## Tur HaArokh, Genesis

###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:1:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:1:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/42:1:1)

**וירא יעקב.**כתב רבינו אברהם בעבור היות ההרגשות מתחברות במקום אחד יחליפו זאת בזאת כמו ראה ריח בני ומתוק האור וכן וירא יעקב כי אחריו כתיב הנה שמעתי:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
וירא יעקב, “Yaakov saw, etc.” Ibn Ezra writes that seeing that the origin of the 5 senses, hearing, seeing, smelling, etc., are all located next to one another, as we know from when Yitzchok spoke about ראה ריח בני, “Look, the smell of my son, etc.” (Genesis 27,27) [He referred to the pleasant sensation of light, a sensation as pleasant as a pleasant fragrance. Ed] seeing he himself was already blind at the time. The names of the senses themselves may on occasion be used interchangeably, so that in our verse the true meaning of the word וירא is: “he heard,” as we know from Yaakov’s own lips in the very next verseהנה שמעתי כי יש שבר במצרים, “here I have heard that there is food for sale in Egypt.” If he had already “seen” it in the literal sense of the word, why would he have to repeat: “I have heard,” a far less reliable source of information?


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:1:2
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:1:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/42:1:2)

**למה תתראו.**פירש"י למה תראו עצמיכם בפני בני ישמעאל ועשו. וכתב הרמב"ן ולמה אמר בפני בני ישמעאל ועשו ומה ענינם בארץ כנען ועוד למה לא אמר בפני בני הארץ ואולי היו באים דרך ארץ כנען ועוברים עליו ואמר להם שלא יראו עצמם שבעים לפניהם שלא יבואו אל ביתו לאכול עמו לחם ואחר כך אמר להם רדו שמה שמתחלה הזהירם לשמור מה שבידם ושוב אמר להם שילכו לקנות יותר ולא ימותו כאשר יתם הלחם שבידם. אי נמי למה תתראו במקום הזה כי הי' לכם ליסע מיד כאשר שמעתם כי יש שבר במצרים כי כבר היו בסכנה אם לא ימהרו בדבר וזהו שאמר להם ונחי' ולא נמות. וי"מ למה תתראו שהיו מריבים זה על זה על ענין ההליכה לומר מי ילך והוא אומר להם רדו שמה שילכו כלם כמו נתראה פנים. וי"מ למה תתנשאו כמו כי עתה ראיתי פניך כראות פני אלהים שהיו בני יעקב גדולי הארץ ולא היו רוצים ללכת בעצמם ואחרים לא היו רשאים לשלוח מפני פחד הדרך:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
למה תתראו?, “Why are you looking so irresolute?” According to *Rashi,* Yaakov rebuked his sons for giving the impression to the surrounding people that they had so much food stored up that they could afford to sit still without traveling to Egypt to try and supplement their supplies.
 Nachmanides writes that the words quoted here by the Torah as Yaakov having addressed to the brothers, were said to them in the presence of Ishmaelites and Edomites, make little sense, as why would Ishmaelites and Edomites be in the land of Canaan in the first place? Furthermore, if *Rashi* means that Yaakov admonished his sons in public (for show) why did *Rashi* not mention that he did so in front of the local inhabitants? He would certainly have had reason to do so in order not to arouse the jealousy of his neighbours! Had that impression been allowed to spread, all his neighbours would have invited themselves to eat at Yaakov’s table! He therefore instructed them to go down to Egypt in order to preserve the food supply they still had. Then he told them to buy additional supplies in order to forestall death through hunger after their supplies ran out.
 Alternately, the word תתראו, is short for למה תתראו במקום זה “why do you display such indecision by remaining here, instead of getting going to buy supplies?” “You should have started to move as soon as you heard that grain was for sale in Egypt.” Yaakov and family already found themselves in imminent danger of starvation.
 Some commentators understand the rebuke as “why do you quarrel as to who is to go to Egypt to buy food, I want all of you to go.” Yet another interpretation of the question למה תתראו, views it as a rebuke of their acting as if it were below their dignity to personally go to Egypt like the common people and to beg to be allowed to buy grain there. After all, they were the elite of “Canaanite” Society, akin to aristocracy! Their indecision was reinforced by their reluctance to send others on their behalf and to subject these others to the potential dangers of the journey.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:6:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:6:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/42:6:1)

