Alter (2004, p. 235) notes that while many people translate the revid ha-zahav as being a gold chain, it should be translated as a golden collar, and from Egyptian bas-reliefs, it would have covered parts of a person’s shoulders, the upper chest and the neck. My guess is that the golden collar also covered Yosef’s cheeks, and if this is true, this would give a new perspective for several verses in the story of Yosef. (Note all of the points below are still possible if Yosef wore a mask even if the revid ha-zahav was not the mask.)
One, 42:8 records that the brothers did not recognize Yosef. This is slightly surprising since there were ten brothers and not one of them recognized Yosef. Rashi (on 42:8) suggests that maybe Yosef had a beard at this point, while when he left them, he was a still a youngster who was not yet able to grow a beard. It is also possible that they did not recognize Yosef since they never would have expected Yosef to be ruling Egypt. Another possibility based on the idea that the revid ha-zahav covered Yosef’s cheeks, is that the brothers did not recognize Yosef since they only saw his upper face.
Two, the end of 45:1 records that Yosef made himself known to his brothers, be-hitvada, but the verse does not record Yosef as saying anything. What did Yosef do to make himself known to his brothers?
I believe the standard explanation for 45:1 is that when the verse states that Yosef revealed himself to his brothers, this is an introduction to the ensuing verses, as 45:3 records that Yosef told his brothers, “I am Yosef.” Yet, there is a break of a verse, 45:2, which records how Yosef cried and that the Egyptians heard him crying, and only afterwards did he say that he was Yosef, 45:3. However, if the revid ha-zahav covered Yosef’s cheeks, then 45:1 could be understood simply that Yosef took off the revid ha-zahav, and then the brothers could recognize him. With this idea, he cried after taking off his half-mask, 45:2. After discussing this idea in my synagogue, Eliyahu Navon suggested that a proof for this idea is that in 45:3, the Torah specifies that the brothers were frightened from his face, panav, but does not record from him, mimenu, to stress that the crucial issue was that they saw his face, which was something new, since only at this point did Yosef remove his half-mask. With this idea, in 45:3 Yosef said that he was Yosef as the introduction to his question about Yaakov, or to remove any lingering doubts his brothers might have had about his identity.
Three, 45:12 records that Yosef told the brothers "Here, your eyes see, as well as my brother Binyamin's eyes, that it is my mouth that speaks to you," (Fox, 1995, translation, p. 215). The verse is within a section where Yosef was telling his brothers to tell Yaakov to come to Egypt, 45:9-13, and the concluding verse in this section, 45:13 records that Yosef told his brothers to tell Yaakov what they saw in Egypt. This seeing in 45:13 seems to refer to the seeing mentioned in 45:12, but what can it mean that the brothers saw that Yosef’s mouth was speaking to them?
Many commentators (see for Rashi and Ibn Ezra on 45:12) explain that the reference to seeing Yosef’s mouth in 45:12 refers to Yosef speaking to the brothers in Hebrew. However, as noted by the Ramban (on 45:12) this is not a strong proof that he was Yosef since many people could have known Hebrew. In addition, if the proof of Yosef that the brothers were to supposed to tell Yaakov was that Yosef spoke Hebrew, then 45:12,13 should have referred to the brothers hearing Yosef, but the verse refers to something that the brothers saw, Yosef’ mouth.
Ramban (on 45:12) suggests that Yosef wanted the brothers to tell Yaakov the great honors that they saw that Yosef had in Egypt, but 45:13 records that Yosef told the brothers both to tell Yaakov about the great honors and what they saw. This means that the seeing is separate from the great honors.
Rashi (on 45:4,12, based on Bereshit Rabbah 93:8) also suggests that the seeing referred to in 45:12 was that Yosef showed his brothers that he was circumcised. This is quite bizarre that the brothers really checked this and even if they did maybe other people also circumcised themselves. Also, this seeing would not be related to Yosef’s mouth.
A simple explanation of 45:12 is that once Yosef had removed the revid ha-zahav (as I believe occurred in 45:1), then the brothers could see Yosef’s mouth without his cheeks being covered up. Thus, Yosef was telling his brothers that they should tell Yaakov how they saw his mouth and could then verify that it was Yosef. Interestingly, 45:26,27 record that Yaakov did not believe his sons when they returned from Egypt, and it was only when he saw the wagons did Yaakov believe his sons about Yosef. These wagons were authorized by the mouth of Pharaoh, 45:21, and hence in the end it was the mouth of Pharaoh and not the mouth of Yosef which convinced Yaakov to go to Egypt.
(After speaking on this idea in my synagogue, Shmuel Klang noted that the Ramban in his comments on 46:29 suggests that when Yaakov met Yosef in Egypt, Yosef had some type of head covering, mitznefet, which initially delayed Yaakov’s recognition of Yosef in conjunction with the Ramban’s assumption that Yaakov’s vision was already deteriorating at that point. It seems that the Ramban was referring to a hat and not a mask since the Ramban writes that Yaakov’s recognition of Yosef was only momentarily delayed. Note in 46:29, there is no hint in the Torah that Yaakov’s recognition of Yosef was not immediate.)
Bibliography:
Alter, Robert, 2004, The five books of Moses: A translation and commentary, New York: W. W. Norton and Company.
Fox, Everett, 1995, The Five Books of Moses: A new translation, New York: Schocken Books.
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