창세기 44:18의 주석

ויגש אליו וגו' . . . דבר באזני אדני THEN JUDAH CAME NEAR TO HIM etc. [LET THY SERVANT SPEAK] A WORD IN MY LORD S EARS etc. May my words penetrate into your ears (Genesis Rabbah 93:6).

LET THY SERVANT, I PRAY THEE, SPEAK A WORD. The intent thereof is to say that he [Judah] will speak but a few words which will not burden Joseph. In my opinion, the correct interpretation is that “a word” refers to the exchange concerning which he is to plead before him, namely, that Joseph exchange him for his brother Benjamin, for he will not ask any other thing of him, and all of the rest of his words are an appeasement and a plea for this exchange.

כי כמוך כפרעה, seeing that Your position is one equivalent to that of king, I am afraid of your anger.

ויגש אליו יהודה, Yehudah approached him (Joseph), etc. Why does the Torah have to mention that "Yehudah approached," seeing he had been standing close to Joseph during the previous part of the discussion? The word אליו also does not seem necessary. Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 93,6 explained that the word ויגש refers to Yehudah girding himself for war. This is a homiletical commentary. We are concerned with the plain meaning of the verse. Why did Yehudah say בי אדוני, "please my lord" at this point? If these words were intended to put Joseph into a more conciliatory frame of mind he should have said these words when he said ואל יחר לאדוני, "let my lord not become angry." Furthermore, what need was there for the words "in the ears of my lord?" We also need to understand what Yehudah meant when he said: "you are just like Pharaoh?"

כי כמוך כפרעה, the repeated use of the prefix כ is meant to draw a comparison between the two subjects mentioned. We find a parallel construction in Isaiah 24,2 כעבד כאדוניו, “like master like servant.” [that verse contains a string of these comparisons. Ed.] What Yehudah meant was “on the one hand you rule like Pharaoh, and Pharaoh is like you in many respects.” I am therefore as afraid to speak up in front of you as I would be afraid to speak up in front of Pharaoh. However, due to the extreme difficulty we are finding ourselves in I cannot remain silent. I can only ask that in all that I am going to say אל יחר אפך בעבדך, “do not become angry at your servant.” You have already accused us of crimes when we first came here, as distinct from other people who came to buy grain whom you did not subject to such treatment.”

ויגש אליו. ידבר נא עבדך דבר. After you yourself have said (verse 17) that you do not want to do anything which would pervert justice,

ויגש אליו יהודה, “Yehudah approached him closely.” Originally, Yehudah had thought that Joseph wanted to condemn Binyamin to death. If that had been the case, he would not have an opening to substitute his life for that of his brother. Now that he had heard from Joseph’s own lips that he intended to keep him as slave, he felt that by offering himself instead, he might persuade Joseph that his offer had merit.

May my words penetrate your ears. [How does Rashi know it does not mean that Yehudah literally requested to whisper in Yoseif’s ear? The answer is:] They spoke to Yoseif only through an interpreter, as they did not know he understood Hebrew. So how could Yehudah speak directly to Yoseif? Another answer: It is not a king’s honor for a lowly person to whisper in his ear. (Re’m)

באוני אדני, ein schöner Ausdruck, wenn man dem andern etwas sehr zu erwägen geben will. Ich will nicht an dein Gefühl appellieren, sondern an deinen Geist und deinen Verstand mich richten. — חרה .ואל יחר אפך heißt wohl nicht: glühend werden, dies ist חרר. Vielmehr scheint es in Verwandtschaft mit ארה .הרה ,ערה ,ארה: etwas zu sich hin und aufnehmen, daher abpflücken, und ארון: ein Behälter, welcher etwas für den Gebrauch aufnimmt. ערה: der Zustand, in welchem man alle Eindrücke aufnimmt, wahrnimmt: die Blöße. הרה das Aufnehmen eines Keimes. חרה: der gereizte Zustand, in welchem die leiseste Berührung oder äußere Einwirkung einen Eindruck macht, noch nacktere Nacktheit: dass nämlich durch irgend eine Sache jemandes Gemüt so gereizt ist, dass man ihrer gar nicht erwähnen darf. Möge das, was ich spreche, deine Empfindlichkeit nicht reizen; denn siehe, du bist wie Pharao und Pharao ist wie du; d. h. ich achte dich wie Pharao, sollte ich daher etwas sagen, was dir unangenehm ist, so glaube nicht, dass es aus Mißachtung geschehe; was ich dir sage, würde ich auch Pharao sagen.

ויגש אליו וגו'...בי אדוני, “he came near to him;....oh my lord.” Yehudah”s logic in challenging Joseph’s punishment for Binyamin was as follows: normally when a slave owner buys additional slaves and finds out that they steal from him, he demands his money back from the seller and returns such slaves to him. Why, do you do the opposite, by preferring to have a thief as your slave?