**הוא המשביר לכל עם הארץ.**אינו ראוי שיהי' משנה למלך מוכר לכל עם הארץ לזה סאה ולזה סאתים ועל כן דרשו שציוה לסתום כל האוצרות. ועל דרך הפשט שבאו לפניו מכל הארצות והוא חוקר עליהם ומצוה לפקידים תמכרו לעיר פלוני' כך וכך ובני יעקב באו לפניו מארץ כנען והם באו לפניו בעבור כלם:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
הוא המשביר לכל עם הארץ. “He was the seller of grain to the entire population of Egypt.” It sounds extremely strange that the viceroy, and de facto ruler of such an empire, should personally engage in grain sales, and in retail quantities at that! This is why some commentators understand the expression as that Joseph gave the order to open his silos for public sales of grain.
 According to the plain meaning of the text, Joseph personally, checked out all the travelers from foreign countries who had come to the border in order to buy grain in the land of Egypt. He instructed his officials how much to sell to any city, etc. When the sons of Yaakov arrived at the boundary of Egypt, they represented a delegation empowered to buy on behalf of their whole region.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:7:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:7:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/42:7:1)

**ויתנכר להם.**פי' רש"י שנעשה להם כנכרי. והרמב"ן פי' מיד כשראה אותם והכירם הי' ירא שמא יכירוהו גם הם ויתנכר אליהם ששם המצנפת על מצחו ועל קצת הפנים כדי שלא יכירוהו כמו שכתוב והיא מתנכרת או שנתנכר להם בדברים שדיבר אתם קשות ואמר להם מאין באתם כאלו לא בא אדם לפניו לשבור ואמרו מארץ כנען לשבור אוכל וכאשר הזכירו לו זה נתברר לו באמת שהם אחיו ולכך כתוב פעם אחרת ויכר יוסף את אחיו. ור' אברהם כתב הכירם בתחילה שהם אחיו ואח"כ הסתכל בכל אחד ואחד לבדו להכירו:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
ויתנכר להם, “he misrepresented himself to them.” According to*Rashi,* the word is derived from נכרי, “stranger, alien.” Nachmanides explains that as soon as Joseph spotted his brothers and recognized them, he was afraid that they in turn might recognize him; this is why he disguised himself with a different type of turban, one which covered most of his forehead; or, he disguised his manner of speech including his stern demeanor, so that they would not be alerted to his true identity. This is why he subjected them to the third degree kind of interview, acting as if they had been the first people ever to come from Canaan to buy grain. From their answers he became progressively more certain that they were indeed, his brothers. This is the reason why the Torah repeats: ”he recognized them.” According to Ibn Ezra, the first statement “he recognized his brothers”, refers to them collectively, whereas after questioning them he recognized each one individually.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:8:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:8:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/42:8:1)

**והם לא הכירוהו.**שיצא בלא חתימת זקן ובא בחתימת זקן אע"ג שגם הוא הניח ליששכר ולזבולון גם כן בלא חתימת ולא היו גדולים ממנו אלא מעט מ"מ כיון שהכיר קצתם הכיר כלם. ועוד שהוא הי' ברור לו שיבאו אליו לשבור אוכל והם לא העלו על דעתם שיעלה לגדולה כזאת. ועוד שנשתנה שמו צפנת פענח. ועוד שהוא מדבר מצרית והם מדברים בלשון הקודש:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
והם לא הכירוהו, “but they did not recognize him.” Joseph had left his father’s house before he had grown a beard, and in the meantime his beard had materially changed his facial features. Although we must assume that Issachar and Zevulun who were hardly older than he had also not had a beard at the time when he left his father’s house, the fact that he had identified eight of the ten brothers who had had beards before he left home, made it easy for him to also recognize the other two. Furthermore, he enjoyed the advantage of having known with certainty that his brothers would come to Egypt to buy grain. He therefore kept a special watch for their arrival. The fact that Pharaoh had changed his name also made it more difficult for his brothers to suspect that someone by that name was their brother. In addition, Joseph now spoke Egyptian whereas they spoke Hebrew.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:9:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:9:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/42:9:1)

