Commentary for Genesis 46:31

'ואמרה אליו אחי וגו AND I WILL SAY TO HIM— “MY BRETHREN … have come unto me” and further I will say to him, והאנשים רעי צאן 'וגו AND THE MEN ARE SHEPHERDS etc.

אעלה ואגידה, that your vocation is the raising of sheep and goats. I will not ask Pharaoh to give you the land of Goshen. The reason I will not ask for this is to make sure that he will believe you when you say that you raise sheep. i.e. that basically, you are nomads. If I were to mention the land of Goshen he would think that you ask for this because it is good grazing land.

ויאמר יוסף אל אחיו, there can be no question that he did not say what follows before first having secured his father’s consent. [What was under discussion was a matter of major importance, i.e. how to preserve the integrity of Yaakov’s family as a clan, and how to minimize assimilation with the local population through voluntary ghettoisation. Pharaoh’s offer of the brothers participating in the political life of Egypt, something Joseph anticipated, had to be declined without giving offence to him. Ed.] The reason the Torah only mentions Joseph speaking to the brothers was that it was the brothers to whom the above-mentioned offer would be made.

And I will also tell him: “The men are shepherds, etc.” Rashi means: we should not think that “The men are shepherds etc.” is a new statement, and Yoseif said it to his brothers, not to Pharaoh. If so, “the men” would refer to different men, [not his brothers]. Thus Rashi explains: And I will also tell Pharaoh this matter, that “the men are shepherds etc.”

Zu dem Hause seines Vaters — sie bildeten noch alle ein Haus. Er sagte es ihnen allen, denn sie hatten es alle zu beherzigen, den Gegensatz nämlich, in ,אגידה — .welchem sie sich zu der Bevölkerung befinden würden und erhalten sollten אומרה: Im Vaterhause ist er nicht מושל, äußert er nur Wunsch und Absicht. Ich möchte wohl, halte es für Recht usw. — אעלה. Goschen muss demnach wohl niedriger als die Residenz gelegen gewesen sein. Später, als Pharao sein Volk bereden wollte, Israel zu drücken, spricht er die Befürchtung aus: ועלה מן הארץ; diese sonst schwierige Äußerung dürfte darin ihre Erklärung finden. Unsere Väter sollten sich in Goschen ansiedeln, weil diese Provinz dem ganzen Zentralleben Ägyptens entlegen war. "Wenn das so weiter geht"; spricht der spätere Pharao, "und sie sich so vermehren, so werden sie bei erster Gelegenheit aus ihrer Provinz, in die sie jetzt eingepfercht sind, heraufkommen und wir werden uns vor Juden nicht retten können". Demnach muss aber das ויעל des Raw Hirsch on Genesis 46: 29 aus der Lage Mizrajims Kanaan gegenüber gesprochen sein, woher Jakob kam.

אעלה ואגידה לפרעה, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh;” was Egypt then a hilly country that the Torah describes Joseph as “going up” to Pharaoh? Up until now, when Joseph had been speaking with his father, he had first descended from his chariot in order to do so. Now he is quoted as again mounting his chariot in order to tell Pharaoh about his father’s having come to Egypt.

אעלה. The word poses a problem, Joseph having been described previously as “ascending” when going to meet his father. How could he now again be ”ascending” on the return journey to his capital? We must therefore understand the word as not referring to the return journey but to Joseph climbing back into his carriage.