Midrasch zu Bereschit 42:7

Another interpretation (of Gen. 44:18): THEN JUDAH DREW NEAR UNTO HIM. This text is related (to Job 41:8 [16]): ONE IS SO NEAR TO THE OTHER THAT NO AIR CAN COME BETWEEN THEM. This refers to Judah and Joseph, for in whatever Joseph prided himself, Judah came and vanquished, as stated (in Gen. 45:1): JOSEPH COULD NOT RESTRAIN HIMSELF. To what were they comparable?⁹Tanh., Gen. 11:3. To a bull that went out; and, when all the beasts fled from him, he kicked (rt.: B'T) at one and gored at another. Then came the lion, but he did not stand up to him. Rather, when the lion appeared and sought out the bull, he was not to be found. So Joseph is likened to the bull, as stated (in Deut. 33:17): LIKE A FIRSTLING BULL HE HAS MAJESTY. The tribes also have been likened to beasts, and Joseph was priding himself as being over them and despising (rt.: B'T) them. (According to Gen. 42:7) HE BECAME A STRANGER TO THEM. Then goring at a particular one, (according to Gen. 42:24) HE TOOK SIMON FROM THEM. He acted so only until the lion came, < for > (according to Gen. 49:24) JUDAH IS A LION'S WHELP. He sought him out as the bull, but he was not to be found. Rather (according to Gen. 45:1): JOSEPH COULD NOT RESTRAIN HIMSELF. Why? (Prov. 30:30:) THE LION IS THE MIGHTIEST AMONG THE BEASTS, AND RETREATS BEFORE NONE, even because it is written of him (in Gen. 47:12): AND < JOSEPH > SUSTAINED < HIS FATHER AND HIS BROTHERS >.¹⁰One would expect some saying about Judah. Buber’s note here suggests that SUSTAINED be read as two words, apart from the biblical context, and interpreted as “All in all,” i.e., the lion is “all in all” in the world of beasts. Cf. Tanh., Gen. 11:3: “Who has stood facing a bull? The lion, as stated (Gen. 44:18): THEN JUDAH DREW NEAR UNTO HIM.” Also in the world to come a fighting Messiah is going to arise from Joseph, but a Messiah who is to arise from Judah will be stronger than he, as stated (in Zech. 10:6): I WILL STRENGTHEN THE HOUSE OF JUDAH, < BUT THE HOUSE OF JOSEPH I WILL SAVE >.

And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange (Gen. 42:7). This verse tells us that he acted as a stranger toward them. He took his goblet, struck it, and said: “I see by this cup that ye are spies.” They replied: “We are upright men (ibid, v. 11), but our father advised us not to enter through one gate.” He retorted: “Then what business did you have in the street of harlots? Were you not afraid of being seen—did your father, then, command it?” “We have lost something,” they replied, “and we sought it there.” “What is this thing you have lost?” he demanded. “I see by this goblet that two of you destroyed the great city of Shechem.” “Which of us did so?” they asked. He smote the goblet once again and replied: “Their names were Simeon and Levi.” They began to tremble and to cry out: We, thy servants, are twelve brothers (ibid., v. 13). “Where are the other two?” he inquired. “The youngest is with our father, but we do not know the whereabouts of the other.” He said to them: “Bring the youngest to me so that your words may be confirmed.” He seized Simeon and bound him before their eyes, and then said to them: “This one will remain bound up until you bring your brother to me to prove your statements.” After they departed, he released him, fed him, and gave him drink.

