Parshat Vayeshev Answers

VaYeishev 5722

בראשית פרק לז

(יח) וַיִּרְאוּ אֹתוֹ מֵרָחֹק וּבְטֶרֶם יִקְרַב אֲלֵיהֶם וַיִּתְנַכְּלוּ אֹתוֹ לַהֲמִיתוֹ:

(יט) וַיֹּאמְרוּ אִישׁ אֶל אָחִיו הִנֵּה בַּעַל הַחֲלֹמוֹת הַלָּזֶה בָּא:

(כ) וְעַתָּה לְכוּ וְנַהַרְגֵהוּ וְנַשְׁלִכֵהוּ בְּאַחַד הַבֹּרוֹת וְאָמַרְנוּ חַיָּה רָעָה אֲכָלָתְהוּ וְנִרְאֶה מַה יִּהְיוּ חֲלֹמֹתָיו:

(כא) וַיִּשְׁמַע רְאוּבֵן וַיַּצִּלֵהוּ מִיָּדָם וַיֹּאמֶר לֹא נַכֶּנּוּ נָפֶשׁ:

(כב) וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם רְאוּבֵן אַל תִּשְׁפְּכוּ דָם הַשְׁלִיכוּ אֹתוֹ אֶל הַבּוֹר הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר בַּמִּדְבָּר וְיָד אַל תִּשְׁלְחוּ בוֹ לְמַעַן הַצִּיל אֹתוֹ מִיָּדָם לַהֲשִׁיבוֹ אֶל אָבִיו:

(כג) וַיְהִי כַּאֲשֶׁר בָּא יוֹסֵף אֶל אֶחָיו וַיַּפְשִׁיטוּ אֶת יוֹסֵף אֶת כֻּתָּנְתּוֹ אֶת כְּתֹנֶת הַפַּסִּים אֲשֶׁר עָלָיו:

(כד) וַיִּקָּחֻהוּ וַיַּשְׁלִכוּ אֹתוֹ הַבֹּרָה וְהַבּוֹר רֵק אֵין בּוֹ מָיִם:

(כה) וַיֵּשְׁבוּ לֶאֱכָל לֶחֶם וַיִּשְׂאוּ עֵינֵיהֶם וַיִּרְאוּ וְהִנֵּה אֹרְחַת יִשְׁמְעֵאלִים בָּאָה מִגִּלְעָד וּגְמַלֵּיהֶם נֹשְׂאִים נְכֹאת וּצְרִי וָלֹט הוֹלְכִים לְהוֹרִיד מִצְרָיְמָה:

And they saw him afar off, and before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. And they said one to another: 'Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say: An evil beast hath devoured him; and we shall see what will become of his dreams.' And Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand; and said: 'Let us not take his life.' And Reuben said unto them: 'Shed no blood; cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand upon him'--that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father. And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stripped Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colours that was on him; and they took him, and cast him into the pit--and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. And they sat down to eat bread; and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites came from Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery and balm and ladanum, going to carry it down to Egypt. 

Alef.

1.א. The simple meaning of the phrase is “they conspired against him to slay him”. However, the plotting went beyond how to kill Yosef, i.e., whether to murder him actively or to throw him into a pit and thereby murder him passively. They also plotted regarding what they would say to Yaakov in order to cover up Yosef’s murder, i.e., that a wild animal had killed Yosef, and for this reason they took his coat from him (v. 20, 23). Finally, the murder was not only in order to eliminate a person who was proving disturbing and threatening to them, but also to test whether the dreams that Yosef  had shared with his family would in fact be fulfilled (v. 20). Consequently they not only plotted murder, but also created a theological test and a cover-up, leading RaShI to expand the implications of “ויתנכלו”. 

ב.  See above.

ג.  Whereas in the two instances in I Shmuel 19, the intent of the infinitive is to end the life of the individual by murdering him, in the case of I Shmuel 2, the verse is referring to allowing the sons of Eli to make a decision that would lead to their deaths indirectly, rather than directly taking their lives. Reuven’s convincing his brothers to throw Yosef into a pit rather than actually directly spilling his blood was also intended, at least in the brothers’ minds, to constitute a means of passive murder, with Reuven’s true intention being to save Yosef at a later moment when the others were not watching.

שמואל א פרק ב

(כה) אִם יֶחֱטָא אִישׁ לְאִישׁ וּפִלְלוֹ אֱלֹקים וְאִם לַיקֹוָק יֶחֱטָא אִישׁ מִי יִתְפַּלֶּל לוֹ וְלֹא יִשְׁמְעוּ לְקוֹל אֲבִיהֶם כִּי חָפֵץ יְקֹוָק לַהֲמִיתָם:

If one man sin against another, God shall judge him; but if a man sin against the LORD, who shall entreat for him?' But they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the LORD would slay them.

