[Par-lite] for Parshat Va'yeshev

[Menachem Leibtag]

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        THE TANACH STUDY CENTER
[http://www.tanach.org]

            In Memory of Rabbi Abraham
Leibtag

      Shiurim in Chumash & Navi by Menachem
Leibtag

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PARSHAT VA'YESHEV  -  Who Sold Yosef? 

 

    Could it be that the brothers DID NOT
sell Yosef! 

    As shocking as this statement may sound
to anyone familiar with the story of Yosef &
his brothers; a careful reading of that
narrative in Chumash may actually support
this possibility!

    In the following shiur, we explore this
fascinating possibility (and its
consequences) while taking into account some
important geographic considerations.

 

INTRODUCTION

      After throwing your brother into a pit
to die, would you be able to 'sit down to
eat'?  The brothers did, so the Torah tell us
(see 37:24-25)!  But when they sat down to
eat, the Torah DOES NOT inform us if they sat
NEAR the pit, listening to Yosef's screaming
and pleading; OR if they sat FAR AWAY from
the pit - to enjoy some 'peace and quiet'?

      So what difference does it make?

 

      Believe it or not, this tiny detail
affects our understanding of almost every
aspect of the story that ensues.  Our shiur
will entertain each possibility - showing how
this 'missing detail' may be what leads
several commentators to conclude that the
brothers may never have sold Yosef after all!

      To appreciate why this 'minor detail'
is so critical, we must first review the
Torah's description of these events, making
sure that we understand what everyone is
planning, so that we can reach a logical
conclusion regarding what everyone should be
doing.

    Before we begin, we must also point out
that the distance between Hebron, where
Yaakov is living, and Dotan, where the
brothers are grazing their sheep, is about
100 kilometers.  Therefore, the brothers are
probably gone for at least several weeks.
Certainly, they don't come home to Hebron to
sleep at night, rather, they have set up a
temporary 'campsite' in the Dotan area.

 

PLAN A - THE BROTHERS  /  FIRST DEGREE MURDER

      Review 37:18-20, noting that as soon as
Yosef arrives at Dotan, the brothers conspire
to kill him.  However, their plan concerning
HOW to kill him is revised several times.  

    To show how, let's begin with the
brothers' original plan to kill Yosef, as
soon as they saw him [which we will refer to
PLAN A]:

"They (the brothers) saw him from afar, and
before he came close... they conspired to
kill him.  And they said to one another,
behold the 'dreamer' is coming.  Now, let's
kill him and (afterward) throw his body into
one of the pits..." (37:18-20).

 

     Note how the brothers originally plan to
commit first degree murder, by killing Yosef
immediately and then 'bury him' in any nearby
pit.  Most likely, they plan to throw the
'body' in the pit in order to 'hide the
evidence'.  This way, when they next come
home, they can simply pretend that they never
saw Yosef - for if they brought home the dead
body, their father would likely have accused
them of Yosef's murder. 

      Although Reuven opposes Yosef's murder,
he assumes that the brothers would not accept
his opinion.  Therefore, instead of arguing
with his brothers, he devises a shrewd plan
that will first postpone Yosef's execution,
and later enable him to secretly rescue
Yosef, and send him back home to his father.

      [See further iyun for an explanation of
why specifically Reuven wants to save Yosef.]

 

PLAN B - REUVEN'S PLAN  /  SECOND DEGREE
MURDER

      As you read Reuven's plan, be sure to
differentiate between what Reuven SAYS (to
his brothers) and what Reuven THINKS (to
himself):

"... And Reuven said... 'Do not shed blood,
cast him into a pit [in order that he die]
OUT IN THE 'MIDBAR' (wilderness), but do not
touch him yourselves --'

[End of quote! Then, the narrator continues
by informing the reader of Reuven's true
intentions...]

      "in order to save him [Yosef] from them
and return him to his father." (37:22). 

 

      Reuven's 'official' plan (that the
brothers accept) is to let Yosef die in a
less violent manner, i.e. to throw him alive
into a deep pit to die, instead of murdering
him in cold blood.  However, Reuven's
secretly plans to later return to that pit
and free him.

