פּירוש אויף בראשית 46:33

“And it will be when Pharaoh calls for you.” There is concern that he is calling you in order to select men among you for his military campaigns. Therefore, when he asks you “What is your occupation?” you should say “Your servants have been livestock handlers”, and do not explicitly tell him that you are shepherds, for all shepherds are an abomination to Egypt. It is not proper etiquette to speak of something that is abhorrent in the king’s eyes, and one must refrain from explicitly mentioning anything that contradicts his religious beliefs. Otherwise, why didn’t Joseph give this reason regarding his own words when he said they were shepherds and explained for all shepherds are an abomination to Egypt? Rather, this explanation serves as the reason why he didn’t instruct them to say they were shepherds. The king will understand on his own that since you are livestock handlers, you are certainly all shepherds. And so that he won’t ask you to exchange your shepherding work for another profession, therefore say “from our youth until now we haven’t become accustomed to any other profession except this one.” And to prevent him from saying that you chose this profession from your youth to deny the beliefs of those who worship the zodiac sign of Aries, therefore add also our fathers from ancient times, before this belief spread in the world. However, Joseph wanted to tell Pharaoh explicitly that they were shepherds, as he said initially that he wanted to say before him “the men are shepherds,” because for him it was appropriate to say this explicitly so that Pharaoh would keep you at a distance. But for you, it wouldn’t be appropriate to explicitly say something before him that would cause distancing. Rather, he should understand this from the general context of your words.

In einem Staate wie Mizrajim, wo der Mensch völlig in den sogenannten Beruf aufging, und eigentlich kein Mensch, sondern ein Handwerker, ein Landbauer, ein Krieger usw. geboren wurde, war die Frage nach dem Berufe natürlich die erste Frage. Auch sie sollten auf Pharaos Frage ungescheut diese unangenehme Wahrheit hervorkehren; denn der nicht zu umgehende Abscheu der Ägypter vor ihrem Berufe war, wie überhaupt die Abneigung der Völker gegen die Juden, das erste Erhaltungsmittel dieses zum isolierten Gange durch die Zeiten bestimmten Menschenstammes. Bis zum geistig sittlichen Morgen der Völker schützten die Pallisaden, die der Wahn der Völker gegen die Juden errichtete, diese vor jeder Ansteckung durch die Barbarei und Entsittlichung der Menschen, in deren Mitte sie Jahrhunderte hinab zu wandeln haben sollten. Deshalb kehrte auch hier Josef sofort die den Ägyptern unangenehme Seite hervor, in der ausgesprochenen Absicht, damit sie dadurch eine gesonderte Provinz zum Wohnplatz eingeräumt erhielten.

In the end, the approach was changed. Joseph did not tell Pharaoh that they were shepherds, while his brothers explicitly stated your servants are shepherds. This was because he saw that Pharaoh had not sent for them, so [Joseph] was not concerned about his perhaps taking the strong ones among them for his military. Therefore, he [Joseph] did not need to mention that they were shepherds, while they [the brothers] explicitly stated your servants are shepherds so that Pharaoh would keep them away from his territory, as mentioned. For Joseph had arranged that one of them would explicitly state that they were shepherds, while the other would simply say “livestock handlers” — either he or his brothers. Otherwise, what would be the purpose of Joseph telling his brothers what he intended to say before Pharaoh? Rather, Joseph said to his brothers: “If I explicitly mention that you are shepherds, then it will be sufficient for you to just say you are livestock handlers, as it is not proper etiquette to mention ‘shepherds’ twice since it goes against his [Pharaoh’s] religion. And if I don’t explicitly say ‘shepherds,’ then you should say it explicitly.” And that is how it ultimately played out, and this resolves all the questions.