שמואל א פרק יט

(ב) וַיַּגֵּד יְהוֹנָתָן לְדָוִד לֵאמֹר מְבַקֵּשׁ שָׁאוּל אָבִי לַהֲמִיתֶךָ וְעַתָּה הִשָּׁמֶר נָא בַבֹּקֶר וְיָשַׁבְתָּ בַסֵּתֶר וְנַחְבֵּאתָ:

And Jonathan told David, saying: 'Saul my father seeketh to slay thee; now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself in the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself.

שמואל א פרק יט

(טו) וַיִּשְׁלַח שָׁאוּל אֶת הַמַּלְאָכִים לִרְאוֹת אֶת דָּוִד לֵאמֹר הַעֲלוּ אֹתוֹ בַמִּטָּה אֵלַי לַהֲמִתוֹ:

And Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying: 'Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him.'

2.א. Whereas RashI understands “ויתנכלו” as describing the brothers’ interior thoughts about eliminating Yosef, Sephorno interprets the verb as referring to how the brothers’ internally understood Yosef’s   purpose in coming out to see them, i.e., to discover things about them that would lead either to Yaakov cursing them or HaShem Punishing them, a case of Yosef plotting the brothers’ destruction rather than the other way around. A support to such an interpretation would be Beraishit 37:2--

אֵלֶּה תֹּלְדוֹת יַעֲקֹב יוֹסֵף בֶּן שְׁבַע עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה הָיָה רֹעֶה אֶת אֶחָיו בַּצֹּאן וְהוּא נַעַר אֶת בְּנֵי בִלְהָה וְאֶת בְּנֵי זִלְפָּה נְשֵׁי אָבִיו וַיָּבֵא יוֹסֵף אֶת דִּבָּתָם רָעָה אֶל אֲבִיהֶם:

ב. Just like in Devarim 4:14 the infinitive means that you should do the Mitzvot, and in Devarim 29:11, that you should pass into the covenant, so too in Beraishit 37:18, that it is Yosef who is plotting to kill the brothers.

דברים פרק ד

(יד) וְאֹתִי צִוָּה יְקֹוָק בָּעֵת הַהִוא לְלַמֵּד אֶתְכֶם חֻקִּים וּמִשְׁפָּטִים לַעֲשֹׂתְכֶם אֹתָם בָּאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם עֹבְרִים שָׁמָּה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ:

And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.

דברים פרק כט

(יא) לְעָבְרְךָ בִּבְרִית יְקֹוָק אֱלֹקיךָ וּבְאָלָתוֹ אֲשֶׁר יְקֹוָק אֱלֹקיךָ כֹּרֵת עִמְּךָ הַיּוֹם:

that thou shouldest enter into the covenant of the LORD thy God--and into His oath--which the LORD thy God maketh with thee this day. 

ג.  Shemot 12:42 would seem to fit RaShI’s understanding that the infinitive directly relates to the subject of the sentence, HaShem Who is Taking the Jews out of Egypt, Beraishit 19:17 parallels Sephorno’s interpretation where the verb refers to Lot and his family, the object of the sentence.

בראשית פרק יט

(יז) וַיְהִי כְהוֹצִיאָם אֹתָם הַחוּצָה וַיֹּאמֶר הִמָּלֵט עַל נַפְשֶׁךָ אַל תַּבִּיט אַחֲרֶיךָ וְאַל תַּעֲמֹד בְּכָל הַכִּכָּר הָהָרָה הִמָּלֵט פֶּן תִּסָּפֶה:

And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said: 'Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the Plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be swept away.'

שמות פרק יב

(מב) לֵיל שִׁמֻּרִים הוּא לַיקֹוָק לְהוֹצִיאָם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם הוּא הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה לַיקֹוָק שִׁמֻּרִים לְכָל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לְדֹרֹתָם: פ

It was a night of watching unto the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt; this same night is a night of watching unto the LORD for all the children of Israel throughout their generations.

ד. In Beraishit 42:21, when the brothers are reflecting on how they had sinned against  Yosef in the past, they do not express regret over wanting to kill or sell him, only for not responding to his pleas for mercy when he was cast into the pit. Sephorno argues that if in the brothers’ minds Yosef was indeed trying to kill them either physically or spiritually by bringing evil reports about them to Yaakov, then they were only protecting themselves by trying to eliminate him, something that they had a legal right to do based upon the Rabbinic principle, “if one comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first,” based upon Shemot 22:1.

בראשית פרק מב פסוק כא

וַיֹּאמְרוּ אִישׁ אֶל אָחִיו אֲבָל אֲשֵׁמִים אֲנַחְנוּ עַל אָחִינוּ אֲשֶׁר רָאִינוּ צָרַת נַפְשׁוֹ בְּהִתְחַנְנוֹ אֵלֵינוּ וְלֹא שָׁמָעְנוּ עַל כֵּן בָּאָה אֵלֵינוּ הַצָּרָה הַזֹּאת:

And they said one to another: 'We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.'