      Note how Reuven even suggests the
specific 'pit' into which to throw Yosef -
"ha-bor HA-ZEH asher ba-midbar"!  Most
probably, so that he can later sneak away to
that pit and save him.

[Compare this to the brothers' original plan
to throw him into "one of the pits" (37:20) -
possibly a pit closer by.]

 

      Unaware of Reuven's true intentions,
the brothers agree. 

      Yosef arrives, and - in accordance with
PLAN B - the brothers immediately strip Yosef
of his special cloak and throw him alive into
the pit (see 37:23-24).  Afterward, the Torah
informs us, they sit down to eat (see 37:25).


 

WHERE ARE THEY EATING?

     Until this point, the plot is clear.
However, in the story that follows, there are
two important details missing which totally
affect our understanding of what happened
next.

      Detail #1 -  WHERE did they sit down to
eat?

Did they sit down to eat nearby the pit, or
did they just leave Yosef in pit, and travel
far away (possibly, back to their camp in
Dotan) and eat their meal elsewhere?

 

      Detail #2 - WHERE is REUVEN during this
meal?

Is he eating with his brothers, or did he go
off to somewhere else on his own? [And if so,
for what reason?]

 

    Even though there are no explicit
answers in the Torah to these two questions,
we will attempt to answer them by employing
some 'deductive reasoning'.

 

(1) Where are the brothers eating?

    Recall that the brothers are grazing
their sheep in the Dotan area [see 37:17/
today the area of Jenin, between Shechem and
Afula], which is on the northern slopes of
central mountain range of Israel.  The
"midbar" [wilderness], that Reuven is talking
about, is probably located a few kilometers
to the east of Dotan, as this "midbar"
stretches along the eastern slope of the
entire central mountain range. [See map
www.tanach.org/map3d.pdf .]

    

    Considering that the brothers throw Yosef
into a pit 'out in the MIDBAR', it would
definitely make sense for them to return
afterward to their campsite in the Dotan area
to eat (see 37:16-17).   Besides, it would
not be very appetizing to eat lunch while
listening to your little brother screaming
for his life from a pit nearby - see 42:21
for proof that he was indeed screaming when
they threw him in. 

    And even should one conclude that it
would have been just as logical for them to
have sat down to eat near the pit;  by
considering the whereabouts of Reuven (detail
#2) - we will be able to provide additional
support to our supposition that the brothers
must have sat down to eat farther away.  

 

2) Where is Reuven?

    Considering that Reuven's real plan is to
later save Yosef from the pit, it would only
be logical from him to either stay near the
pit, or at least remain with his brothers
(wherever they may be). Certainly it would
not make sense, according to his real plan,
for him to go far away, and to leave his
brothers by the pit!

    However, from the continuation of the
story we know for sure that Reuven did not
stay near the pit, because he RETURNS to the
pit only AFTER Yosef is sold!  Therefore, if
Reuven left the pit area, then certainly the
brothers also must have left that area.
Hence, it would only be logical to conclude
that the brothers are indeed eating away from
the pit, and Reuven must be eating with them!


    After all, not joining them for lunch
could raise their suspicion.  Furthermore,
the Torah never tells us that he left his
brothers.

 

      In summary, by considering the logic of
Reuven's plan, we conclude that Reuven most
likely stayed with his brothers, as they all
sit down to eat AWAY from the pit. 

[Obviously, this interpretation does not
follow popular explanation that Reuven had
left his brothers, as it was his turn to take
care of his father (see first opinion in
Rashi).  In the Further Iyun section we
discuss how and why our shiur disagrees with
that approach, and prefers the approach of
Rashbam and Chizkuni.]

 

PLAN C - YEHUDA'S PLAN / A 'QUICK BUCK'

      Now that we have supposed that Reuven
and the brothers are sitting down to eat at a
distance far away from the pit, we can
continue our study of the narrative, to see
if this conclusion fits with its
continuation:

"And the brothers sat down to eat, and they
lifted up their eyes and saw a caravan of
Yishmaelim coming from the Gilad carrying
[spices]... to Egypt.  