**ויזכור יוסף החלומות אשר חלם להם.**פי' רש"י שידע שנתקיימו. וכתב הרמב"ן ולפי דעתי שהדבר בהפך כי בראות יוסף את אחיו זכר את כל החלומות וידע שלא נתקיים לא אחד מהם בפעם הזאת כי ידע בפתרונם שישתחוו לו כל אחיו מן החלום הראשון והנה אנחנו מאלמים אלומים שרומז לכל אחיו ובפעם השני ישתחוו לו השמש והירח וי"א כוכבים וכיון שלא ראה עמהם בנימין חשב זאת התחבולה להעליל עליהם כדי שיבא בנימין ויתקיים החלום הראשון ועל כן לא רצה לומר להם מיד אני יוסף אחיכם ולשלוח אחר אביו ואחר שנתקיים החלום הראשון הגיד להם כדי לקיים החלום השני ולולא כן הי' יוסף חוטא חטא גדול לצער את אביו ולהעמידו ימים רבים בשכול על שמעון ועליו ואף אם הי' בדעתו לצער את אחיו קצת איך לא חמל על שיבת אביו אלא הכל עשה יפה בעתו לקיים החלומות כי ידע שיתקיימו באמת וגם הענין השני שעשה בגביע לא הי' בדעתו לצערם אלא חשב אולי יש שנאה עם בנימין שיקנאו אותו באהבת אביהם אותו בקנאתם או שהרגיש בנימין שהיתה ידם ביוסף והיתה ביניהם קטטה על כן לא רצה שילך עמהן עד שיבדקם באהבתו וכן צריך לומר שכל הדברים האלה היו ביוסף מרוב חכמתו בפתרון החלומות כי יש לתמוה אחרי שהי' במצרים ימים רבים והי' פקיד ונגיד בבית פרעה ושר גדול במצרים איך לא שלח כתביו לאביו להודיענו ויפדנו בממון רב אלא ראה כי השתחווית אביו וגם אחיו אליו אי אפשר בארצו והי' מקוה להיותו שם במצרים בראותו הצלחתו שם וכ"ש אחרי ששמע חלום פרעה שנתברר לו שיבואו כלם שמה ויקיימו כל חלומותיו וגם החלום השני ואחד עשר כוכבים משתחוים לי:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
ויזכור יוסף החלומות אשר חלם להם, “Joseph remembered the dreams he had dreamt concerning them.” According to *Rashi,* this means that he considered his dreams a having come true.
 Nachmanides not only does not agree, but, on the contrary, he feels that the Torah reports that Joseph’s dreams now revealed themselves to him as not having come true. When Joseph now saw his brothers he recalled all of his dreams and realized that not a single one had come true as yet. According to his interpretation of his dreams, all the brothers would bow down to him, whereas now only ten brothers had done so, something that had not been part of any of his dreams. In his second dream, not only his brothers were shown as bowing down to him. The main reason Joseph accused the brothers as being spies was because Binyamin had not come with them, and he wanted to devise a stratagem whereby at least the first of his dreams would come true henceforth. This is why he insisted on their bringing Binyamin down with them. If he had revealed himself to them already now, fulfillment of his dreams might 
 never occur in accordance with what he had expected. Once the first dream of his had come true, Joseph manipulated things in such a way that the second dream could come true also, by instructing the brothers to move to Egypt, both they, their families and their aged father. If Joseph had not believed that his dreams were meant to be of a prophetic nature, and would come true, he would have been guilty of a grievous sin for not having revealed his whereabouts to his father who was grieving over him all these years. He had also caused Yaakov distress in not having allowed Shimon to return with the brothers on their first trip. Even allowing for the fact that Joseph thought that his brothers deserved some discomfort and worry in return for what they had subjected him to, how could he not have had pity on his father who had been so depressed for all these years, not knowing what had become of him! We can only justify his conduct throughout as an attempt not to preempt what had been decreed. [כל הדוחק את השעה, השעה דוחקת אותו “anyone who tries to pre-empt pre-ordained events= will experience that he himself will be pre-empted by other events to his detriment.” (*Berachot* 64.) Ed.] It is also possible that a major consideration in Joseph’s conduct was to examine whether the brothers’ hatred of him was based on his being a son of Rachel, jealousy of the sons of Leah on their mother’s behalf, or, whether it had been directed only at him, and he himself had brought it upon himself. To this end, he had them bring Binyamin to Egypt, planted the goblet in his sack to see if the sons of the other wives of Yaakov would now abandon their half brother, the remaining son of Rachel, or if they would all as one close ranks around the supposed “thief.”
 All of Joseph’s considerations were bound up with his exceptional gift of interpreting dreams. If it were not so, it would be most difficult to understand why, even after having attained high office, he still did not inform his father of his whereabouts, and the fact that he was alive. When he had interpreted the dream of Pharaoh successfully and been rewarded accordingly, why did he not at least send a letter to his father? By that time he had had every reason to believe that also his own dreams would come true, including the one in which his father bowed down to him?


