פירוש על בראשית 44:20

ונאמר אל אדני WE SAID TO MY LORD — we kept nothing back from you (Genesis Rabbah 93:8).

ואביו אהבו, more than he loves all (any) of us combined. Therefore he did not allow him to come to Egypt the first time we came here in order to buy food for our families. The reason was not that we came on a spying mission, as you appear to have thought

ואחיו מת, “and his full brother is dead.” According to Rashi fear prompted him to lie and to declare his brother Joseph as “dead.” Even so, it is hard to understand how he dared refer to Joseph as dead when previously he had only described him as missing, i.e. האחד איננו, (42,13).