Commento su Genesi 42:22

וגם דמו ALSO HIS BLOOD [IS REQUIRED] — the particles את and גם extend the scope of the clause; here it implies “his blood and also the blood of his old father” (Genesis Rabbah 91:8).

הלא אמרתי אליכם אל תחטאו בילד?. He had never intended to cause your death when he had done what he did, as you had imagined. His actions were due to the fact that he was immature, was childish.

ויען ראובן אתם. Reuben answered them. How can the term "he answered" be justified in this context? Who had asked him anything? The repeated use of the word לאמור and the words וגם דמו also require justification.

וגם דמו הנה נדרש, seeing that they believed that Joseph had died after he had been sold, they felt that G’d was also holding them responsible now for having shed his blood.

ויען ראובן, “Reuven replied to them;” originally Joseph had intended to keep Reuven, who was the oldest, as hostage pending Binyamin’s coming to Egypt. It is customary that when a number of people are guilty of a crime that the senior member of the group is punished first. When Joseph overheard their conversation and found out for the first time that it had been Reuven who had tried to save him, he changed his mind and kept Shimon as a hostage instead, as he was the second oldest.

וגם דמו הנה נדרש. The sin we are being punished for now is not only our cruelty, as you think, but also his blood, if your actions were the cause of his death, seeing that he was innocent. There can be little doubt that he died in the performance of his tasks as a slave, something he had not been equipped to cope with.

Reuben reacted to the brothers having said that they were being punished for not having displayed compassion when Joseph pleaded with them, something in which they had included him also. Reuben retorted that he did not consider himself included in that sin as he had warned: "do not commit a sin against the boy!" Even though at that time he had only warned them not to lay a hand upon Joseph and to throw him into the pit, his intention had been as if he had said: "do not commit a sin." The Torah itself exonerated Reuben independently by revealing Reuben's intention to restore Joseph to his father.

You could ask what reason Reuben gave for the brothers to believe that this had been his intention, when on the contrary, selling Joseph at the time was more merciful than to let him die a slow death in the pit and therefore Reuben had no reason to complain?

The fact is that Reuben's principal complaint against the brothers was that he told them not to lay a hand upon Joseph. "Selling him into slavery was certainly laying a hand upon him!" Reuben's argument was certainly valid; moreover, by selling Joseph to other human beings the brothers had made his fate dependent on people with a free will who could act arbitrarily. Reuben's intention had been not to allow Joseph's fate to be in the hands of people who could make arbitrary decisions. Selling Joseph did not reduce the danger to Joseph's life or wellbeing any more than throwing him into the pit. We only need to read the Bereshit Rabbah 86,3 according to which Potiphar bought Joseph to commit acts of sodomy with him. G'd Himself made Potiphar impotent to protect Joseph against such abuse. When Reuben had advised throwing Joseph into the pit he felt that if Joseph was not guilty nothing would happen to him. He had been most concerned to remove Joseph from the hands of people who could arbitrarily decide his fate. That is why he accused them ולא שמעתם, "you did not listen." He meant: "you did not understand my intention.

When you think that you are being punished only for your cruelty and not for the deed itself, you are quite wrong. Also his blood is being demanded, i.e. you are also guilty of either killing him or putting his life in jeopardy." According to Reuben this was why they now had to face the charge of spying, a charge that was punishable by death. Reuben resented being considered a partner of that part of the brothers' crime. He was not willing to share their responsibility seeing he had not taken part in the sale. As of that moment Reuben only agreed to remain with them, but not to share their guilt. At the end of the examination it would become clear who was legally guilty and who was innocent. Our interpretation of the words אבל אשמים אנחנו as referring to the brothers waking up to their guilt only after Shimon alone was being held prisoner is completely compatible with everything else we have written.