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:9:2
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:9:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/42:9:2)

**מרגלים אתם.**לא הי' אומר להם בלא טענה כי לא הי' מעליל על כל הבאים לשבור ועל כן דרשו רבותינו שנכנסו ביו"ד פתחים וטענה נכונה היא אבל הכתוב לא הזכירה. ועוד שאמרו לו בתחלה כלנו בני איש אחד אנחנו וזהו שמחייבתן. ויתכן לפרש שמתחלה אמר להם נכנסתם בי' פתחים ועתה נקשרתם יחד אין זה אלא דרך מרגלים ואמרו לו בעבור היותנו אחים נאספנו יחד ואמר להם לא כי ערות הארץ באתם לראות כי אם אחים אתם הי' לכם ליכנס בפתח אחד אז אמרו האחד איננו והלכנו לבקשו. ויתכן עוד לפי שראם אנשי תואר ונכבדים לבושי מכלול כלם אמר אין דרך אנשים נכבדים לבא לשבור אוכל כי עבדים רבים לכם. ויתכן עוד שהי' בתחלת הבאים מארץ כנען לשבור אוכל ועל כן שאל אותם מאין באתם:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
מרגלים אתם!, “you are spies!” This was not a trumped up accusation, taken out of thin air. The arrival of Joseph’s brothers through ten different border checkpoints was certainly something suspicious, although the Torah did not bother to spell out this detail in its narrative. When they told Joseph that they were all the sons of one father but had not traveled together, as Joseph knew, this was an incriminating factor. We can reconstruct part of the dialogue between Joseph and his brothers. First they had been found entering through different gates, and then they suddenly claimed to all belong together. Such conduct begs further examination of their true intent. In addition, their garments revealed them to be people of prominence and wealth. Joseph was entitled to wonder why such people subjected themselves to a lengthy journey just to buy grain, instead of leaving this chore to one or more of their many servants. It is also possible that the brothers were among the first grain shoppers from the land of Canaan, and this prompted Joseph to question them more thoroughly than travelers arriving later.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:11:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:11:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/42:11:1)

**כלנו בני איש אחד.**השיבוהו על דבריו שאמר להם למה באו כלם אמרו שהם אחים ואין רצון אבינו שנפרוד זה מזה או שעשו כן בעבור כובד הרעב שלא יגזלו עבדיהם בדרך מהשבר שיביאו. ויתכן שאמרו כלנו בני איש אחד ותוכל לחקור והוא נודע בכבודו ועושרו כי כנים אנחנו ואנשים צדיקים בני צדיק לא היינו מרגלים מעולם:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
כלנו בני איש אחד, “we are all the sons of the same father.” They answered the question why all of them had come, saying that they were brothers, and that their father did not want them to separate from one another. It is also possible that they answered that the reason why they had all come was due to the severity of the famine, and their fear that Joseph would sell only to one family head at a time. Moreover, had they sent their servants, they could not be sure that these servants would not sell of part of the purchase at higher prices to people who had not taken the trouble to journey to Egypt. The brothers may even have assumed a provocative posture, telling Joseph that he could examine them minutely as they were so sure of being upright and that they were well known as such in their hometown, in Chevron.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:15:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:15:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/42:15:1)

