In his first encounter with his brothers in Egypt, Yosef places them in prison with the charge of spying. After three days of confinement, he gives them the opportunity to prove their innocence by bringing their younger brother Binyamin to Egypt:

ויאמר אליהם יוסף ביום השלישי זאת עשו וחיו את הא-לקים אני ירא. אםכנים אתם אחיכם אחד יאסר בבית משמרכם ואתם לכו הביאו שבר רעבון בתיכם. ואת אחיכם הקטן תביאו אלי ויאמנו דבריכם ולא תמותו ויעשו כן. (בראשית מב:יח-כ)

And Yosef said to them on the third day: ‘This do and live. I fear God. If you are truthful, let one of your brothers be bound in the house of your confinement, and go to carry corn for the famine of your houses, and bring your youngest brother to me. Thus will your words be verified, and you will not die.’ And they did so. (Bereshit 42:18-20)

הכרת החטא– The Recognition of Sin

Their three days of confinement seem to have a transformational impact on the brothers. When they emerge on the third day, they confess to each other their guilt regarding the sale of Yosef:

ויאמרו איש אל אחיו אבל אשמים אנחנו על אחינו אשר ראינו צרת נפשובהתחננו אלינו ולא שמענו על כן באה אלינו הצרה הזאת. (בראשית מב:כא)

And they said one to another: “But we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded to us, and we did not listen. Therefore this trouble has come upon us.’ (Bereshit 42:21)

Abarbanel asks what it was that caused the brothers to recognize their sin at this particular point:

למה בכל שלשה הימים אשר היו כלם במאסר לא ספר הכתוב שהאשימו את עצמם כלל, וביום השלישי כאשר הוציאם יוסף וריחם עליהם… אז התוודו עוונם?

Why during the entire three days that they were all in custody does the text not indicate that the blamed themselves at all, but on the third day, when Yosef took them out and had mercy on them …, they confessed to their transgression?

Akeidat Yitzchak indicates that brothers were moved by the kindness demonstrated by Yosef:

כאשר ראו שהאיש אדוני הארץ נכמרו רחמיו על בני ביתם וטפם על זה השעור, ולא מפאת שום דורש ומבקש עליהם ממנו, אלא הכל מצד עצמו ומעלתו, תמהו מאד, ונתנו אז על ליבם להחטיא את עצמם בשכבר פשעו בשלשתם במה שהשחיתו רחמיהם אל אחיהם … ולזה אמרו: "הנה האיש הזה רחם על אנשים זרים מארץ רחוקה אבל אנחנו אשמים על אחינו בשרינו. והנה האיש הזה רחם על נפשות בנינו ובנותינו אע"פ שלא ראה אותם, ואנחנו בעינינו ראינו צרת נפשו. והאיש הזה נתעורר מעצמו מבלי בקשת שום אדם, ואנחנו לא רחמנו עליו בהתחננו אלינו ולא שמענו." והצדיקו עליהם את הדין ואמרו: "על כן באה עלינו הצרה הזאת.

When they saw that this man, the master of Egypt, took pity on their families and their infants, not because of any demands or requests of him on their behalf, but only from within himself because of his virtue, they were surprised. Then, they considered placing blame upon themselves, for they had transgressed on three counts …and they said: “Behold this man had mercy on strangers from a distant land, but we are guilty (that we did not have mercy) for our brother who is of our flesh. And behold this man had mercy on the lives of our sons and daughters even though he never saw them, and we, with our own eyes, saw the pain of his (Yosef’s) soul. And this man was aroused by himself without a request from any person, and we did not have mercy on him (Yosef) when he pleaded with us and we did not listen.” And they justified for themselves the judgement, and said: “Therefore this trouble has come upon us.

After experiencing confinement in the “pit” of the Egyptian prison, the brothers benefit from the unsolicited kindness of this stranger who seems to intuitively understand their needs. By contrast, they now realize their callous insensitivity to the cries of their own brother when he begged to be saved from the pit.

Abarbanel himself offers three possible answers to his question. His first answer, identical to that of Akeidat Yitzchak, sees Yosef’s model behavior toward the brothers as the primary catalyst for their transformation. In his second answer, Abarbanel focuses on Yosef’s declaration that he “fears God”, and on the implications of the demand that they turn over one of the brothers to the Egyptian ruler:

בתחילה כשראו העול המפורסם שהיה יוסף עושה עליהם חשבו שברשעתו וסכלותו היה עושה כן. אמנם כאשר שמעו את דברי אמרו את האלקים אני ירא וצדקת עצתו וטוב דבריו פשפשו במעשיהם – מה זאת עשה אלקים לנו? והיו מהם אומרים שהוא דרך מקרה ומעניני בני אדם ולכן אמרו איש אל אחיו אבל אשמים אנחנו – ר"ל לא המקרה נגע בנו אבל הוא עונש על צד ההשגחה להיותינו אשמים על אחינו יוסף כי כמו שאז אנחנו בידינו מכרנו אותו ונתננוהו לאויבים ככה מפני אותו חטא באה עלינו הצרה הזאת שנצטרך לתת בבחירתינו אחד ממנו ולשומו במאסר ביד אויב כי זה האכזריות שנעשה עתה דומה לאכזריות אשר עשינו.