    Then Yehuda said to his brothers, 'What
do we gain by killing our brother ... let us
SELL him [instead] to the Yishmaelim; after
all, he is our brother, our own flesh, and
his brothers agreed" (37:25-27).

[From Yehuda's suggestion, it becomes clear
that the brothers truly planned to allow
Yosef to die in the pit. and were unaware of
Reuven's intention to save him.]

 

      If indeed Reuven is still sitting with
his brothers, then this new plan (to sell
Yosef) puts him in quite a predicament; for
if the brothers would sell Yosef, his own
plan to rescue him would be ruined.   Hence,
the most logical step for Reuven to take
would be to either sneak away to the 'pit' -
to get there before his brothers sell him, or
possibly to 'volunteer' to fetch Yosef from
the pit, in order to free him - and then
explain to his brothers that Yosef had 'ran
away'. 

      Reuven does return to the pit in 37:29,
but before the Torah informs us of what
happens when Reuven returns, we are told
first of something else that took place in
the meantime:

"And a group of Midyanite TRADERS passed by,
and THEY pulled, and they lifted Yosef out of
the pit, and THEY sold Yosef to the
Yishmaelim for twenty pieces of silver, and
brought Yosef to Egypt."  (see 37:28)

[Carefully read this pasuk again, noting the
difference between the Midyanim and
Yishmaelim.]

 

      The startling fact about this pasuk is
that the brothers are never mentioned!  If
our assumption above was correct, it turns
out that when the brothers (sitting far away
from the pit) were discussing the possibility
of selling Yosef to the Yishmaelim - it just
so happened that the Midyanim got there
first!

      

      To appreciate the logic of this
interpretation, we must provide a little
geographic background, which is essential
towards understanding what transpires in
these psukim.

 

THE ANCIENT TRADE ROUTE

      Recall that Yosef met his brothers
while they were grazing their sheep in the
hilly area of Dotan (see 37:17), north of
Shechem.  Recall as well that during their
meal, the brothers 'lifted up their eyes' and
noticed a caravan of YISHMAELIM traveling
down from the GILAD (today, the northern
mountain range in Jordan), on its way down to
Egypt (see 37:25).

      Now, when we read this story in
Chumash, most everyone assumes that this
convoy will soon pass nearby the spot where
the brothers are eating.  However, when we
consider the geography involved, it is more
probable to arrive at a very different
conclusion! 

      This CARAVAN of Yishmaelim (camels et
al.) most likely should be traveling along
the ancient trade route (better known as the
Via Maris), which crosses through Emek
Yizrael (the Jezreel Valley) on its way
toward the Mediterranean coast.  Therefore,
this convoy, now sighted by the brothers as
it descends from the Gilad Mountains in
Transjordan, must first pass through the Bet
She'an valley, continuing on towards Afula
and Megiddo in Emek Yizrael, on its way
towards the coast.  Certainly, it would NOT
pass the hilly area of Dotan, for it would
make no sense for the caravan to climb the
Gilboa mountain range to cross through the
Dotan area to reach the coast.  Let's explain
why.

 

      Dotan, today the area of Jenin (about
20 kilometers north of Shechem) lies about 10
kilometers SOUTH of this main highway (the
Via Maris) as it crosses Emek Yizrael.  In
altitude, Dotan sits about 300-400 meters
above Emek Yizrael.  Hence, from the hills of
the Dotan/Gilboa area (where the brothers are
eating lunch), one can enjoy of both the
Gilad and parts of the Jezreel Valley, and
could certainly identify a large caravan
traveling in the Jezreel Valley below.  

      This explains why the brothers are able
to see a Yishmaelite caravan (convoy) as it
was descending from the Gilad towards Bet
She'an on its way to  Emek Yizrael.  However,
even though they could see it, it was still
far enough away to allow the brothers ample
time to meet it, when it would pass by some
ten kilometers to the north.  

    Therefore, in order to sell Yosef to that
caravan, the brothers would have to first
fetch Yosef from the pit, and then carry him
on a short trip till they meet the caravan in
Emek Yizrael.  They have ample time to
'finish their meal', go fetch Yosef from the
pit in the 'midbar' (a kilometer or so away),
and then meet the convoy to sell Yosef.