**כי אם בבוא אחיכם הנה.**למה שלא הי' חושש שמא יביאו אחד מן השוק ויאמרו אחינו הוא לפי שכולם היו אנשי תואר וצורה נבראה מיד הי' ניכר אם ידמה להם:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
כי אם בבוא אחיכם הנה, “unless your other brother comes here.” The reason Joseph was not suspecting them of bringing some other individual, claiming that he was their brother, was that all ten of them had features which showed unmistakably that they were closely related to one another.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:17:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:17:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/42:17:1)

**ויאסוף אותם אל משמר.**להפחידם עשה כן ושיבינו כי האלהים הוא ירא ומפני מוראו הי' מוציאם שלא ימותו אנשי ביתם ברעב. ועוד כי לא ישמעו לו להניח שם אחד כי אם להצלת כלן:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
ויאסוף אותם אל משמר, “he put all of them together in jail.” This was intended to instill fear in them. He also wanted to demonstrate that he was a G’d-fearing individual so that when he eventually released all but one of them it was so that their families should not suffer hunger and deprivation merely because of a suspicion he had that they were spies. He also wanted to see if they would leave one of them as a hostage. Seeing that they would not agree to this voluntarily, he first jailed all of them.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:21:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:21:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/42:21:1)

**אשר ראינו צרת נפשו בהתחננו אלינו.**כי אי איפשר שלא יתחנן אליהם ויתנפל לפניהם לבקש מהם על נפשו אלא שהפסו' קיצר כדי שלא יאריך בסרחונם:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
אשר ראינו צרת נפשו בהתחננו אלינו, “when we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, etc.” Although the Torah had not written about this, it is impossible to imagine that Joseph did not plead for mercy with his brothers when they threw him into the pit. The Torah condensed the scene in order not to unnecessarily portray the brothers as heartless monsters.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:21:2
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:21:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/42:21:2)

**ולא שמענו.**חשבו להם האכזריות לעונש גדול יותר מן המכירה וראובן אמר להם כבר אמרתי לכם אל תחטאו בו כי ילד הוא ומפני נערותו חטא לכם וראוי לכם להעביר על חטאת נעוריו ועתה גם דמו הנה נדרש פי' דמו עם האכזריות או יהי' פי' גם דמו אע"פ שלא הרגתם אותו השם דורש דמו ונחשב לכם כאלו שפכתם דמו בהיותו נמכר עבד עולם כי יתכן שמת בעבור היותו ילד שעשועים ולא ניסה לעבוד:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
ולא שמענו, “and we did not listen.” They now realized that their cruelty deserved harsh punishment, much more so than the sale of him to the Ishmaelites. Reuven told them that he had already told them at the time not to become guilty of a sin against the “child.” Reuven had argued that Joseph’s conduct stemmed from youthful immaturity, and not from a thirst for power over his brothers. Now, they are being paid back by G’d not only for their cruelty, but also for his death, i.e. “his blood.” In G’d’s eyes, although they had not killed him with their hands, they had still been the cause of his death. He had probably not been able to perform the duties a slave has to perform just because he had been physically still a child.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:24:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:24:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/42:24:1)

**ויקח מאתם את שמעון.**ראוי הי' שיקח ראובן כי הגדול נתפש על הקטנים אלא בעבור שהצילו הניחו ולקח הגדול אחריו:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
ויקח מהם את שמעון, “he took Shimon away from them.” Actually, he should have taken Reuven, seeing that he was the oldest. Usually, the oldest is taken as hostage for the younger ones. Seeing that it had been Reuven who had saved him from imminent death at the time, Joseph kept Shimon as hostage.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:27:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:27:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/42:27:1)

