’s money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the way; and thus it was done for them.

26 And they loaded their animals with their grain, and departed there.

27 And as one of them opened his sack to feed his animal in the barn, he saw his money; as it had been placed in the mouth of his sack.

28 And he said unto his brethren, “My money is still here! It's still in my sack;” and their heart failed them, and they turned trembling one to another, saying, “What is this that God has done unto us?”

29 And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that had befallen them, saying,

30 “The man, the lord of the land, spake roughly with us, and took us for spies of the country.

31 And we said unto him, 'We are men of truth; we are no spies;

32 we are twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is no longer with us, and the youngest has remained with our father in the land of Canaan.'

33 And the man, the lord of the land, said to us, 'Hereby shall I know that you are men of your word: leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your houses, and go your way;

34 and bring your youngest brother unto me: then shall I know that you are not spies, but that you are men of truth: so will I deliver you your brother, and you shall travel freely in the land.'”

35 And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, as they said, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid.

36 And Jacob their father said to them, “You have taken my children from me; Joseph is gone, and Simeon is gone, and you will take Benjamin away; all these things are [a]against me.”

37 And Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “Slay my two sons, if I do not return him to you; deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him back to you again.”

38 And he said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and only he is left; if harm befall him by the way in which you go, then will you bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.”

[4] for Benjamin was a younger child; one may speculate close to the age of eight or nine, a brother close to the age when Joseph would have been sold by his brothers, but in any case the actual brother of Joseph via Rachel, his only real brother, and a child of Jacob’s old age, and thus doted upon by Jacob, not in the least in memory of Rachel (seeing as how Joseph had gone). See 33:2, 35:18, others.

[18,23] It seems strange to me that they did not inquire further when Joseph said ‘I fear God;’.

[36] Or, upon

See commentary.

h.וירא יעקב כי יש שבר כמצרים AND JACOB SAW THAT THERE WAS A SALE OF CORN IN EGYPT — How did he see it? Surely he did not see but he heard it, as it is said (v. 2) “Behold, I have heard … What, then, is meant by “And Jacob saw”? He saw in a holy dim vision that there was שֶׂבֶר hope for him in Egypt, but it was not a true prophetic vision telling him plainly that it was Joseph in whom his hope lay (Genesis Rabbah 91:6).

h.למה תתראו WHY DO YE LOOK UPON ONE ANOTHER? — Why do you show yourselves (pretend) before the children of Ishmael and the children of Esau as though you have plenty to eat (Taanit [10]b). For at that time they still had some grain. I am of opinion that the real meaning of למה תתראו is: Why should every one gaze at you and wonder at you because you do not search for food before what you have in your possession comes to an end. From others I have heard that it has the meaning of leanness: why should you become lean through hunger? A similar use of the verb as that in the first explanation is (Proverbs 11:25) “And he that satisfieth abundantly shall be satisfied (יורא) also himself”.

h.רדו שמה GO DOWN THITHER — He did not say to them לכו “Go ye” but רדו an allusion to the 210 years during which Israel was to be enslaved in Egypt corresponding to the numerical value of (רד״ו (210 (Genesis Rabbah 91:2).

h.וירדו אחי יוסף AND JOSEPH S BRETHREN WENT DOWN — It does not call them “the sons of Jacob” (as in 5:5), thus suggesting that they regretted having sold him and that they had made up their mind to behave towards him in a brotherly manner and to redeem him at whatever price people might fix for them to pay (Midrash Tanchuma, Miketz 8).

h.עשרה TEN — What is the mention of this number intended to tell us? Is it not written (Genesis 42:4) “but Benjamin, Joseph’s brother did he not send” (and we therefore know that only ten brothers went to Egypt)? But it means to suggest that so far as their feeling of brotherhood towards Joseph was concerned they were divided into ten, because the love and hatred that all of them bore him were not alike, where as in regard to buying corn they were at one and united (Genesis Rabbah 91:2).

h.פן יקראנו אסון LEST MISCHIEF BEFALL HIM — And at home could not mischief befall him?! Rabbi Eliezer the son of Jacob said: We may infer from this that Satan accuses a man at the time of danger (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayigash 1).

h.בתוך הבאים AMONG THOSE THAT CAME — They hid themselves in the crowd that people should not recognize them, for their father had bidden them not to show themselves all at one entrance to the city but that each should enter by a different gate in order that the evil eye should not have power over them (i.e. that they should not attract the envious attention of the people) for they were all handsome and stalwart men (Midrash Tanchuma 1.:10:6).

