בראשית מב:ט - ויזכר יוסף את החלומות אשר חלם להם ויאמר אלהם מרגלים אתם לראות את ערות הארץ באתם.
When the ten sons of Yaakov went to Egypt to buy food, Yosef recognized them, 42:7, but instead of acknowledging that they were his brothers, he began to play a game with them. He accused them of spying, and then he told them that to prove their innocence, they would need to bring Binyamin, his “full brother,” 42:9-20. It is likely that Yosef had this plan in mind beforehand since he knew that they would be forced to come to Egypt due to the famine, see Bekhor Shor on 42:7.
Why did Yosef not reveal himself to his brothers? A related question is why did Yosef not seek out his father when he had become head of Egypt?
N. Leibowitz (1976, pp. 457-461) reviews three possible reasons for Yosef’s behavior towards his brothers. One possibility is that he was acting out of revenge, and from 50:15 we see that this was the brothers' understanding even seventeen years after Yosef had revealed himself to them, see our discussion on 50:15-21 "A happy ending?" Yet, she doubts this possibility since Yosef cried immediately after he released them from jail, 42:24 (also 43:30), and a person seeking revenge does not usually cry when he is successful in his revenge.
The second possibility is mentioned by the Ramban (on 42:9) that Yosef acted to have his dreams fulfilled. With this idea, Yosef purposely did not seek out his father because he was waiting to have his dreams fulfilled. The bowing recorded in 42:6 was not the fulfillment of even the first dream since he needed Binyamin to also bow down for the first dream to be fulfilled. When the brothers returned with Binyamin and bowed down to Yosef, 43:26,28, the first dream was fulfilled, and the Netziv (on 43:27) explains that Yosef wanted to keep Binyamin as a hostage in order that Yaakov would come and bow down to him, which would fulfill the second dream. Yosef did not make a condition that Binyamin would go free if Yaakov came to Egypt, but maybe he was going to but Yehuda's speech (44:18-34) stopped him. Or, it could be that Yosef thought that Yaakov would figure out on his own to come to Egypt if Binyamin was being held as a slave.
N. Leibowitz (1976, p. 460) doubts this approach since she claims that Yosef could have had his dreams realized without making his brothers and father suffer. I am not sure what she has in mind and we will return to this approach below.
The third possibility, which is also mentioned by the Ramban (see also S. R. Hirsch 1989), is that Yosef wanted the brothers to repent from their actions towards him. True repentance is when the former sinner is in the same situation as before and does not sin. Thus, Yosef recreated the situation when he was thrown into the pit, but used Binyamin instead of himself. This time the brothers offered to be slaves with Binyamin, 44:16, and Yehuda offered to take Binyamin’s place so that Binyamin could return home, 44:33. According to this approach Yosef accomplished his goal.
While it is true that the brothers repented, the approach is highly problematic. Even if Yosef wanted his brothers to repent, this noble goal was causing great pain to his father. If he thought this repentance was more important than his father’s suffering, then he should have been happy or at least content when the brothers passed his test, yet, he could not control his crying, 45:1,2. Also, twice they admitted their guilt, once explicitly, 42:21, and once obliquely, 44:16. They also offered to be slaves to Yosef, 44:16, which was an acknowledgment of Yosef's "superiority," see our discussion on 44:16, "The middle of the game between Yosef and his brothers: You win." This showed their repentance, but Yosef did not accept their offer, 42:17, and did not reveal himself. This shows that Yosef wanted something more than their repentance. In addition, from 50:15, we see that they did not think of themselves as having repented and that Yosef had forgiven them since they were still worried that Yosef would take revenge on them. My wife, Yonina, also doubts this repentance approach since they only “repented” according to this approach under duress, but they could have looked for Yosef for many years, and it is never recorded that they made any effort to locate Yosef after they returned home without Yosef. (For other questions on this approach, see Yoel Bin-Nun quoted below.)
A fourth approach (not mentioned by N. Leibowitz) is that Yosef acted as an abandoned child. (I thought this was a "modern" approach, but Eli Silverman pointed out to me that a commentator on the Yerushalmi referred to as ha-Meassef, suggested this idea.) Elie Wiesel (1976) writes that who can blame Yosef for breaking with his family since Yosef felt abandoned by his father who had sent him to his brothers. Furthermore, Yosef must have wondered why did Yaakov not search for him? Wiesel explains that Yosef identified himself only when he was able to vanquish his bitterness, but Wiesel does not explain how Yehuda’s speech (44:18-34) vanquished this bitterness.