**ויפתח האחד את שקו.**כתב הרמב"ן והאחרים לא פתחו שקיהם עד היותם עם אביהם ואולי היו האחרים לוקחים תבן לחמוריהם וזה לא הי' לו חמורו חזק הוצרך ליתן לו מספוא. ואונקלוס תרגם אמתחת טוענא ורוצה לומר כי כלל משא נקראת אמתחת והי' לכל אחד שק גדול וכמה קטנים להשוות המשא ואירע לאחד שמצא כספו באותו שק שפתח ולא אירע לאחרים עד היותם עם אביהם. והנכון בעיני כי אמתחת הוא שק גדול ויש לו ב' צדדים ושם לכלם הכסף באחד מן הצדדים ואירע לאחד שפתח הצד שהי' בו הכסף ונקראת אמתחת שהוא נמתח לצדדין. וי"מ שזה האחד הי' נותן מספוא לכל החמורים: **וא"א הרא"ש זצ"ל** אמר כי זה האחד הוא לוי ולפי שהי' מנהיג ב' חמורים שלו ושל שמעון הוא מצא הכסף כי הי' למטה בשולי האמתחת והאחרים לא הגיעו עדיין למטה והוא שהוצרך להאכיל הגיע למטה. ור' אברהם כתב כי זה האחד הוא ראובן כי הבכור הוא כמו אחד בחשבון:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
ויפתח האחד את שקו, “the one opened his sack;” Noachmanides writes that the emphasis on האחד, “the one,” means that the other brothers did not bother, at that stage, to open their sacks and to examine their contents. They waited till they had arrived back at their father’s house. Perhaps the reason why this one brother opened his sack (the one containing fodder) may have been that his donkey was relatively weak and needed something more than straw to keep up its strength. 
 Onkelos who translated the word אמתחת as טוענא, a carrying bag, wants to tell us that the most commonly used container to carry and transport loads was called שק, sack, whereas containers containing personal effects, such as are carried in briefcases nowadays, were called אמתחת, travel bag. Well to do travelers frequently had several of the latter. Sometimes these travel bags were also used to balance the loads carried in sacks. It was therefore surprising to find one’s money in a sack intended to carry grain, rather than in one of the travel bags. In our example the אמתחת appears to have been carried inside the sack of grain, at the op of it, as a security precaution, maybe. The very term אמתחת may imply that this bag had compartments, and that different objects would be enclosed in different compartments.
 A simpler explanation is that the brother who opened his sack did so in order to give fodder to all their donkeys.
 My father, blessed be his memory, the רא'ש, says that the brother referred to as “the one,” was Levi, who though normally inseparable from Shimon, was now “alone,” seeing Shimon had been detained by Joseph in Egypt. Seeing that Levi was leading two donkeys, his own and that of his brother Shimon, as he already had occasion to dip more deeply into the sack of Shimon, he found the money at the bottom. The other brothers, each of whom had only one donkey to feed, had not yet had to dip so deeply into their sacks.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:32:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:32:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/42:32:1)

**שנים עשר אנחנו אחים בני אבינו.**ולא אמרו לו כמו שאמרו ליוסף שנים עשר עבדיך אחים אנחנו שאלו אמרו לו כמו שאמרו ליוסף עבדיך הי' אומר להם אם כן כבר הודיתם לו שבנימין עבדו ואתם צריכין להביאו אליו כיון שהוא אדונו:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
שנים עשר אנחנו בני אבינו, “we are altogether twelve sons of our father.” When repeating their conversation with Joseph to their father, they were careful to omit the word עבדיך, “your servants,” which they had used then, and which unwittingly included their father in their reference to their being his servants. Had they not omitted mentioning this, their father could have accused them of already having described Binyamin as Joseph’s servant, also, and thereby admitting that he had the right to demand Binyamin’s presence the next time they came to Egypt.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:32:2
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:32:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/42:32:2)

