Commentaire sur La Genèse 44:19

אדני שאל את עבדיו MY LORD ASKED HIS SERVANTS — From the beginning you came with a pretext against us. What need had you to ask us all these questions? Were we asking for your daughter in marriage or were you asking for our sister? And yet

MY LORD ASKED HIS SERVANTS. I know no reason for this lengthy speech of Judah in which he relates that which has already transpired between them. And that which the Rabbis, of blessed memory, have said in interpretation of Judah’s words:¹Bereshith Rabbah 93:5, quoted here by Rashi. “Is this the ‘setting your eyes upon him’ to which you referred when you said, That I may set mine eyes upon him?”²Verse 21 here. — does not make it a valid argument, for a ruler who commands that a person be brought before him does not do so on condition that he be freed from the consequences of the evils he would commit, and the more so for a theft in which the goblet from which he drinks was stolen from the king’s house. And originally he had favorably cast his eyes upon Benjamin, greeting him by saying G-d be gracious unto thee, my son,³Above, 43:29. and he made all a party before him in the palace in Benjamin’s honor, and he gave them presents⁴Ibid., Verse 34. and gave them corn as much as they can bear⁵Ibid., 44:1. in excess of the money they had brought him, as I have explained, and what else was he to do for him!
It therefore appears to me, in line with the plain meaning of Scripture, that Judah’s words are nought but supplications to bestir Joseph’s compassion, for Judah thought that he was a man who fears G-d, as he had told him,⁶Ibid., 42:18. and since he had conducted himself mercifully towards them in the manner of one who fears sin, by consoling them for the trouble he had caused them.⁷Ibid., 43:23. And this is the purport of the story. Judah said to him: “As a consequence of my lord’s inquiry, we were forced to tell you about this brother of ours, and we also did not consent to bring him down before you as you commanded at first, but we said that the lad cannot leave his father.⁸Verse 22 here. However, at the peril of our lives, because of the burning heat of famine,⁹Lamentations 5:10. we brought him, for you said, Ye shall see my face no more.¹⁰Verse 23 here. But our father did not want to listen and permit us to return to buy a little food until we were all in danger, and then he consented with fear and worry. But now when he seeth that the lad is not with us,¹¹Verse 31 here. he will die in bitterness of soul.¹²Job 21:25. Therefore, let my supplication, I pray thee, be presented before thee,¹³Jeremiah 37:20. to have pity upon us and the aged father, and take me in place of the lad as a permanent servant, for I am better than he, and it shall be righteousness unto thee.”¹⁴Deuteronomy 24:13. This is the purport of the entire section.
It is possible that the expression, and thy servants will bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father,¹¹Verse 31 here. is a euphemism out of respect [for Joseph, and Judah’s intent was to say], “and you will bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father.” Similarly, But this thing brings sin upon thy people.¹⁵Exodus 5:16. [The officers meant to say, “This thing brings sin upon you.”]
It may further be said, in line with that which our Rabbis have said: “Is this the ‘setting your eyes upon him’ to which you referred?”—that Judah said, For thou art even as Pharaoh,¹⁶Verse 18 here. meaning “it behooves you to stand by your word and your inquest, for it was on account of you that we have brought the lad under great duress,” as he [Judah] mentions, and he feared to be more explicit. But hidden in his words is the hint that the goblet affair was a scheme of his to have a pretext against them, for why should Joseph have wanted to see Benjamin to begin with, against their will. And so the Rabbis said in Bereshith Rabbah:¹⁷93:8. “Judah said to him, ‘I will prove to you that you moved against us with a pretext. The people of how many countries have come down to buy food? Have you interrogated them as you have interrogated us? Were we perhaps asking for your daughter in marriage or were you seeking to marry our sister?’” The Rabbis are saying that this was hinted at in his words.

אדוני שאל, you are the one who caused us to bring this man (Binyamin) here, and now it seems easy for you to detain him.

