Comentario sobre Génesis 42:18

את האלוקים אני ירא. Therefore, I will let you take home enough food for your families

את האלוקים אני ירא, therefore I will not detain all of you seeing that your families are starving and I would be to blame for this. I will only detain one of you in order to put your claim to the test.

ביום השלישי זאת עשו “on the third day ‘do this!’” According to Bereshit Rabbah 91,9 the verse in Hoseah 6,2 יחיינו מיומים ביום השלישי יקימנו ונחיה לפניו, “In two days He will make us whole again; on the third day He will raise us up and we shall live in His presence,” are a reference to what happened to the brothers during the three days described in our verse. G’d does not subject the righteous to trials lasting more than three days. The merit of the fathers Yaakov, Yitzchak, and Avraham was instrumental in Joseph changing his mind. The third day was significant already ever since the day Avraham espied the mountain on which he prepared Yitzchak as a sacrifice (Genesis 22,4), and it became important again in Exodus 19,16 as the day G’d revealed Himself to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. This implies that the merit of their Torah learning also assisted the brothers when they confronted Joseph.