h.וישתחוו לו אפים means THEY PROSTRATED THEMSELVES ON THEIR FACES— Similarly wherever various forms of this verb (שחה) in the Hithpael occur it implies stretching out the hands and feet when a person casts himself on the ground in the act of prostration (Megillah 22b).

h.ויתנכר אליהם HE MADE HIMSELF STRANGE UNTO THEM — He made himself like a נכרי a stranger to them in his conversation, speaking harshly (Genesis Rabbah 91:7).

h.'ויכר יוסף וגו AND JOSEPH RECOGNISED HIS BRETHREN etc. — because, when he left them they were full-bearded (Yevamot 88a).

h.והם לא הכירהו BUT THEY RECOGNISED HIM NOT — because when he left them he had no beard whereas now he had grown a beard. A Midrashic explanation is: ויכר יוסף את אחיו JOSEPH RECOGNISED HIS BRETHREN — Now that they were in his power he recognised them as his brothers and had pity on them, והם לא הכירהו but when he fell into their power, “they did not recognize him” as their brother, by acting towards him in brotherly manner (Genesis Rabbah 91:7).

h.אשר חלם להם WHICH HE HAD DREAMED OF THEM — להם means “about them”. He then knew that they (the dreams) were being fulfilled, for they (his brothers) had bowed down to him.

h.ערות הארץ means THE NAKEDNESS OF THE LAND — from which side it might easily be conquered. Of similar meaning are, (Leviticus 20:18) “He hath made naked (הערה) her fountain”; (Ezekiel 16:7), “naked and עריה) bare”. Indeed all forms of this root ערה signify “uncovering”). Onkelos renders it by “the breach (בדקא) of the land”, similar to (2 Kings 12:6), “the breach (בדק) of the house”— the defective places in the house — but he was not particular to translate according to the wording of the text (i.e. literally).

h.לא אדני NAY, MY LORD — do not say this, for behold ועבדיך באו לשבר אכל THY SERVANTS HAVE COME TO BUY FOOD.

h.כלנו בני איש אחד נחנו WE ARE ALL ONE MAN’S SONS — The Holy Spirit was enkindled in them and they included him with themselves (by using the word “We”) that he, also, was the son of their father (Genesis Rabbah 91:7).

h.כנים means TRUE MEN — Similar examples of כן in sense of true, right, are (Exodus 10:29) “Thou hast spoken right (כן)”; (Numbers 27:7) “The daughters of Zelophechad speak (כן) right”; (Isaiah 16:6) “and his wrath, his untruthful (לא־כן) boastings”.

h.כי ערות הארץ באתם לראות BUT TO SEE THE NAKEDNESS OF THE LAND YE ARE COME — I still insist that you are spies, for what you have just said bears this out for you have entered by ten different gates of the city; why did you not all enter by the same gate if you are really brothers and travelled together? (Genesis Rabbah 91:6).

h.'ויאמרו שנים עשר עבדיך וגו AND THEY SAID, THY SERVANTS WERE TWELVE BRETHREN — [AND ONE IS NO MORE], and it is on account of that one who is no more that we dispersed ourselves through the city in order that we might search for him (Genesis Rabbah 91:6).

h.הוא אשר דברתי THAT IS IT THAT I SPAKE UNTO YOU — The statement which I made — that you are spies — is true and certain. This is the meaning according to the literal sense of the words. A Midrashic explanation is: he said to them, “And if you find him (your brother) and they demand of YOU a large sum, would you redeem him?” They answered him, “Certainly!” He asked them, “If they tell you that they will not restore him to you for any sum of money, what would you do?” They replied, “That is what we have come for — to kill or to be killed”. Whereupon he retorted:הוא אשר דברתי אליכם THAT IS JUST WHAT I SAID TO YOU — you have come to kill the people of this city. I have divined by my goblet that two of you destroyed the great city of Shechem (Genesis Rabbah 91:7).

h.חי פרעה BY THE LIFE OF PHARAOH — If Pharaoh lives! Whenever he swore for the sake of appearance (literally, falsely) he swore by Pharaoh’s life (Genesis Rabbah 91:7).

h.אם תצאו מזה YE SHALL NOT GO FORTH FROM THIS i.e. from this place.