**האחד איננו והקטן היום את אבינו.**וליוסף אמרו בהפך הקטן את אבינו היום והאחד איננו אלא אמרו ליעקב מתוך שאלותיו הוצרכנו להגיד לו מבנימין כי באמרנו לו האחד איננו שאל והשני היכן הוא הוצרכנו לומר לו כי הוא את אבינו:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
האחד איננו, והקטן את אבינו היום, “the one is no longer, and the youngest is with his father at this time.” When addressing Joseph they had presented the situation in reverse order, i.e. הקטן את אבינו היום והאחד איננו. The reason why they did not repeat the conversation to their father verbatim, each word in its proper sequence, was because the very manner in which they presented the situation made Joseph ask, justifiably, “if the youngest is at home, where is the other brother who is unaccounted for at this time?” By slightly misrepresenting the conversation they had had with Joseph, they managed to portray him as overly inquisitive without their having given him any cause for this.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:34:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:34:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/42:34:1)

**ואת הארץ תסחרו.**אע"פ שלא מצאנו שאמר להם יוסף כן דבר הלמד מענינו ופעמים מקצר הכתוב בסיפור. א"כ שינו לאביהם מפני השלום כדי שיניח לבנימין שילך עמהם כי מרצונ' היו חוזרין מיד לולי שאמ' לא ירד בני עמכ' וכן לא הגידו לו מאסר' ומאס' שמעון:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
ואת הארץ תסחרו, “and then you may freely wheel and deal in the land.” Although we cannot find that Joseph had said these words to them, they may be justifiably inferred from the tenor of their interview with, or interrogation by Joseph. Sometimes the Torah abbreviates its narrative of events.
 Alternately, the brothers may have misquoted Joseph for the sake of family harmony, in order to secure their father’s permission to let Binyamin go to Egypt with them on their next journey, as it was their intention to return to Egypt immediately in order to secure the release of their brother Shimon. At that point they did not spell out that Shimon had not been detained as an honoured guest but as a prisoner, as they were sure this would be an additional reason for Yaakov not to risk Binyamin by allowing them to take him along. [it is interesting to see how the Torah draws attention to the fact that at the beginning the brothers did not even tell their father that Shimon was imprisoned. In verse 29 the Torah had said that the brothers reported to their father all that had happened to them in Egypt. When detailing this, the imprisonment of Shimon is not mentioned, begging the question why the brothers did not include this in their report. Ed.]


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:36:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:36:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/42:36:1)

**ויאמר ראובן אל אביו.**לכך אמר ראובן תחלה לפי שלא הי' במכירתו של יוסף:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
ויאמר ראובן אל אביו, “Reuven then said to his father, etc.” The reason why Reuven spoke up first was because he had not had a part in the sale of Joseph.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:36:2
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 42:36:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/42:36:2)

**את שני בני תמית.**י"מ תמית המגפה כי לא אמר כן אל אביו. והרמב"ן פי' שאמר את שני בני תמית בהיות עונשך עליהם אם לא אביאנו והוא כענין שאמר יהודה וחטאתי לך כל הימים. ואע"פ שהי' לו ד' בנים חנוך ופלוא חצרון וכרמי אמר לו תחת אחד מבניך יהי' כפול מבני ויעקב לא בטח בראובן כאשר בטח ביהודה כי היתה עצת יהודה נכונה שאמר המתינו לזקן עד שיכלה פת מן הבית:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
את שני בני תמית, “you may kill my two sons, etc.” some commentators who cannot believe that Reuven could make such a statement, [as it is commonly understood, Ed.] prefer to understand the word תמית as a feminine mode of the future tense, meaning “may be killed by a force which is feminine, i.e. מגפה, a plague.” 
 Nachmanides understands what Reuven said as similar to when Yehudah said that if he would fail to bring Binyamin back alive and well that he would consider himself as remaining guilty of a sin against his father for the remainder of his life (both on earth and beyond) (43,9). Reuven chose different words to convey a similar meaning, i.e. “you would be morally entitled to kill two of my sons if I were to fail you so tragically as not to bring him back alive and well.” Even though Reuven had four sons, he meant to tell his father that the loss of one son, Binyamin, would be tantamount to he, Reuven, losing two of his sons. Yaakov did not reject Reuven’s offer because he considered him foolish and rash, but he placed more confidence in Yehudah’s ability and personality. Yehudah had waited with applying pressure to his father until their food supplies had almost run out, and his refusal would put the whole family at risk.