ה. Shemot 22:1

שמות פרק כב

(א) אִם בַּמַּחְתֶּרֶת יִמָּצֵא הַגַּנָּב וְהֻכָּה וָמֵת אֵין לוֹ דָּמִים:

If a thief be found breaking in, and be smitten so that he dieth, there shall be no bloodguiltiness for him.

ו.   Never once is there an explicit discussion in the text at this point or prior that the brothers thought that Yosef was out to destroy them. They hated Yosef for telling them the dreams that seemed to imply superiority on his part. However, to use those instances as the basis for their wanting to kill him seems to be a stretch. On the other hand, because their reaction appears to be so over the top, perhaps there was a perception that his tattling and spying had nefarious intentions. Otherwise why would the brothers, from whom the entire Jewish people descend, go to such extremes?

Beit.

The problem in the verse is the “ו” at the beginning of the word “טרם”—

בראשית פרק לז פסוק יח

וַיִּרְאוּ אֹתוֹ מֵרָחֹק וּבְטֶרֶם יִקְרַב אֲלֵיהֶם וַיִּתְנַכְּלוּ אֹתוֹ לַהֲמִיתוֹ:

Either the phrase beginning “ובטרם” should have been at the beginning of the verse, or if it is to remain in its present position, the “ו” should have been omitted. Consequently, since it seems that this phrase is set off in an inappropriate position, Ohr HaChayim interprets the first phrase beginning with “ויראו” as not describing what they saw, but rather how they felt.

Gimel.

1. The three commentators are attempting to account for the Tora’s mentioning that once Yosef had been dispatched into the pit, they sat to eat. It offers an impression that the brothers were extremely cold-hearted and dispassionate, not a very exemplary manner by which to deport themselves.

2.  R. Avraham ben HaRaMBaM: The brothers had no reservations regarding the appropriateness of what they had done.

     Sephorno: Because they had judged Yosef as a Rodef (an individual who was bent upon destroying them—see Alef 2ד above.)

      HaEmek Davar: The fact that the brothers raised their eyes in the middle of their meal (see v. 25) indicates how while they may have felt justified in eliminating Yosef, they were not sanguine due to his cries for mercy and help from the bottom of the pit.

3.  HaEmek Davar probably bases himself on the brother’s remark after Yosef initially places all the brothers in prison after accusing them of being spies, and then informs them that he will keep one of them hostage and will not give them any more food until they bring their brother Binyamin with them to Egypt:

בראשית פרק מב

(כא) וַיֹּאמְרוּ אִישׁ אֶל אָחִיו אֲבָל אֲשֵׁמִים אֲנַחְנוּ עַל אָחִינוּ אֲשֶׁר רָאִינוּ צָרַת נַפְשׁוֹ בְּהִתְחַנְנוֹ אֵלֵינוּ וְלֹא שָׁמָעְנוּ עַל כֵּן בָּאָה אֵלֵינוּ הַצָּרָה הַזֹּאת:

And they said one to another: 'We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.'

4.  Eliezer in Beraishit 24 appears very anxious to get on with his mission and does not stay in one place longer than necessary, even when Rikva’s family attempts to stall.

Daled.

1.  The premise of the Midrash is that the heartlessness that the brothers displayed with respect to how they disposed of Yosef, only to eat and drink immediately afterwards, would have to eventually be atoned for by the brothers’ descendants (parallel to the liturgical poem recited during Musaf Yom HaKippurim that projects the torture and execution of the Ten Martyrs as payback for the ten brothers’ kidnapping Yosef.)

תהלים פרק י

(ב) בְּגַאֲוַת רָשָׁע יִדְלַק עָנִי יִתָּפְשׂוּ בִּמְזִמּוֹת זוּ חָשָׁבוּ:

Through the pride of the wicked the poor is hotly pursued, they are taken in the devices that they have imagined.

2.  See Daled 1 above.

3.  It would appear that the Midrash is in line with the approach of R. Avraham ben HaRaMBaM in Gimel 2 above.

Heh.

1.  The Midrash as well as the commentaries in Gimel pitted all of the brothers against Yosef, suggesting that even Reuven was proximate to the act of throwing Yosef into the pit  even if he was unaware of Yosef being sold to the Yishmaelim. R. Yosef Bechor Shor in his first explanation supposes that not only Reuven was away, but some of the other brothers as well. In the second and third explanations, Reuven was either engaged in the religious act of repentance for what he had done with Bilha or was far from the brothers because he was taking care of Yaakov. Whichever way you look at it, at least Reuven and his descendants, if not those of some of the others should be given a bye for what ultimately happened to Yosef and therefore cannot be included in the condemnation that is issued against the people in general.

2.  Perhaps in light of Reuven’s having talked the brothers out of killing Yosef, was excluded from the plan to sell Yosef due to a fear on the part of the other brothers that he would attempt to once again derail their plan to get rid of Yosef once and for all.