David Henshke (1987) follows this idea and suggests that Yosef acted not out of bitterness, but that he simply wanted to forget his history and assimilate into Egyptian society. However, once he saw his brothers, then he thought that he could get them to bring him Binyamin and have Binyamin stay with him to build a family together in Egypt. However, Yehuda’s speech brought back strong memories of his father, and then he was forced to acknowledge his past history, which meant identifying himself as Yosef. This is an appealing approach, but did Yosef intend to force Binyamin to separate from Yaakov and his family? Binyamin already had 10 children (46:21), did Yosef not know and/ or did he not care? If Yosef really wanted to forget his past, then this meant forgetting about Binyamin and not trying to force him to stay in Egypt.
Yoel Bin-Nun (1986) develops this idea of Yosef as an abandoned child slightly differently. He argues that Yosef was seeking information about Yaakov’s involvement with the brothers because Yoel Bin-Nun believes that Yosef thought that Yaakov might have been part of a conspiracy to send Yosef away. Accordingly, Yosef wanted Binyamin to stay with him so he could speak to Binyamin and find out whether Yaakov abandoned him. However, in his speech to Yosef, Yehuda said that Yaakov said “Yosef had been ripped to pieces and I have not seen him again,” 44:28. According to Yoel Bin-Nun, Yosef understood these words to mean that Yaakov was depressed about not seeing him, which meant that Yaakov was not part of any conspiracy to send him away and also that Yaakov thought that he was dead, so he should not have expected Yaakov to look for him. With this new information, according to Yoel Bin-Nun, there was no need for Yosef to hold Binyamin to get information from him and also Yosef was no longer an abandoned child, so he revealed himself.
Yaakov Medan (1987) raises numerous problems with this approach. If Yosef’s goal was to get information, then there were many others ways to do so. For instance he could have sent spies to find and speak to Yaakov. Yosef could have investigated the brothers when they first came down to Egypt. Even when Binyamin came to Egypt, Yosef could have kept all the brothers in Egypt until he had time to speak to Binyamin alone, without threatening to make Binyamin a slave. Furthermore, Yosef could have revealed himself earlier, and spoke directly to Yaakov. Also, Yoel Bin-Nun’s approach ignores the main idea of Yehuda’s speech, the suffering Yosef was causing Yaakov. In addition, according to Yoel Bin-Nun, Yosef should have stopped Yehuda after he heard that Yaakov thought he was dead, but Yehuda continued on for another six verses.
One of Yoel Bin-Nun's arguments is the name Menashe, that the name implies that Yosef wanted to forget his past. Yet, while one could argue that the name indicates that Yosef felt abandoned, it is quite a jump to argue that Yosef really thought that Yaakov sent him to his brothers to send him away.
Yoel Bin-Nun also points out that Yishmael was sent away (21:14), so there was a precedent in the family to send away one of the sons. (Also Yitzhak sent Yaakov away, see our discussion above on 28:11, "The wealth test.") Yet, not only is the precedence not exact since Yishmael was sent out of the house, while Yosef was sold into slavery and was almost killed by his brothers before they “sent” him off. Also, Yosef was Yaakov's favorite son, so if one brother was going to be chosen from the family, then Yosef was going to be the chosen one and all the other brothers would have been sent away.
I find it inconceivable that Yosef really suspected that Yaakov sent him to his brothers in order that they would send him away as a slave. Did Yosef really think that Yaakov intended for him to be thrown into the pit? Even if Yaakov criticized Yosef when Yosef announced his second dream (37:10), still this would not contradict 37:3, that Yosef was the beloved son of Yaakov. (I told this to Yoel Bin-Nun, but I do not think my question made an impression on him.)
The best explanation for Yosef’s behavior is the Ramban's explanation that Yosef wanted to fulfill the dreams and this is the only explanation that is supported by the Torah. 42:9 states explicitly that Yosef remembered the dreams and it is implausible that Yosef ever forgot his dreams. 42:9 is an insertion by the Torah to explain the ensuing narrative like by 2:25, 3:1a, 25:26, 29:17, end of 39:6, Bemidbar 12:3, the end of Bemidbar 13:20, and numerous other verses. In all cases, the insertion is to explain the ensuing narrative.