ויגש אליו יהודה, “Yehudah approached him;” seeing that he could not remove every official surrounding Joseph, as Joseph did later on, he had no choice but to approach him face to face.

Then Judah approached him: The last letters of these three words create שָׁוֶה (equal.) Judah said to Joseph, "I am equal to you, just as you are a king, I am a king." And for this he demands in the Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 93:6) For behold the kings have assembled (Psalms 48:5).

ואל יחר אפך AND LET NOT THY WRATH GLOW — From these words you may infer that he spoke to him in harsh terms.

AND LET NOT THINE ANGER BURN AGAINST THY SERVANT. Judah is saying: “Do not be angry at me for speaking before you.”

ידבר נא עבדך, let me explain to you what unfairness and perversion of justice would result from the course of action you plan.

ידבר נא עבדך דבר, “allow your servant to say something.” He meant that he would offer a short plea, and that Joseph should not consider his plea as something tiresome.

From this you may infer that he spoke harshly to him. I.e., not gently and politely as one usually speaks to a king. Otherwise, why should Yoseif grow angry?

It is an accepted fact amongst kings that the most highly placed ministers and advisers are seated in front of the king, and when someone comes to present a request to the king he does not present his case while standing between the advisers and the king, but must stand outside the circle of advisers. The circle of advisers separates the petitioner from the king who presides on the throne. Up until this point Yehudah had stood outside the circle. The word ויגש indicates that at this point Yehudah moved forward to within the area separating the advisers from the king himself. He did so in order that the advisers should not be able to hear what he was about to tell Joseph.

כי כמוך כפרעה, “for you are just like Pharaoh;” just as an earlier Pharaoh lusted after the founding mother of the Hebrews, because of her physical beauty, our matriarch Sarah, you lust after our brother because you are attracted by the fact that he is so handsome.” An alternate interpretation: “just as you are great and mighty in your country, so we are great and mighty in the region which we call our home.” (Compare B’reshit Rabbah 93,6 and Tanchuma on this portion section 5)

יהודה, the reason why Yehudah was the one carrying on this dialogue was that it was he who had guaranteed Binyamin’s safe return to their father.

כי כמוך כפרעה FOR THOU ART EVEN AS PHARAOH — In my sight you are as important as the king. This is the literal meaning, but a Midrashic explanation is: You will ultimately be stricken with leprosy for detaining Benjamin even as your ancestor Pharaoh was stricken because he detained my ancestress Sarah one night. Another explanation is: you are as unreliable as Pharaoh — just as Pharaoh issues decrees and does not carry them out, makes promises and does not fulfil them, so also do you. Is this what you meant by “setting your eyes” upon him when you said (Genesis 44:21) “Bring him down and I will set mine eyes upon him”? Still another interpretation of כי כמוך כפרעה FOR THOU SHALT BECOME EVEN AS PHARAOH: if you provoke me I will slay you and your master (Genesis Rabbah 93:6).

FOR THOU ART EVEN AS PHARAOH, i.e., “it is with great fear that I speak before you, as if I was speaking before Pharaoh.”

ואל יחר אפך, and do not become angry when I tell you that you will be guilty of this perversion of justice unwittingly.

כי כמוך כפרעה, “for you are for all intent and purpose equal to Pharaoh.” He meant that he revered Joseph in a manner similar to the reverence shown Pharaoh himself. Alternately, he implied that Joseph should keep his word just as it was expected from a ruler of Pharaoh’s stature that he keeps his word. Binyamin was supposed to have come to Egypt merely to prove that he was a brother of his and that the brothers had not lied when they mentioned him as having remained behind in the land of Canaan to tend to their aged father’s needs.

You are as esteemed in my eyes as a king... From this it follows that “For you are equal to Pharaoh” explains why Yehudah said to him, “Please my master,” by which Yehudah pleaded and supplicated to him, although Yoseif was not a king. Thus Yehudah said [in explanation]: “For you are equal to Pharaoh,” i.e., “You are as esteemed in my eyes as a king.” However, “For you are equal to Pharaoh” does not explain Yehudah’s statement of, “And do not be angry,” which he had previously made. On the contrary, since Yoseif was as esteemed as a king, this is a reason for Yehudah not to speak harshly to him, [so Yoseif’s anger would be justified].

The Maharam Elshakar in his responsum number 93 comments on the difference between the word אליו and the word לו, both of which mean "to him."

באזני אדוני, “for the ears of my lord only.” ואל יחר אפך בעבדך, “so that you will not become angry at your servant.” I have reason to fear this as you are just like Pharaoh in stature and your anger is something that is feared by everyone. Who else is there for me to lodge a complaint to if I feel I have been wronged?