At first, when they saw the infamous yoke that Yosef placed on them, they thought that he acted out of wickedness and absurdity. But, when they heard his expression: “I fear God”, and the righteousness of his proposal, and the good in his words, they examined their actions – “what is this that God has done to us?” And there were among them those who said that it happened by chance and that it was human in nature – therefore one said to the other: “But we are guilty.” – In other words, it is not by chance, but a divine punishment because of our guilt regarding our brother Yosef. For, just as then we sold him with our own hands and gave him over to enemies, because of that sin this trouble has come upon us, that we must choose one from among us and place him in the detention of an enemy. For this cruelty that is being done now is similar to the cruelty that we perpetrated. Recognizing that their confinement is divinely ordained, the brothers undergo a process of introspection to uncover the sin that may have caused this punishment. The similarity between what they are called upon to do now and what they previously did to Yosef brings them to recognize the depth of their sin in the episode of the sale of Yosef.

In his third answer, Abarbanel focuses on the negative aspect of Yosef’s current interaction with them, and its similarity to their previous treatment of Yosef:

הם היו מתמיהים זה עם זה איך לקבל העלבון הזה על דבר שלא היה בעולם מהיותינו מרגלים. לכן ענו אלו לאילו אין הצרה הזאת על ענין המרגלים אבל הוא על ענין אחר והוא שהיינו אשמים על אחינו וכשאנשים נעדרי השכל ראינו צרת נפשו בהתחננו אלינו ולא שמענו על כן באה אלינו הצרה הזאת שזה המושל איננו שומע בקולינו.

They wondered amongst themselves how to take this oppression relating to an unfounded charge that they were spies. Therefore, they answered each other: “This trouble is not related to spying, but to another matter –that we are guilty with regard to our brother. As people without sense, we saw the pain of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we didn’t listen. Therefore, this trouble has come upon us, that this ruler does not listen to our voice.

In this formulation, Yosef’s inattentiveness to their justified pleas of innocence convinces the brothers that they are being punished for their inattentiveness to Yosef’s pleas for help.

Responsibility for Each Other

The transformation in the perspective of Yosef’s brothers is subsequently demonstrated in their response to Yosef’s request that they leave one brother in Egypt while they go to bring food to their families and bring Binyamin to Yosef. The text implies that they complied with Yosef’s instructions (“ויעשו כן” – “and they did so”), but we find later that, in fact, they failed to act:

ויסב מאליהם ויבך וישב אליהם וידבר אליהם ויקח מאתם את שמעון ויאסראתו לעיניהם. (בראשית מב:כד)

And he (Yosef) turned away from them and cried, and he turned back to them and spoke to them, and he took Shimon from them and bound him before their eyes.” (Bereshit 42:24)

It is Yosef rather than the brothers who selects Shimon to remain in Egypt. Chizkuni resolves the apparent contradiction in the text by interpreting the phrase “ויעשו כן” as “אמרו לעשות כן” – “they said that they would do so”. In other words, Yosef is forced to select one of brothers to remain in confinement because of the failure of the brothers to act on their commitment to do so. But, why do the brothers remain passive in this situation? The Netziv (Ha’amek Davar) explains that they acted in accordance with the dictates of Jewish law:

אבל הענין שבאמת לא היו רשאים לבחור אחד וכדתנן בתרומות (תוספתא פרק ז'): סיעה של בני אדם שאמרו להם גויים: תנו לנו אהד מכם ונהרוג אותוואם לאו הרי אנו נהרג את כלם – יהרגו כלם ולא ימסרו נפש אחת מישראל. ואם יחדוהו להם כגון שיחדוהו לשבע בן בכרי, יתנוהו להם ואל יהרגו כלם…בירולשמי שם:… יחדו להם אחד כגון שבע בן בכרי ימםרו אותו ואל יהרגו. אמר ר' שמעון בן לקיש: והוא שיהא חייב מיתה כשבע בן בכרי.

In truth they were not permitted to choose one from among them, as we learn in Terumot (Tosefta, ch.7): If heathens say to a group of people: “Give us one of you or we will kill all of you”, - they should all be killed rather than hand over one Jewish life. But, if they specified a particular person, as they specified Sheva ben Bichri, they should give him over and not be killed…. In the Talmud Yerushalmi it says: If they specified a particular person, as they specified Sheva ben Bichri, they should give him over and not be killed – Resh Lakish said: He who is guilty of death like Sheva ben Bichri.

According to the Netziv, these sources indicate that the brothers were forbidden to hand over anybody to Yosef. They waited, therefore, until Yosef selected one of the brothers to remain in custody in Egypt. Their actions reflect a positive sense of responsibility for each other that was lacking previously in their involvement in the sale of Yosef.

Conclusion – Yosef’s Intentions

Yosef’s interactions with his brothers seem on the surface to be harsh and vindictive. Yet, the results attest to Yosef’s goal of facilitating their growth and rehabilitation. As Ibn Caspi indicates (Tirat Kessef p. 125):

חלילה ליוסף החכם … שכוון בזה הענין כתעתועים ובמנהג הנערים לעשותלזולתם הפחדות. גם חלילה לו שכוון להשיב קצת גמול לאחיו כי זה לבד מתכונת השוטים … ויהיה היפך מה שצונו (ויקרא יט:יח) "לא תקום ולא תטור".

Heaven forbid that the wise Yosef …would intend in this matter to mock and to engage in the childish practice of frightening others. And Heaven forbid, as well, that he intended to pay his brothers back, for this is only the intention of fools … and it is the opposite of what we were commanded (Vayikra 19:18): “You shall not avenge or bear a grudge”.

Rather, Yosef forced his brothers to simulate experiences that would help them to confront their dark past and pave the way for a bright future.