In this case, the insertion in 42:9 is to explain that Yosef was acting to have his dreams fulfilled, and in fact, the word zachor in the Torah means not just to remember but to act based on the memory, see 8:1. Furthermore, just as the brothers immediately re-called the dreams and acted upon them when Yosef went to meet them in Shekhem, 37:19,20, so too Yosef took the initiative to have his dreams fulfilled when he saw the brothers in Egypt. In addition, when he interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams, Yosef said that the repetition of Pharaoh’s dream meant that it was about to occur, 41:32, and for sure Yosef was also referring to his own dreams, which he never forgot.
Akedat Yitzhak (quoted by N. Leibowitz, 1976, p. 459) argues that Yosef should have left the fulfillment of the dreams to G-d and not have caused his father to suffer. Maybe he is correct, but only if one assumes that Yosef was acting righteously would this imply that Yosef did not act to fulfill the dreams. More likely, Yosef was so absorbed by his dreams that in his determination to fulfill the dreams that he sinned in his actions towards his brothers and father. This determination might have been due to Yosef’s personality and/ or because he viewed himself as an abandoned child. Maybe he did not realize the pain he was causing his father by not revealing himself, and once he started his plan, the fulfillment of the dreams took on a life of their own. We also see that by Yosef's interaction with the Egyptian public when they came to buy food that he took a very tough position that they had to sell all their animals and then all their land to get food, 47:15-21. A friend of mine, Yossi Moskowitz has suggested that after all the events in his life of going from a slave to being the second in charge in Egypt, Yosef might felt that he had some special destiny, which prompted him to attempt to have the dreams fulfilled. This determination does not necessarily mean that Yosef did not feel bad about how he was treating Yaakov and his brothers.
Was it possible for Yosef to fulfill the second dream, which refers to a sun and a moon? It is not clear who is the reference to these items (see our discussion on 37:9,10, "Yosef’s second dream: The sun, the moon and the stars"), and hence one cannot know definitely if they were fulfilled. Most likely, Yaakov was either the sun or the moon, and then maybe Yosef wanted Yaakov to bow down to him to fulfill the dream as much as possible.
It is also possible that Yosef was not really concerned about Yaakov bowing down to him since for Yosef the crucial issue was his fight with his brothers and it was enough that his brothers fulfilled their part of the dreams by twice bowing down to him, 43:26,28. In fact, 42:9 states, that Yosef remembered he dreams that he dreamed for his brothers, which implies that Yosef was acting just in reference to his brothers and not his father.
With this idea, after his brothers bowed down to him a second time, they sat down to eat, 43:34, and this was Yosef's "victory" party. Furthermore, as part of the party, he seated them according to their birth order, 43:33, which was his way of indicating to them that they had bowed down to him, see our discussion, on 43:23-34, "The middle of the game between Yosef and his brothers: Know thy opponent."
If the dreams were fulfilled enough for Yosef, why did Yosef not reveal himself to his brothers after they bowed down to him a second time? Was he getting "greedy" and then trying to get Yaakov to come down and bow down to him? Or, maybe, at this point the issue of being an abandoned child arose, not that Yosef thought that Yaakov had sent him away to be sold into slavery, but still maybe Yosef was bothered why did Yaakov not find him? Was it because Yaakov did not look or because Yaakov thought that Yosef was dead? Possibly, Yosef always gave Yaakov the benefit of the doubt, but he must have been troubled by Yaakov's inaction with regard to Shimon. Shimon was locked up and Yaakov knew that he was alive, but he did nothing to try to free him. This raised the question in Yosef's mind did Yaakov abandon him? Thus, maybe at this point, after his "victory" over his brothers, Yosef decided to test Yaakov if he would abandon Binyamin. Accordingly, he continued his deception of his brothers until Yehuda's great speech moved him to reveal himself.
N. Leibowitz (1976, pp. 457-461) reviews three possible reasons for Yosef’s behavior towards his brothers. One possibility is that he was acting out of revenge, and from 50:15 we see that this was the brothers' understanding even seventeen years after Yosef had revealed himself to them, see our discussion on 50:15-21 "A happy ending?" Yet, she doubts this possibility since Yosef cried immediately after he released them from jail, 42:24 (also 43:30), and a person seeking revenge does not usually cry when he is successful in his revenge.
