Study Desk

Pharaoh said to Yosef, "I, Pharaoh, decree that without your approval no one is to raise his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt."

Pharaoh called Yosef by the name Tzafnat-Pa‘neach and gave him as his wife Osnat the daughter of Poti-Fera priest of On. Then Yosef went out through all the land of Egypt.

Now Ya‘akov saw that there was grain in Egypt; so Ya‘akov said to his sons, "Why are you staring at each other?

except for Binyamin, Yosef's brother. Ya‘akov did not send him with his brothers, because he was afraid something might happen to him.

Yosef saw his brothers and recognized them; but he acted toward them as if he were a stranger and spoke harshly with them. He asked them, "Where are you from?" They answered, "From the land of Kena‘an to buy food."

So Yosef recognized his brothers, but they didn't recognize him.

Re'uven answered them, "Didn't I tell you, ‘Don't wrong the boy'? But you wouldn't hear of it. Now comes the reckoning for his blood!"

Next he ordered that their containers be filled with grain, that every man's money be put back in his pack and that they be given provisions for the journey. When these things had been done for them,

But at camp that night, as one of them opened his pack to give fodder to his donkey, he noticed his money — there it was, just inside his pack.

He said to his brothers, "My money has been restored — there it is, right in my pack!" At that, their hearts sank; they turned, trembling, to one another and said, "What is this that God has done to us?"

"The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly with us. He took us for spies in his country.

Next, as they emptied their packs, there was each man's bag of money in his pack; and when they and their father saw their bags of money, they became afraid.

Re'uven said to his father, "If I don't bring him back to you, you can kill my own two sons! Put him in my care; I will return him to you."

But he replied, "My son will not go down with you. His brother is dead, and he alone is left. If anything were to happen to him while traveling with you, you would bring my gray hair down to Sh'ol with grief."

They answered, "The man kept questioning us about ourselves and about our kinsmen. He asked, ‘Is your father still alive?' ‘Do you have another brother?' and we answered according to the literal meaning of his questions. How were we to know he would say, ‘Bring your brother down'?"

Y'hudah said to Isra'el his father, "Send the boy with me; and we will make preparations and leave; so that we may stay alive and not die, both we and you, and also our little ones.

I myself will guarantee his safety; you can hold me responsible. If I fail to bring him to you and present him to your face, let me bear the blame forever.

(vi) When Yosef saw Binyamin with them, he said to his household manager, "Take the men inside the house, kill the animals and prepare the meat. These men will dine with me at noon."

He looked up and saw Binyamin his brother, his mother's son, and said, "Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?" and added, "May God be good to you, my son."

(vii) Then Yosef hurried out, because his feelings toward his brother were so strong that he wanted to cry; he went into his bedroom and there he wept.