SOMEBODY GOT THERE FIRST

      With this background, we now return to
the story in Chumash, while carefully noting
the grammar of the next pasuk:

"And a group of Midyanite TRADERS passed by,
and THEY pulled, and they lifted Yosef out of
the pit, and THEY sold Yosef to the
Yishmaelim for twenty pieces of silver, and
brought Yosef to Egypt."  (37:28)

 

      Based on the wording of this pasuk,
it's quite clear that the Midyanim and the
Yishmaelim are two DIFFERENT groups of
people!  To support this, note how the Torah
describes the Midyanim as local 'traders'
("socharim"), while the Yishmaelim are
described as international 'movers' ("orchat
Yishmaelim - a transport caravan).  Hence, a
simple reading of this pasuk implies that a
group of Midyanite traders happened to pass
by the pit (they most probably heard Yosef
screaming), and pulled him out.  As these
Midyanim are 'traders', they were probably on
their way to sell their wares (now including
Yosef) to the Yishmaelite caravan. 

      If this explanation is correct, then
the MIDYANIM themselves pulled Yosef out of
the pit and sold him.  [After all, the
brothers are never mentioned in this pasuk.] 

[This interpretation also explains why the
Torah needs to tell us about both MIDYANIM
and YISHMAELIM, for understanding that these
are two DIFFERENT groups is a critical factor
in the story, and not just an incidental
detail.]

 

DID REUVEN GET THERE 'FIRST' OR 'LAST'?

      So where were the brothers during all
of this?  Most probably, still eating!
Recall our explanation above: the brothers
had thrown Yosef into a pit out in the
'midbar' and returned to their grazing area
to eat.  They are far enough away that they
do not see or hear what transpired between
Yosef and the Midyanim!

      And WHERE was Reuven?  Again, as we
explained above, he must have been eating
WITH his brothers.  However, as soon as he
heard Yehuda's new plan (and the brothers'
agreement) to sell Yosef, he would have to
get back to the pit (before his brothers) to
save Yosef - and that's exactly what he does!
[But it's too late.]  Note how this
explanation fits perfectly into the next
pasuk: 

"And Reuven RETURNED ("va-yashov Revuen el
ha'bor") to the pit, and behold, Yosef was no
longer in the pit!;

            Then, he tore his clothes."
(see 37:29)

 

      Reuven is not the LAST brother to find
out that Yosef was sold (as commonly
assumed).  Rather, he is the FIRST brother to
recognize that Yosef is missing!

      What can Reuven do?  Shocked, he
immediately returns to his brothers [probably
by now eating dessert] with the terrible
news:

"And he RETURNED ['va-yashov'] to his
brothers and said, 'The boy is gone!  And for
myself, what am I going to do?" (37:30). 

 

      Note the word 'va-yashov' [and Reuven
RETURNED] in both 37:29 and 37:30.  This verb
proves that the brothers could not have been
eating near the pit, for if so, Reuven would
not need to 'RETURN' to them.  However, based
on our explanation above, 'va-yashov' in both
psukim makes perfect sense.  Since Reuven and
his brothers are eating away from the pit,
Reuven must first RETURN to the pit, then he
must RETURN back to his brothers to tell them
the news - hence TWICE the verb 'va-yashov'!

[This also explains why the brothers don't
answer Reuven by informing him that they sold
him.  Instead, the brothers seem to be no
less in shock than Reuven himself.]

      

WHAT DO THE BROTHERS THINK?

      At this point in the story the brothers
must be totally baffled, for they have no
idea what happened to Yosef.   If he escaped
from the pit, then he probably would have ran
back home and in a short time, the brothers
would hear about it.  But he doesn't return
home, and hence they most probably assume
that he was eaten by an animal.  Note that in
all of their conversations with Yosef in
Egypt, the consistently claim "ha'echad
eineno" [one (brother) is missing]; yet they
never say that he was sold.

[See 42:13 and 42:32.  See also 43:7, noting
how the brothers we definitely asked these
questions during interrogation - hence it
would have been difficult for them to lie
about what happened to their other brother,
nor would they have any reason to lie about
his fate, or time to corroborate the same
story beforehand.]

