Tafsiran Kejadian 42:37: Ramban, Radak, Sforno & Or HaChaim

MY TWO SONS ‘TAMITH’ (THOU SHALT SLAY). Under penalty of a curse,¹⁷⁰Ramban’s intent is to explain that the word tamith is not to be understood literally as meaning that Reuben was ready to forfeit the lives of his two sons. Instead, the word is to be understood in a general sense, i.e., that Reuben is willing to be punished, but not that Jacob slay Reuben’s sons. Reuben obligated himself to return Benjamin to his father, as he said to him, My two sons ‘tamith,’ meaning, “May thy punishment be upon me if I do not bring him back to you.” This is similar in intent to that which Judah said: Then I shall have sinned against thee all my days.¹⁷¹Further, 43:9.
Now Reuben said, My two sons, although he actually had four.¹⁷²Ibid., 46:9. His intent in saying “two” was to state that “in place of one of your sons, it should be visited doubly upon my sons.”
Now Jacob did not rely upon Reuben as he did upon Judah,¹⁷³For when Judah gave his promise to his father that he would bring back Benjamin, he finally consented to send him along (43: 9-13), but Reuben’s plea went unanswered. for Judah prevailed upon his brethren.¹⁷⁴I Chronicles 5:2. Thus suggesting that Judah’s great influence upon his brothers would assure their cooperation in bringing back Benjamin under all circumstances. Moreover, Reuben had already sinned against his father,¹⁷⁵Above, 35:22. and therefore he would no longer rely upon him. Generally, Judah’s counsel was sound: i.e., to leave the patriarch alone until there was no bread in the house, for then he would listen. This — [Judah’s reference to the complete absence of food] — is indicated by Judah’s words to his father: That we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones.¹⁷⁶Further 43:8.

את שני בני תמית, two of my sons. [he had four. Ed.] Reuven said something foolish in even suggesting that his father might kill his own grandsons. Yaakov responded: (not in text) “you are a foolish firstborn what makes you think that your sons are not also my sons?” Seeing that Reuven’s suggestion was so foolish, Yaakov did not even bother to formally reply to it. It did not deserve to be dignified with a serious answer. He just told him that he would not send Binyamin with him and the other brothers.

את שני בני תמית, he cursed (conditionally) now two of his sons that they should die if he would not bring back Binyamin safely. The matter is similar to an incident related in Shabbat 108 where Rav said to Shemuel “may it be G’d’s will …that your children will not live.” The curse came true. [The story is extremely enigmatic, seeing that Rav who had thought that Shemuel had treated him not only in a miserly fashion, but had caused him physical discomfort deliberately, had become aware in good time that Shemuel, an outstanding physician, had done what he did in order to relieve an ailment Rav had clearly been suffering from. In spite of this, the conditional curse was fulfilled, much as Yaakov who had cursed the thief who had stolen Lavan’s teraphim not knowing that it had been Rachel. Although the condition had been that if the thief would be found he should not live, Rachel died in spite of the thief (she herself) never having been found. Ed.]