כי כמוך כפרעה, the fact that I address my words to you is not to be considered personally, as I address them to you in your capacity of representing Pharaoh himself.

Its Midrashic explanation is: “Ultimately you will be stricken...” [Although the simple meaning is, “You are as esteemed in my eyes as a king”], the Midrash preferred not to say that Yehudah was speaking gently, rather that he was speaking harshly. Thus it explains, “Ultimately you will be stricken...” But there is a question on the Midrash: Why did it not say, “For you will be like Pharaoh”? Thus Rashi offers another explanation: “Just as Pharaoh issues decrees...” I.e., right now you are like Pharaoh. But there is a question regarding this explanation: Why did it not say אתה כפרעה? Thus, both explanations are needed. And there is a question regarding all the [above] explanations: Why did it not say כפרעה כמוך, since Yoseif was being compared to Pharaoh? Thus Rashi offers another explanation: “If you will provoke me...” Now, Pharaoh is compared to Yoseif as regards being killed. But this explanation is implausible on its own because how could Yehudah have said, “Do not be angry,” when he was threatening to kill him? That is why the above explanations are also needed. (Maharshal)

Yehudah entreated the ruler (Joseph) to speak with him privately; this is the meaning of the words: "please my lord let your servant speak in the hearing of my lord." He also pleaded with Joseph not to become angry immediately; this is why he added: "and let not my lord become angry." He implied that though it is customary for great men to become angry at each other, there is no cause for a highly placed person such as Joseph to waste his energy by becoming angry at a lowly servant such as himself. This was the reason Yehudah emphasised that he was Joseph's servant. The reason that Yehudah said: "for you are just like Pharaoh" is explained in A vodah Zarah 10 in a story involving a certain Ketiah bar Shalum. A certain Roman Emperor disliked the Jews and consulted his advisers what he should do about them. He asked whether if one has a painful fibroid in one's foot one should cut it off and be at ease or whether one should allow it to remain and suffer pain? The advice of all the other ministers was that the Emperor should have the fibroid removed. Ketiah- also one of the officers of the Emperor- said to him: "first of all you cannot get rid of all the Jews, quoting a verse in Zachariah 2,10. Secondly, if you do this your empire will henceforth be known as one that kills its own subjects." The king replied that Ketiah's advice was sound but that there was a law which stipulated that anyone who obstructed the wishes of the emperor must be thrown into the furnace. He had Ketiah executed. As soon as Ketiah was burned to death a heavenly voice was heard proclaiming that Ketiah had acquired his life in the Hereafter in the time it had taken for him to suggest the Jews be saved. Yehudah was careful not to create a situation which would make his words boomerang on himself as had the words of Ketiah. This is why he wanted no one to hear what he had to say to Joseph.

כי כמוך כפרעה, “for you are just like Pharaoh.” Compare a similar expression in Kings II 3,7: כמוני כמוך, “me and you .” Or Hoseah 4,9: כעם ככהן, the common people just like the priests.” Or, Kohelet 9,2: כטוב כחוטא, “the sinner just as the good one.” Or, Psalms 139,12: כחשיכה כאורה, “darkness and light are the same.”According to Rashi, what Yehudah meant was that “just as Pharaoh issues decrees and does not keep his promises, so you decree and do not keep your promise.” According to a Midrash, what Yehudah referred to was that Joseph had only demanded to “see” Binyamin before releasing Shimon and letting us buy food and return to the land of Canaan. Instead he had detained them, invited them. caused them to become drunk with him, etc., as a result of which they found themselves in their present predicament. Another Midrash quotes Yehudah as saying: just as Pharaoh violated the Egyptian law that a slave cannot be appointed ruler and he appointed you, so you too act illegally. Furthermore, Pharaoh had announced to the whole world that everybody was welcome to buy grain in Egypt, whereas his family had been discriminated against by having to bring his youngest brother all the way from the land of Canaan in order to buy grain for their starving family.

As the Pharaoh was stricken... From this it follows that “For you are equal to Pharaoh” is connected to, “Let your servant speak a word in my master’s ears.” And what is the [harsh] word that I will speak to you? “For you are equal to Pharaoh,” meaning that “ultimately you will be stricken...”

The words: "for you are just like Pharaoh" may also be understood in a sense similar to Proverbs 21,1: "the king's heart is in the Lord's hands." This means that the king is privileged to receive divine assistance before pronouncing judgment. If Yehudah were to speak publicly, his advisers would pressure Joseph not to follow his heart's inclination so that ultimately he would not decide according to the will of heaven. By speaking in this way Yehudah indicated to Joseph that he considered him a fair ruler, and that his closest advisers were the ones who were in danger of committing a travesty of justice.