 

    Once the brothers realize that Yosef is
gone, they also don't want their father to
think that he may lost, nor would they want
their father to accuse them of killing him -
so they plot once again.  They cleverly
decide to trick their father into thinking
that Yosef had been killed by a wild animal
on his way to visit them, by dipping Yosef's
coat in blood and sending it ahead to their
father (see 37:31-32).  Their plan works, as
when Yaakov sees the coat he laments:

"My son's  coat -"CHAYA RA'A ACHALATU; tarof,
taraf Yosef" -  - he was surely devoured by a
wild beast  (37:33). 

 

      By doing so, they cause their father to
take personal blame for Yosef's death; after
all, it was Yaakov's idea to send Yosef on
the 'dangerous journey' from Hebron to
Shchem.

      Ironically, the end result of this
final plan echoes the brothers' original plan
(see 37:20 "ve-amarnu - chaya ra'a achalatu"
& compare with 37:33).  Yaakov reaches the
conclusion that the brothers wanted, but they
themselves have no idea what happened!

      Even more ironic is how the brothers
final plan 'to sell Yosef' came true, even
though they never sold him; and how (they
thought that) their original plan - for Yosef
to die - came true, even though they never
killed him. 

      In retrospect, one could even suggest
that the brothers may have never been able to
'gather the courage' to either kill or sell
Yosef.  Despite their various plans and
intense hatred of Yosef, just as they had
quickly retracted from their first two plans
to kill Yosef (see 37:22 & 26), they most
probably would have retracted from their plan
to sell him as well.  

    Nevertheless: they talked; they planned;
they plotted - and in God's eyes - are
considered guilty, even though they never
actually killed or sold Yosef.

 

WHAT DOES YOSEF THINK?

      So far, our explanation has followed
interpretation suggested by Rashbam and
Chizkuni.  [I recommend that you read their
commentaries and note how they reach the same
conclusion regarding who sold Yosef, even
though they don't explain the events in the
manner that we did.]

      Even though this interpretation seems
to explain the psukim in Parshat Va'yeshev
quite well, there is a pasuk in Parshat
Vayigash that seems to 'ruin' this entire
approach.  When Yosef finally reveals himself
to his brothers, he states explicitly:

"I am Yosef your brother, whom you SOLD to
Egypt"(45:4)

 

      Based on this statement, it's quite
clear that Yosef himself thinks that his
brothers SOLD him!  But if our above
interpretation is correct, Yosef should have
thought that the Midyanim had sold him, and
not his brothers!  In fact, this pasuk is
most probably the primary basis for the more
popular interpretation (advanced by Rashi and
Radak - see Further Iyun section) that the
brothers indeed did sell Yosef. 

      The Chizkuni, bothered by this pasuk,
explains that Yosef knows that the Midyanites
sold him, but since the brothers threw him in
the pit, it was the brothers "who CAUSED me
to be sold to Egypt".  

      Alternately, one could explain, based
on the above shiur that Yosef truly did think
that his brothers had sold him, even though
the brothers themselves had no idea
concerning what really happened.

      To explain why, let's consider these
events from Yosef's perspective.

      Yosef was not aware of any of the
brothers' conversations.  All that he knew
was that, as soon as he arrived, his brothers
took off his coat and threw him into the pit.
A short time later, some Midyanim passed by,
took him out of the pit, and sold him to the
Yishmaelim who, later, sold him to the
Egyptians.  Yosef, trying to piece together
what had happened, probably assumed that his
brothers had set it all up beforehand.  In
other words, he thought that the brothers
told the Midyanim that they had thrown Yosef
in a certain pit, and that they should take
him from there to sell to the Yishmaelim. 

      If so, then Yosef was totally unaware
that it was only 'by chance' that the
Midyanim were passing by, nor did he think
that the brothers originally wanted him to
die in the pit.  Rather, he thought all along
that his brothers had sold him, even though
they had no idea what had happened. 

    In next week's shiur, we will see how
this understanding can help us understand
Yosef's behavior during his many years in
Egypt. It will also explain why the brothers
assume that Yosef is either missing (see
42:13) or dead (see 42:22 -"hineh gam damo
nidrash"), even though Yosef thinks that his
brothers sold him (see 45:4).