The second possibility is mentioned by the Ramban (on 42:9) that Yosef acted to have his dreams fulfilled. With this idea, Yosef purposely did not seek out his father because he was waiting to have his dreams fulfilled. The bowing recorded in 42:6 was not the fulfillment of even the first dream since he needed Binyamin to also bow down for the first dream to be fulfilled. When the brothers returned with Binyamin and bowed down to Yosef, 43:26,28, the first dream was fulfilled, and the Netziv (on 43:27) explains that Yosef wanted to keep Binyamin as a hostage in order that Yaakov would come and bow down to him, which would fulfill the second dream. Yosef did not make a condition that Binyamin would go free if Yaakov came to Egypt, but maybe he was going to but Yehuda's speech (44:18-34) stopped him. Or, it could be that Yosef thought that Yaakov would figure out on his own to come to Egypt if Binyamin was being held as a slave.
N. Leibowitz (1976, p. 460) doubts this approach since she claims that Yosef could have had his dreams realized without making his brothers and father suffer. I am not sure what she has in mind and we will return to this approach below.
The third possibility, which is also mentioned by the Ramban (see also S. R. Hirsch 1989), is that Yosef wanted the brothers to repent from their actions towards him. True repentance is when the former sinner is in the same situation as before and does not sin. Thus, Yosef recreated the situation when he was thrown into the pit, but used Binyamin instead of himself. This time the brothers offered to be slaves with Binyamin, 44:16, and Yehuda offered to take Binyamin’s place so that Binyamin could return home, 44:33. According to this approach Yosef accomplished his goal.
While it is true that the brothers repented, the approach is highly problematic. Even if Yosef wanted his brothers to repent, this noble goal was causing great pain to his father. If he thought this repentance was more important than his father’s suffering, then he should have been happy or at least content when the brothers passed his test, yet, he could not control his crying, 45:1,2. Also, twice they admitted their guilt, once explicitly, 42:21, and once obliquely, 44:16. They also offered to be slaves to Yosef, 44:16, which was an acknowledgment of Yosef's "superiority," see our discussion on 44:16, "The middle of the game between Yosef and his brothers: You win." This showed their repentance, but Yosef did not accept their offer, 42:17, and did not reveal himself. This shows that Yosef wanted something more than their repentance. In addition, from 50:15, we see that they did not think of themselves as having repented and that Yosef had forgiven them since they were still worried that Yosef would take revenge on them. My wife, Yonina, also doubts this repentance approach since they only “repented” according to this approach under duress, but they could have looked for Yosef for many years, and it is never recorded that they made any effort to locate Yosef after they returned home without Yosef. (For other questions on this approach, see Yoel Bin-Nun quoted below.)
A fourth approach (not mentioned by N. Leibowitz) is that Yosef acted as an abandoned child. (I thought this was a "modern" approach, but Eli Silverman pointed out to me that a commentator on the Yerushalmi referred to as ha-Meassef, suggested this idea.) Elie Wiesel (1976) writes that who can blame Yosef for breaking with his family since Yosef felt abandoned by his father who had sent him to his brothers. Furthermore, Yosef must have wondered why did Yaakov not search for him? Wiesel explains that Yosef identified himself only when he was able to vanquish his bitterness, but Wiesel does not explain how Yehuda’s speech (44:18-34) vanquished this bitterness.
David Henshke (1987) follows this idea and suggests that Yosef acted not out of bitterness, but that he simply wanted to forget his history and assimilate into Egyptian society. However, once he saw his brothers, then he thought that he could get them to bring him Binyamin and have Binyamin stay with him to build a family together in Egypt. However, Yehuda’s speech brought back strong memories of his father, and then he was forced to acknowledge his past history, which meant identifying himself as Yosef. This is an appealing approach, but did Yosef intend to force Binyamin to separate from Yaakov and his family? Binyamin already had 10 children (46:21), did Yosef not know and/ or did he not care? If Yosef really wanted to forget his past, then this meant forgetting about Binyamin and not trying to force him to stay in Egypt.