Just as Pharaoh issues decrees without carrying them out... Meaning: Pharaoh wrote in his register that a slave may not rule nor may he wear silk garments, yet he did not carry it out because he made you a ruler though you were a slave. And “he makes promises without fulfilling them,” i.e., if he did not carry out his decree where there is no monetary loss, surely he will not carry out a promise where there is monetary loss. You, too, do the same. You promise and do not fulfill, for is this [the meaning of, “Set your eyes on him?”] “You, too, do the same” does not refer to issuing decrees without carrying them out, for nowhere do we see Yoseif issuing a decree and not carry it out. And nowhere do we see Pharaoh making a promise and not keep it. You might ask: What did Yehudah have against Pharaoh, that he so denigrated the king? The answer is: Yehudah was saying to Yoseif, “On what do you rely? Do you place your trust in Pharaoh [to protect you from our retribution]? Pharaoh himself issues decrees but does not carry them out, as he wrote in Egypt’s laws that a slave may not be a ruler yet he did not carry it out.” (Maharshal)

If you will provoke me I will kill you... From this it follows that “For you are equal to Pharaoh” is connected to, “Do not be angry with your servant,” for if you get angry, I will kill you and your master.

A homiletical approach to the words ויגש אליו may be similar to what Solomon tells us in Proverbs 27,19: "as face to face is reflected in water, so man's heart will be reflected by his counter-part." Yehudah endeavoured to turn Joseph's heart towards himself. Yehudah had to make a special effort in this regard as there is a natural dislike between idol worhippers and the servants of the one and only G'd as we know from Psalms 125,3. In this instance, keeping in mind his immediate concern, Yehudah had to overcome his natural dislike for people who worshipped idols.

The word may simply reflect the fact that now that Yehudah was convinced that what had happened was at the initiative of Joseph and not that of G'd, he "approached" the whole subject differently.

Still another possibility is that the word indicates that Yehudah had Joseph's interest at heart. He presented himself as far more useful to Joseph as a slave than his youngest brother Benjamin.

He went on by explaining why it was seemly for Joseph to listen to his plea and to his reasons, seeing כי כמך כפרעה, “you are of equal stature to Pharaoh,” and as such it is incumbent upon you to at least listen to my arguments. Yehudah then proceeded to explain that seeing he had guaranteed the safety of Binyamin it was logical that he should take it upon himself to pay any penalty Binyamin had incurred.

The word אליו may have been inserted in order to deflect an accusation against Yehudah who had previously offered that all the brothers including Benjamin would be slaves to Joseph whereas now he wanted Benjamin released. How could he dare reverse himself? The Torah therefore explains that the word אליו refers to Joseph who wanted to keep only Benjamin.

Yehudah said: "please my lord" for three reasons. 1) He had to explain to Joseph why he alone kept speaking. This was especially so seeing Joseph had already demonstrated that he knew that Reuben was the oldest brother when he had seated the brothers according to their age (43,33). Joseph was liable to interrupt him at any moment demanding to know why Reuben was not acting as the spokesman. Yehudah therefore wanted to explain this before Joseph could become angry. He explained that Benjamin's detention concerned him most because of the guarantee he had given to his father. 2) He used a stratagem designed to free Benjamin by claiming that he himself had stolen the goblet but had hidden it in Benjamin's pouch, deflecting any suspicion from himself in the event that the goblet would be found. It was only proper then that he and not Benjamin should pay the penalty. Now the situation was that Benjamin denied being a thief whereas Yehudah confessed. 3) The word בי may be an allusion by the Torah to the present time when Joseph was the ruler; ultimately, however, authority would pass to Yehudah, i.e. the kingdom of David who was a descendant of Yehudah.

By using these words, the Torah may also have alluded to the fact that had it not been for Yehudah's advice to sell Joseph, the latter would not now be in a position of authority at all; the words בי אדוני then would have to be translated as: "it is only through me that you are my lord."

והורידו עבדיך, “and your servants would bring down;” Yehudah used a third person pronoun, i.e. “they would bring down,” instead of saying “you would bring down.” He did not want to accuse Joseph outright of becoming the cause of their father’s premature death as an embittered man. By adding the words עבדיך, “your servants,” meaning himself, he suggested that by keeping him instead of Binyamin, Joseph would not only save their father’s life, but he would acquire a far better slave than Binyamin seeing that he, Yehudah, was superior to Binyamin in all aspects pertaining to performing the tasks allocated to slaves. Moreover, Joseph would thereby be spared the sin of failing to honour his guarantee that he would bring Binyamin back safely.