Commentary for Genesis 44:3

הבוקר אור, became lit, as in Samuel I 14,29 ראו כי אורו עיני, “see for yourselves how my eyes have lit up.” A reference to what had occurred already. Similarly, when Bileam referred to the tents of the Jewish people with the words מה טובו אהליך יעקב, “how goodly are your tents O Yaakov,” he did not refer to something that occurred just then, but to a phenomenon which was already well known (Numbers 24,5).

הבקר אור, the word אור here is a verb in the active mode of the passive conjugation We encounter a similar construction in Samuel I 14,29, כי אורו עיני, “for my eyes have lit up.”

4 והאנשים שולחו, המה וחמוריהם. הם יצאו את העיר. “The men had been discharged, they and their donkeys. They had left the city.” In this verse you also find a number of allusions to how G’d’s principle of retribution corresponds to the nature of the sin committed. In this instance, the brothers’ sin was the sale of Joseph. The retribution is linked to the sale of grain to the brothers. I have already explained in connection with Genesis 11,9 that every time the Holy Name of G’d (י-ה-ו-ה) appears in the Torah in a reverse order of the letters of that name, it is a reference to the attribute of Justice at work. In this instance the first letters of the words המה וחמוריהם הם יצאו comprise that name spelled backwards. As a result of this the brothers had to retrace their steps.

הבקר אור והאנשים שולחו, “it was already bright daylight, and the men had been sent off;” even though most of the people who had come to buy grain rose very early in the morning to start on their return journey, Joseph did not see them off until was daylight, as he was afraid they would kill the official he sent after them in order to search their belongings. If this would occur when nobody was about yet, they would be able to get away with this without fearing detection.

וחמוריהם, they were given a sendoff together with their fully loaded donkeys.

לא הרחיקו, “they had not traveled far.” Joseph intercepted them promptly so that they would not lose too much time in retracing their steps.