Yoel Bin-Nun (1986) develops this idea of Yosef as an abandoned child slightly differently. He argues that Yosef was seeking information about Yaakov’s involvement with the brothers because Yoel Bin-Nun believes that Yosef thought that Yaakov might have been part of a conspiracy to send Yosef away. Accordingly, Yosef wanted Binyamin to stay with him so he could speak to Binyamin and find out whether Yaakov abandoned him. However, in his speech to Yosef, Yehuda said that Yaakov said “Yosef had been ripped to pieces and I have not seen him again,” 44:28. According to Yoel Bin-Nun, Yosef understood these words to mean that Yaakov was depressed about not seeing him, which meant that Yaakov was not part of any conspiracy to send him away and also that Yaakov thought that he was dead, so he should not have expected Yaakov to look for him. With this new information, according to Yoel Bin-Nun, there was no need for Yosef to hold Binyamin to get information from him and also Yosef was no longer an abandoned child, so he revealed himself.
Yaakov Medan (1987) raises numerous problems with this approach. If Yosef’s goal was to get information, then there were many others ways to do so. For instance he could have sent spies to find and speak to Yaakov. Yosef could have investigated the brothers when they first came down to Egypt. Even when Binyamin came to Egypt, Yosef could have kept all the brothers in Egypt until he had time to speak to Binyamin alone, without threatening to make Binyamin a slave. Furthermore, Yosef could have revealed himself earlier, and spoke directly to Yaakov. Also, Yoel Bin-Nun’s approach ignores the main idea of Yehuda’s speech, the suffering Yosef was causing Yaakov. In addition, according to Yoel Bin-Nun, Yosef should have stopped Yehuda after he heard that Yaakov thought he was dead, but Yehuda continued on for another six verses.
One of Yoel Bin-Nun's arguments is the name Menashe, that the name implies that Yosef wanted to forget his past. Yet, while one could argue that the name indicates that Yosef felt abandoned, it is quite a jump to argue that Yosef really thought that Yaakov sent him to his brothers to send him away.
Yoel Bin-Nun also points out that Yishmael was sent away (21:14), so there was a precedent in the family to send away one of the sons. (Also Yitzhak sent Yaakov away, see our discussion above on 28:11, "The wealth test.") Yet, not only is the precedence not exact since Yishmael was sent out of the house, while Yosef was sold into slavery and was almost killed by his brothers before they “sent” him off. Also, Yosef was Yaakov's favorite son, so if one brother was going to be chosen from the family, then Yosef was going to be the chosen one and all the other brothers would have been sent away.
I find it inconceivable that Yosef really suspected that Yaakov sent him to his brothers in order that they would send him away as a slave. Did Yosef really think that Yaakov intended for him to be thrown into the pit? Even if Yaakov criticized Yosef when Yosef announced his second dream (37:10), still this would not contradict 37:3, that Yosef was the beloved son of Yaakov. (I told this to Yoel Bin-Nun, but I do not think my question made an impression on him.)
The best explanation for Yosef’s behavior is the Ramban's explanation that Yosef wanted to fulfill the dreams and this is the only explanation that is supported by the Torah. 42:9 states explicitly that Yosef remembered the dreams and it is implausible that Yosef ever forgot his dreams. 42:9 is an insertion by the Torah to explain the ensuing narrative like by 2:25, 3:1a, 25:26, 29:17, end of 39:6, Bemidbar 12:3, the end of Bemidbar 13:20, and numerous other verses. In all cases, the insertion is to explain the ensuing narrative.
In this case, the insertion in 42:9 is to explain that Yosef was acting to have his dreams fulfilled, and in fact, the word zachor in the Torah means not just to remember but to act based on the memory, see 8:1. Furthermore, just as the brothers immediately re-called the dreams and acted upon them when Yosef went to meet them in Shekhem, 37:19,20, so too Yosef took the initiative to have his dreams fulfilled when he saw the brothers in Egypt. In addition, when he interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams, Yosef said that the repetition of Pharaoh’s dream meant that it was about to occur, 41:32, and for sure Yosef was also referring to his own dreams, which he never forgot.