(Gen. 42:3:) SO JOSEPH'S TEN BROTHERS WENT DOWN < TO BUY GRAIN IN EGYPT >. Jacob said to them: Will you please not < all > enter by one gate²⁷Gk.: pyle. because of the evil eye?²⁸Tanh., Gen. 10:8; Gen. R. 91:6; cf. 91:2; cf. also above, 10:8; below, 10:17. And so they did. When they entered, they did not all enter as a unit, but each and every one all by himself. What did Joseph do? He posted guards over the entrance gates of Egypt. He said: Let each and every one who enters have his name and the name of his father written under your supervision. Then you are to bring their names to me. So, when the children of Jacob entered, each and every one all by himself, he (a guard) said: What is your name? So he told him: Reuben ben Jacob. And so it was with each and every one of them. < A guard > would write down his name and the name of his father. Then they brought < the names > to Joseph. Joseph immediately recognized them, as stated (in Gen. 42:8): SO JOSEPH RECOGNIZED HIS BROTHERS. He began to recall the dreams, as stated (in Gen. 42:9): NOW JOSEPH REMEMBERED THE DREAMS THAT HE HAD DREAMED ABOUT THEM. (Vs. 7:) BUT HE BECAME A STRANGER UNTO THEM, AND HE SPOKE HARSHLY WITH THEM. He began to treat them harshly, AND (ibid., cont.) HE SAID TO THEM: WHERE DO YOU COME FROM? When they said: From the land of Canaan, he said to Simeon and Levi: Are you accustomed to pillaging people just as you did at Shechem (in Gen. 34:25-26)? Ergo (in Gen. 42:7): AND HE SPOKE HARSHLY WITH THEM.

What did Joseph do? He commanded them to bring to him the names of the people which were written down on each and every day. They came in on the first day and brought him the names of those who had entered < the country >, and so they informed him on each and every day. When Joseph's brothers came down, they all did not enter through one gate.⁷⁶Gk.: pyle. The gatekeeper said to < one of the brothers >: What is your name? He told him: Reuben ben Jacob ben Isaac. So it was also with Simeon, and so with all of them. They brought < the names > that had been written down to Joseph. When he read them, he knew that his brothers were there. He sent for his son, Manasseh. He said: See where they are going. Manasseh went and saw them going about in the marketplace. They went from this marketplace to that marketplace, from this alley to that alley. < Then Joseph > sent after them, and they came to him. When he saw them, he certainly recognized them, BUT (according to Gen. 42:7) HE BECAME A STRANGER UNTO THEM. What is the meaning of BUT HE BECAME A STRANGER UNTO THEM. R. Johanan said: He became a foreigner to them. (Ibid., cont.): AND HE SAID UNTO THEM: WHERE DO YOU COME FROM? He said to them (in vs. 9): YOU ARE SPIES. They said to him (in vs. 10, 13): NO, MY LORD, BUT YOUR SERVANTS HAVE COME TO BUY FOOD < … >. WE, YOUR SERVANTS ARE TWELVE BROTHERS. R. Johanan < drew on an Aramaic metaphor and > said: < The matter > is comparable to a raven who brought fire into its nest {i.e., a raven who brought fire into its nest}.⁷⁷The scribe who copied Buber’s MS felt that this Hebrew rendering was necessary because the midrash renders the metaphor in Aramaic. Gen. R. 91:7 explains that the Holy Spirit lit up within them and made them blurt out that they were brothers. He said to them: Are you brothers? They told him: Yes. Then why did you not all enter by one gate? Because our father ordered us < not to do > so because of the < evil > eye. He said to them (in vs. 16): BY PHARAOH'S LIFE YOU ARE SURELY SPIES. When < Joseph > swore falsely, he swore by Pharaoh's head.⁷⁸Gen. R. 91:7. To what is the matter comparable? To a woman who stole a lamb from the flock and fled. When the shepherd ran after her, she went home and covered it with a garment. The shepherd said to her: Have you seen a lamb? She said to him: May I eat of the flesh of this one lying on the bed, if I know anything < about it > ! So < it was with > Joseph. When he wanted to swear falsely, he swore by Pharaoh's life. (Gen. 42:10:) THEY SAID UNTO HIM: NO, MY LORD, BUT YOUR SERVANTS HAVE COME TO BUY FOOD. He said to them: You know that you are spies. Why have you gone and made the rounds of the whole country? They said to him: We had a brother, but we sold him as a slave. And from the hour that we sold him our father has sat around mourning over him. So we have come down < here > with money in our hands, saying: Wherever we find him, we will redeem him. He said to them: Can a person who sells something go back on it? They said to him: For this reason we came down with double < the money > on hand to redeem him. He said to them: What if < his owner > does not want to sell him? They said to him: Even though we are burned < alive > on his account, we will not move until we have redeemed him. He said to them (in Gen. 42:14): IT IS AS I SAID UNTO YOU: YOU ARE SPIES. What did he do (according to vs. 24)? THEN HE TOOK SIMEON FROM THEM < AND BOUND HIM BEFORE THEIR EYES >. He (Joseph) said < to himself >: He bound me and cast me into the pit; I also am binding him. What did they do? They loaded up, went to their father, AND (according to vs. 29) RELATED TO HIM ALL THAT HAD HAPPENED TO THEM. He said to them (in Gen. 43:2): GO AND BUY US A LITTLE FOOD. Judah said to him (in vs. 3): THE MAN SOLEMNLY WARNED US, SAYING: YOU SHALL NOT SEE MY FACE < UNLESS YOUR BROTHER IS WITH YOU >. He said to them: I will not send Benjamin even though I am killed. They said to him: It is better for you to lose one life and not seventy. What did he do? He gave them Benjamin and began to pray for them (in Gen. 43:14): AND MAY GOD ALMIGHTY GRANT YOU MERCY BEFORE THE MAN, seeing that (according to Gen. 42:30): THE MAN < THE LORD OF THE LAND > SPOKE < …HARSHLY >. He therefore said (in Gen. 43:14): BEFORE THE MAN.⁷⁹I.e., Jacob prayed that the same man who had previously spoken harshly now would grant them mercy.

