Yosef first allowed only one brother to go to Canaan, and then, after keeping the brothers in prison for three days, decided to allow nine brothers to return. How do we explain this sudden change?
We read in Parashat Miketz of Yosef’s harsh treatment of his brothers when they came to Egypt to purchase grain. Yosef, who was now the Egyptian vizier and unrecognizable to his brothers, baselessly accused them of spying and demanded that they bring their younger brother, Binyamin, to Egypt. At first, he ordered that one of them should return to Canaan to bring Binyamin while the others remained incarcerated in an Egyptian cell (42:16). But later, after keeping them in prison for three days, Yosef allowed nine of the ten brothers to return to Canaan and bring Binyamin, while one of them, Shimon, remained with him in Egypt (42:19).
Different approaches have been taken to explain Yosef’s plan, why he ordered his brothers to bring Binyamin to Egypt. But regardless of how we understand Yosef’s general objective, we must also address the specific question of why he changed his decision concerning the number of brothers he permitted to return to Canaan. As mentioned, he first allowed only one brother to go to Canaan, and then, after keeping the brothers in prison for three days, decided to allow nine brothers to return. How do we explain this sudden change?
Shadal cites an interesting theory from another Italian exegete, Yitzchak Shemuel Reggio. Yosef left it for the brothers to decide who would return to Canaan to bring Binyamin, and kept them in prison until they reached this decision. However, none of the brothers wanted to go. They knew the devastation Yaakov would experience upon seeing only one of the ten children returning from Egypt, and they feared it would kill him (just as Yehuda would later claim that the anguish of losing Binyamin would kill Yaakov – 44:31). And even if not, they assumed, Yaakov would certainly not allow Binyamin to go to Egypt after seeing that only one of the ten other children returned from there. They therefore chose the option of inaction, waiting in the prison cell and hoping that in the meantime, the hostile vizier would ease his demands.
Yosef, who (for reasons that are not entirely clear) wanted his younger brother to join him in Egypt, was left with no choice but to offer a better alternative. He therefore allowed them to return, leaving only one brother behind as “collateral” to ensure that they would come back to Egypt with Binyamin. The brothers felt that Yaakov would more easily tolerate this situation than if only one son returned home, and thus accepted Yosef’s revised demand.
We read in Parashat Miketz of Yosef’s harsh treatment of his brothers when they came to Egypt to purchase grain. Yosef, who was now the Egyptian vizier and unrecognizable to his brothers, baselessly accused them of spying and demanded that they bring their younger brother, Binyamin, to Egypt. At first, he ordered that one of them should return to Canaan to bring Binyamin while the others remained incarcerated in an Egyptian cell (42:16). But later, after keeping them in prison for three days, Yosef allowed nine of the ten brothers to return to Canaan and bring Binyamin, while one of them, Shimon, remained with him in Egypt (42:19).
Different approaches have been taken to explain Yosef’s plan, why he ordered his brothers to bring Binyamin to Egypt. But regardless of how we understand Yosef’s general objective, we must also address the specific question of why he changed his decision concerning the number of brothers he permitted to return to Canaan. As mentioned, he first allowed only one brother to go to Canaan, and then, after keeping the brothers in prison for three days, decided to allow nine brothers to return. How do we explain this sudden change?
Shadal cites an interesting theory from another Italian exegete, Yitzchak Shemuel Reggio. Yosef left it for the brothers to decide who would return to Canaan to bring Binyamin, and kept them in prison until they reached this decision. However, none of the brothers wanted to go. They knew the devastation Yaakov would experience upon seeing only one of the ten children returning from Egypt, and they feared it would kill him (just as Yehuda would later claim that the anguish of losing Binyamin would kill Yaakov – 44:31). And even if not, they assumed, Yaakov would certainly not allow Binyamin to go to Egypt after seeing that only one of the ten other children returned from there. They therefore chose the option of inaction, waiting in the prison cell and hoping that in the meantime, the hostile vizier would ease his demands.
Yosef, who (for reasons that are not entirely clear) wanted his younger brother to join him in Egypt, was left with no choice but to offer a better alternative. He therefore allowed them to return, leaving only one brother behind as “collateral” to ensure that they would come back to Egypt with Binyamin. The brothers felt that Yaakov would more easily tolerate this situation than if only one son returned home, and thus accepted Yosef’s revised demand.