Akedat Yitzhak (quoted by N. Leibowitz, 1976, p. 459) argues that Yosef should have left the fulfillment of the dreams to G-d and not have caused his father to suffer. Maybe he is correct, but only if one assumes that Yosef was acting righteously would this imply that Yosef did not act to fulfill the dreams. More likely, Yosef was so absorbed by his dreams that in his determination to fulfill the dreams that he sinned in his actions towards his brothers and father. This determination might have been due to Yosef’s personality and/ or because he viewed himself as an abandoned child. Maybe he did not realize the pain he was causing his father by not revealing himself, and once he started his plan, the fulfillment of the dreams took on a life of their own. We also see that by Yosef's interaction with the Egyptian public when they came to buy food that he took a very tough position that they had to sell all their animals and then all their land to get food, 47:15-21. A friend of mine, Yossi Moskowitz has suggested that after all the events in his life of going from a slave to being the second in charge in Egypt, Yosef might felt that he had some special destiny, which prompted him to attempt to have the dreams fulfilled. This determination does not necessarily mean that Yosef did not feel bad about how he was treating Yaakov and his brothers.
Was it possible for Yosef to fulfill the second dream, which refers to a sun and a moon? It is not clear who is the reference to these items (see our discussion on 37:9,10, "Yosef’s second dream: The sun, the moon and the stars"), and hence one cannot know definitely if they were fulfilled. Most likely, Yaakov was either the sun or the moon, and then maybe Yosef wanted Yaakov to bow down to him to fulfill the dream as much as possible.
It is also possible that Yosef was not really concerned about Yaakov bowing down to him since for Yosef the crucial issue was his fight with his brothers and it was enough that his brothers fulfilled their part of the dreams by twice bowing down to him, 43:26,28. In fact, 42:9 states, that Yosef remembered he dreams that he dreamed for his brothers, which implies that Yosef was acting just in reference to his brothers and not his father.
With this idea, after his brothers bowed down to him a second time, they sat down to eat, 43:34, and this was Yosef's "victory" party. Furthermore, as part of the party, he seated them according to their birth order, 43:33, which was his way of indicating to them that they had bowed down to him, see our discussion, on 43:23-34, "The middle of the game between Yosef and his brothers: Know thy opponent."
If the dreams were fulfilled enough for Yosef, why did Yosef not reveal himself to his brothers after they bowed down to him a second time? Was he getting "greedy" and then trying to get Yaakov to come down and bow down to him? Or, maybe, at this point the issue of being an abandoned child arose, not that Yosef thought that Yaakov had sent him away to be sold into slavery, but still maybe Yosef was bothered why did Yaakov not find him? Was it because Yaakov did not look or because Yaakov thought that Yosef was dead? Possibly, Yosef always gave Yaakov the benefit of the doubt, but he must have been troubled by Yaakov's inaction with regard to Shimon. Shimon was locked up and Yaakov knew that he was alive, but he did nothing to try to free him. This raised the question in Yosef's mind did Yaakov abandon him? Thus, maybe at this point, after his "victory" over his brothers, Yosef decided to test Yaakov if he would abandon Binyamin. Accordingly, he continued his deception of his brothers until Yehuda's great speech moved him to reveal himself.
Bin-Nun Yoel, 1986, A tragic misunderstanding: Why did Yosef not send word to his father? Megadim, 1, pp. 20-31.
Henshke, David, 1987, Response to articles by R. Yehuda Shaviv and Rabbi Yoel bin Nun, Megadim, 2, pp.106-108.
Hirsch, S. R. (1808-1888), 1989, The Pentateuch, rendered into English by Isaac Levy, second edition, Gateshead: Judaica Press.
Leibowitz, Nehama (1905-1997), 1976, Studies in Bereshit, translated by Aryeh Newman, Jerusalem: The World Zionist Organization.
Medan, Yaakov, 1987, In the place where repentants stand (Yosef and his brothers), Megadim, 2, pp. 54-78.
Wiesel, Elie, 1976, Messengers of God: Biblical portraits and legends, New York: Random House.
Leibowitz, Nehama (1905-1997), 1976, Studies in Bereshit, translated by Aryeh Newman, Jerusalem: The World Zionist Organization.
Medan, Yaakov, 1987, In the place where repentants stand (Yosef and his brothers), Megadim, 2, pp. 54-78.
Wiesel, Elie, 1976, Messengers of God: Biblical portraits and legends, New York: Random House.