אדוני שאל…היש לכם אב או אח, "My lord asked….'do you have a father (alive) or a brother?'" Yehudah wanted to remind Joseph that they had brought Benjamin to Egypt only because of Joseph's insistence. If he were not to be seen with them upon their return their father would die from anguish. He reminded Joseph that when someone is asked questions about family details and the questioner is a king, it is impossible not to answer truthfully. In addition, Joseph had made the appearance of Benjamin in Egypt a test of the brothers' denial to be spies.

אדוני שאל, he proceeded to tell Joseph the sequence of events in a manner calculated to arouse Joseph’s sympathy for the plight of his aged father.

אדוני שאל, ”my lord had inquired, etc.” Nachmanides writes that he does not understand what Yehudah had meant to accomplish by making such a long speech. Even recalling Joseph’s words of why he wanted to see their younger brother, this surely had not implied that if that brother would commit a criminal act he should go unpunished! All the more so will he deserve to be punished if this brother became guilty of stealing the goblet from the ruler of the country! As long as Joseph had not known anything negative about Binyamin he had welcomed him most cordially and even invoked G’d’s blessing on him (43,29). He had recompensed the brothers for having put them to so much trouble by giving them as much grain as their donkeys could carry, had wined and dined them and showered them with gifts. What could Yehudah have hoped to accomplish by arguing? The only thing he could possibly achieve was to appeal to Joseph’s sense of mercy and pity. Yehudah’s premise was that Joseph was a G’d–fearing man, seeing that Joseph had made that point when keeping only Shimon as a hostage instead of keeping them all and sending one brother to get Binyamin from the land of Canaan. Yehudah’s major argument was to convince Joseph that they had put their lives on the line in order to get their father’s permission to allow Binyamin to travel with them, and that failure to bring him home healthy and well would be like condemning them collectively to death, as well as to hasten the death of their father, something they could not bear to watch. Had it not been for Joseph’s threat to deny them and their families further food supplies, an indispensable lifeline during such a famine, their father would never have consented to allow this remaining son of his favourite wife to be separated from him. If Joseph’s concern was to secure for himself compensation for the theft by way of personal services to be provided for him, he Yehudah, could provide such services better than his brother Binyamin. Alternately, Yehudah may have reminded Joseph simply that it was appropriate for him to stand by his word that he only wanted to set his eyes upon Binyamin. He implied by what he did not spell out, that he considered the matter of the goblet as merely a pretext, a manipulation in order to justify keeping Binyamin with him. He could not risk saying something like this to Joseph’s face openly.

From the start you encountered us with subterfuge. Rashi is answering the question: Why did Yehudah tell Yoseif what Yoseif had spoken to him? Did Yoseif not know what he said? Rashi answers: He repeated it in order to say, “From the start you encountered us with subterfuge.”

אדוני שאל, “my lord had asked: etc.; actually, we do not find that Joseph had asked if they had a father or brother. They had volunteered this information without having been asked for it.

Why did you need to ask all these question? Were we seeking your daughter... [Rashi knows this] because only concerning marriage do people ask about sons and daughters and fathers and mothers. You might ask: Why does Rashi say “your daughter” pertaining to Yoseif, and “our sister” pertaining to his brothers, and not the opposite, since the brothers were older than Yoseif? The answer is: Since Yoseif was esteemed in their eyes as a king, they said, “Were we seeking your daughter.” For a son-in-law usually honors his father-in-law. Similarly with, “Were you seeking our sister,” i.e., we would need to treat you with honor so that it will be well with our sister. But the opposite would be a disgrace to Yoseif as a king, for Yoseif would need to honor them.

My master asked. See Rashi. If he truly suspected them of spying he should have asked for character references rather than inquiring about their families.

Nevertheless, “We said to my master” — we withheld nothing from you. Rashi explains this so we will not ask: If Yehudah knew that Yoseif was acting with subterfuge, why did he answer him, “We have an old father...”? Rashi answers: Yehudah was saying, “Nevertheless ... [we acted respectfully and withheld nothing from you].”