"And Yosef saw his brothers, etc." - Rabbi Yehoshua bar Nechemiah said, "He made himself a stranger (nocri) to them. "And Yosef recognized his brothers, etc." - Rabbi Levi and the Rabbis [argued about this]: Rabbi Levi said, "At the time they fell into his hand, 'And Yosef recognized his brothers;' at the time he fell into their hands, 'and they did not recognize him.'" And the Rabbis said, "He who left them adorned by beards, 'And Yosef recognized his brothers - and they did not recognize him,' as they did not leave him adorned by a beard [as he was too young].""And Yosef remembered, etc... and he said to them, etc...'we are all the sons of one man'" - they had a flash of Divine inspiration [in which] they said to him, "We and you are the sons of one man, we are." He said to them, "And where is [the other one]?" "We sold him." He said to them, "For how much did you sell him?" They said to him, "For five sela."He said to them, "And if a person would say to you, 'Give me five sela and I will give him to you,' would you do it?" They said to him, "Yes." "And if a person would say to you, 'Give me double and I will give him to you,' would you do it?" They said, "Yes." "And if a person would say to you, '[Even] if you would give me a thousand, I will not give him to you,' what would you do?" They said to him, "For that have we come down [to Egypt], whether to kill or to be killed." He said to them, "'This is what I have said about you, spies, etc.'" "Through this will you be examined; by the life of Pharaoh" - when he wanted to make a false oath, he would swear by the life of Pharaoh. Rabbi Levi said, "There is a parable of a goat that ran away from the pasture and went in to a widow. What did she do? She got up and slaughtered it and flayed it and put it in her bed and covered it with a sheet. They came to request it from her. She said, 'So should happen to this woman if she knows about it, this flesh [actually referring to the goat] should be bitten and eaten.' So too, 'by the life of Pharaoh if you will get out, etc...Send one of you.'" "And he placed them in the prison for three days" - never does the Holy One, blessed be He, leave righteous ones in dire straits for three days and so was it taught to Yosef, to Yonah, to Mordechai, to David. And so is it stated (Hoshea 6:2), "He will revive us from the two days; on the third day" of the tribes, "He will bring us up" - "And Yosef said to them on the third day."