Génesis 43:3 Midrash: Midrash Tanchuma Buber & Bereshit Rabbah

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.

“The famine was severe in the land” (Genesis 43:1).
“It was, when they had consumed the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them: Return, acquire a little food for us” (Genesis 43:2).
“Judah said to him, saying: The man forewarned us, saying: You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you” (Genesis 43:3).
“If you send our brother with us, we will go down and acquire food for you” (Genesis 43:4).
“But if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us: You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you” (Genesis 43:5).
“The famine was severe… It was, when they had consumed…Judah said to him… If you send… But if you will not send…” – They said to [Jacob]: What, will he say to us reasonable matters and we respond to him with nonsense?⁵⁹They argued to Jacob that Joseph had made a reasonable demand by saying that they should bring Benjamin to Egypt in order to prove the veracity of their claims. If the brothers were to return without Benjamin, and say that they could not bring him lest he be harmed along the way, Joseph could be expected to reject that explanation as nonsensical.
“Israel said: Why have you done me wrong, to tell the man that you have another brother?” (Genesis 43:6).
“Israel said: Why have you done me wrong…” – Rabbi Levi in the name of Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina: Jacob never spoke nonsense.⁶⁰Jacob never attributed his troubles to chance; he always realized that God was directing the events of his life – except for on this occasion (Etz Yosef). Rather, this is what the Holy One blessed be He said: ‘I am involved in crowning his son in Egypt, and he says: “Why have you done me wrong?”’ That is what is said: “[Why do you say, Jacob…]: My way is hidden from the Lord, and from my God” (Isaiah 40:27).
“They said: The man asked regarding us and regarding our relatives, saying: Is your father still alive? Do you have a brother? We told him regarding those matters; could we know that he would say: Bring your brother down?” (Genesis 43:7).
“They said: The man asked [regarding us and regarding our relatives]” – Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: He revealed to us even the wood of our cradles.⁶¹The word “our relatives [moladtenu]” can also be understood to mean “our birthplace” or “the conditions of our birth." Joseph knew what their cradles had been made out of, and asked if they still existed (Etz Yosef).
“Judah said to Israel his father: Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, and we will live, and not die, both we, and you, and our children” (Genesis 43:8).
“I will guarantee him; from me you can demand him; if I do not bring him back to you, and present him before you, I will have sinned to you forever” (Genesis 43:9).
“Judah said to Israel his father” – it is preferable for one person to be in a state of uncertainty than for all of us to be in a state of certainty.⁶²If Benjamin does not accompany us, we will all certainly starve to death. “I will guarantee him…forever [kol hayamim]” – this is the World to Come, which is entirely day [shekulo yom].⁶³I will have sinned against you even in the World to Come.