Комментарий к Берешит 44:21

THAT I MAY SET MINE EYES UPON HIM. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra said that the meaning thereof is “that I may see him.” But I have not found “setting of eyes” in Scripture in reference to just seeing. Thus: And I will set Mine eyes upon them for good;¹⁸Jeremiah 24:6. Take him, and put your eye upon him, and do him no harm,¹⁹Ibid., 39:12. for Nebuchadrezzar did not command Nebuzaradan to merely see Jeremiah after he took him into custody, but to watch him and treat him well. But the meaning here is that Joseph had vowed to them to have pity on the lad and to guard him, even though it is not mentioned explicitly [in the narrative of the original confrontation between Joseph and his brothers], just as Scripture is concise there about all these matters which Judah related in Joseph’s presence. Now Judah did not mention the imprisonment of Simeon and the pretext that Ye are spies,²⁰Above, 42:9. out of respect or out of the fear of majesty.

ואשימה עיני עליו, it is a severe wrong for a ruler not to keep his word. (you claimed you only wanted to be convinced of his existence.)

ואשימה עיני עליו. There was therefore no reason why his father should be concerned that he would not be allowed to return home.

ותאמר אל עבדיך הורדוהו, "you instructed your servants "bring him down!" Yehudah reminded Joseph that he had not accepted their assurances or examined their truthfulness by any other available means except his insistence to bring Benjamin to Egypt. When they told their father about this condition their father did not agree to let Benjamin travel until they had exhausted their food supply.

ואשימה עיני עליו, “so that I may see him with my own eyes.” This expression is usually meant to convey a benevolent interest in the person one wishes to see. A well known example of this meaning is found in Jeremiah 24,6 ושמתי עיני עליהם לטובה, “So that I may look upon them favourably.” A similar verse with the identical expression is found in Amos. Even though in our verse the word “לטובה”, “favourably,” had not been spelled out by Joseph, it was reasonable for the brothers to understand Joseph’s request in that manner. Yehudah made no reference to Joseph having (in retrospect) imprisoned Shimon without cause, as the brothers had proved that they were not spies. He omitted this reference either because of fear, or because of good manners.

(21-34) Alle diese Verhandlungen waren wohl während der drei Tage ihrer Haft zwischen ihnen und Josef vorgegangen. Raw Hirsch on Genesis 44: 31. Sobald er nur sieht, dass der Knabe nicht da ist, wird er auf der Stelle sterben, wir werden gar nicht einmal Zeit haben, ihm die Sache auseinanderzusetzen und sie etwa in milderem Lichte erscheinen zu lassen.

ואשימה עיני עליו, “so that I can see him personally.” Rashi understands this line as a metaphor, as if Yehudah challenges Joseph: ”is this what you call meeting him personally?” We must therefore explain the reason for Joseph having expressed the wish to meet Binyamin personally as a promise to protect him from harm. We certainly did not understand you to mean that you plan to cause him harm.

ותאמר אל עבדיך הורידוהו אלי, “You said to your servants: ‘bring him down to me.!’” The reason why I, Yedudah, am now speaking up on his behalf, is that I have guaranteed him.”An alternate explanation: when you said: ואשימה עיני עלי, “I will put my eye on him,” I thought that you meant that you will personally protect him. Instead you are doing the reverse and accuse him of having committed a crime. You are looking for ways to detain him.