Commentaire sur La Genèse 50:16

ויצוו אל יוסף AND THEY COMMANDED SOME TO GO TO JOSEPH — The words ויצוו אל have the same meaning as in (Exodus 6:13) “and He gave them a charge unto (ויצום אל) the children of Israel”, which signifies, “He commanded Moses and Aaron to act as messengers to the children of Israel”, and this verse, too, means they charged the man whom they sent that he should act as their messenger to Joseph to speak to him as follows (the words לומר לו כן correspond to לאמר in the Bible text here). And who was it that they so charged? The sons of Bilhah who had been accustomed to associate with him, as it is said (Genesis 37:12) “When a lad he used to be with the sons of Bilhah” (Tanchuma Yashan 2:1:2).

ויצוו אל יוסף לאמור, “they entrusted the following message to discreet messengers before they themselves came to Joseph.”

ויצוו אל יוסף, they commanded Yaakov’s servants or outsiders concerning Joseph. We find a similar construction in Exodus 6,13 ויצום אל בני ישראל, where G’d commanded Moses and Aaron to address the Israelites.

ויצוו אל יוסף, they ordered emissaries to tell Joseph, etc. We again have to explore the meaning of the word לאמור in this context. If it means that the emissary were to speak to Joseph, the Torah should have added the words אל יוסף. Perhaps the brothers did not want the emissary to tell Joseph that the brothers had sent them but to tell him that he himself had overheard their father command the brothers to tell him of this conversation at the appropriate time. This would account for the word לאמור being used twice in this verse.

Who was it that they charged [to be messengers]? The sons of Bilhah... [Rashi knows this] because the messenger could not have been an individual who was not their brother. For then Yoseif surely would not believe him, as Yoseif knew that his father did not suspect him of this. But now that they sent one of the brothers to him, to stand in front of him and say, “Father charged me with this message,” Yoseif could not deny its truth. [Another reason the messenger could not have been an individual who was not their brother:] It is not logical that they would divulge to a stranger that they sold their brother. This was a secret and was to their disgrace. It would be more fitting to speak to him themselves. (Gur Aryeh)

ויצוו אל יוסף , “they sent a messenger to deliver an urgent message to Joseph;” why did they not do so during the lifetime of their father? During the lifetime of their father they had thought it best not to resurrect old hatreds, etc. they assumed that the past had been buried. When they had passed the pit into which they had thrown Joseph they observed how Joseph recited the blessing appropriate for people who had been the witness and beneficiaries of Divine miracles. When they saw this, they were afraid that he had not forgiven them for the past.

ויצוו אל יוסף, according to the Jerusalem Targum they instructed the sons of Bilhah to tell Joseph in the name of their father that he had said before being gathered in to tell Joseph etc. etc,.”

אביך צוה THY FATHER DID COMMAND — They altered the facts (they stated something that was false) for the sake of peace, for Jacob had given them no such command because Joseph was not suspect in his sight (Yevamot 65b)).

לאמר אביך צוה, he commanded that we should say what we have to say as something that originated with us and not with him, as he did not think for a moment that you might want to avenge yourselves on us. However, he consented that if we were worried, we could take the initiative and express our concerns to you.

לפני מותו, so closely before his death that we could not speak to you about this at that time.