h.האמת אתכם means WHETHER THERE BE TRUTH IN YOU — therefore the ה has the vowel Patach, because it is a kind of question. And if you do not (ואם לא) bring) him חי פרעה כי מרגלים אתם BY THE LIFE OF PHARAOH, SURELY YOU ARE SPIES.

h.משמר WARD — the prison-house.

h.בבית משמרכם (literally, in the house of your ward) — the house in which you are at present imprisoned.

h.ואתם לכו הביאו BUT YE, GO, CARRY to your father’s house.

h.שבר רעבון בתיכם CORN FOR THE FAMINE OF YOUR HOUSES — what you have purchased for the hunger of the people in your houses.

h.ויאמנו דבריכם— means so shall your words be verified and confirmed. Other examples are, (Numbers 5:22) “It is true, it is true (אמן אמן)”, and (1 Kings 8:26) “Let thy word, I pray thee, be verified (יאמן).”

h.אבל VERILY — It is to be understood as the Targum renders it: בקושטא “in truth”. I have seen a statement in (Genesis Rabbah 91:8) that in the Roman (Latin) language אבל means ברם (verum) truly, indeed.

h.באה אלינו [THIS DISTRESS] IS COME UPON US — The word באה has the accent upon the ב because it is the perfect tense — for it had already come upon them. The Targum therefore renders it by אתת which is a perfect tense in Aramaic — it has come.

h.וגם דמו ALSO HIS BLOOD [IS REQUIRED] — the particles את and גם extend the scope of the clause; here it implies “his blood and also the blood of his old father” (Genesis Rabbah 91:8).

h.והם לא ידעו כי שמע יוסף AND THEY KNEW NOT THAT JOSEPH שמע UNDERSTOOD their language, and they said this in his presence.

h.כי המליץ בינתם FOR THE INTERPRETER WAS BETWEEN THEM — for when they had spoken to him there was an interpreter between them who knew both the Hebrew and the Egyptian languages. He interpreted their words to Joseph and Joseph’s words to them. Consequently they were under the impression that Joseph did not understand the Hebrew language.

h.המליץ THE INTERPRETER — This was Manasseh (Genesis Rabbah 91:8).

h.ויסב מעליהם AND HE TURNED AWAY FROM THEM — He moved some distance away from them so that they should not see him weeping.

h.ויבך AND HE WEPT because he heard that they regretted their past conduct to him.

h.את שמען SIMEON — he had cast him into the pit and it was he who had said to Levi “Behold, this dreamer cometh” (Tanchuma Yashan 1:10:17). Another explanation is: It was Joseph’s intention to separate him from Levi lest the two of them might conspire to kill him.

h.ויאסור אתו לעיניהם AND HE BOUND HIM BEFORE THEIR EYES — He only kept him in bonds whilst he was before their eyes, but as soon as they departed he freed him and gave him food and drink (Genesis Rabbah 91:8).

h.ויפתח האחד literally, AND THE ONE OPENED HIS SACK — This was Levi who remained alone (one) being without Simeon his companion (cf Targum Jonathan).

h.במלון means the place where they stayed over night — THE INN.

h.אמתחתו is the sack (שק) just mentioned.

h.וגם הנה באמתחתי AND, LO, IT IS EVEN IN MY SACK — the money also (גם) is in it together with the grain.

h.מה זאת עשה אלהים לנו WHAT IS THIS THAT GOD HATH DONE UNTO US by bringing us into the danger of this accusation? For the money can only have been put back into our sacks in order to bring an accusation against us.

h.ואת הארץ תסחרו AND YE SHALL TRAVEL IN THE LAND — It means literally, “ye may travel round the land”. All such words as סוחרים merchants, סחורה merchandise, are derived from this root סחר to go round, because the merchants travel round looking for merchandise.

h.צרור כספו means HIS BUNDLE OF MONEY.

h.אתי שכלתם ME YE HAVE BEREAVED OF CHILDREN — The inference is that he suspected them of having slain or sold him (Simeon) as they had done to Joseph (Genesis Rabbah 91:9).

h.שכלתם YE HAVE BEREAVED — any-one whose children are lost to him may be called (שכול) bereaved.

h.לא ירד בני עמכם MY SON SHALL NOT GO DOWN WITH YOU — He did not accept Reuben’s offer. He said, “What a fool is this oldest son of mine! He suggests that I should kill his sons. Are they his only and not mine also?” (Genesis Rabbah 91:9)