[Furthermore, this interpretation also
explains why Yosef tells his cellmates (in
prison) that he was 'stolen' from the Land of
Ivrim (see 40:15).]

 

WHAT DOES GOD THINK

      Even though the brothers had three
different plans for 'getting rid' of Yosef,
God had a different plan.

      The Hand of Providence led the brothers
to believe that THEIR 'dream' [to rid
themselves of Yosef] had come true.  In
reality, it was their plotting that
eventually led to the fulfillment of Yosef's
dreams to come true.

      Finally, as will be seen in the story
that follows, this was all part of God's
long-term plan for the people of Israel to
become a nation in the Land of Egypt, as the
forecasts of "brit bein ha'btarim" slowly
begin to unfold, in a manner that Avraham
Avinu would have never dreamt.

 

                                    shabbat
shalom,

                                    menachem

 

FOR FURTHER IYUN 

================

A.  THE HAFTARA - [WHAT AMOS THOUGHT]

    According to the Haftara for Parshat
Vayeshev, from Amos chapters 1 & 2, it would
seem that the navi thinks that the brothers
sold Yosef, as it states:

"Thus saith the LORD: For three
transgressions of Israel, yea, for four, I
will not reverse it: - 'al michram b'kesef
tzadik...' - because they sell the righteous
[one?] for money, and the needy for a pair of
shoes..." (see Amos 2:5-6)

 

      However, a closer study of Sefer Amos
shows that the navi is not talking about
Yosef and his brothers, rather - he is
complaining about the people of Israel at
that time.  In other words, Israel is not
being punished for the sins of their
forefathers, rather they are being punished
for their own sins.  To prove this, simply
note this very same theme in Amos chapter 8:

"Hear this, you that would swallow the needy,
and destroy the poor of the land, Saying:
'When will the new moon be gone, that we may
sell grain? and the sabbath, that we may set
forth corn? making the ephah [a dry measure]
small, and the shekel great, and falsifying
the balances of deceit; 

 - 'lknot b'kessef dalim, v'evyon b'aavur
naalaim" (compare with 2:6) - so that we may
buy the poor for money, and the needy for a
pair of shoes... "  (see Amos 8:4-6) 

 

      The navi may intentionally employ a
phrase that may 'echo' how the brothers
treated Yosef, maybe to emphasize how Am
Yisrael was supposed to learn from the
stories of Chumash how 'not' to act - but
surely, his primary complaint is about the
behavior of his own generation.

 

 

B. RASHI'S SHITTA

      To explain Rashi's 'shitta' (opinion)
that the brothers sold Yosef, we must return
to the two questions raised earlier in the
shiur: i.e. where are the brothers eating,
and where Reuven is - and change our
conclusions.

      According to this opinion, the brothers
sat down to eat nearby the pit, and for some
reason (see below) Reuven left them.  

      Then, there are two ways to explain
what happened next.  Either when the Midyanim
came by, the brothers employed their services
as 'middlemen' to sell Yosef to the
Yishmaelim (see Rashbam's second
explanation), OR possibly, the term
Yishmaelim is synonymous with the term
Midyanim (see Radak).

 

      To explain why Reuven had left his
brothers, Rashi offers two reasons- either he
went 'home' to take care of his father, or he
had taken a short walk to do some
'soul-searching' (see Rashi & Radak).

 

      Re: Rashi's quote of the Midrash that
it was Reuven's turn to go home to take care
of his father, it would be difficult to
consider this pshat, for it's over 100
kilometers from Hebron to Dotan, and hence it
would be totally against Reuven's own plan to
save Yosef, from him to leave his brothers at
a time like this!

    One could suggest that this Midrash is
not coming to explain pshat about what
'happened', but rather gives us insight
regarding how 'frum' the brothers were, and
the fact that they cared about the mitzvah of
'kibud av', but their hatred of Yosef was
much greater than their love for their
father.

      If so, what point is this Midrash
making regarding the nature of 'sin'at
achim'.

      Rashi's second opinion, that Reuven was
'fasting', may relate to Reuven's own plan -
as discussed below:

 

C. WHAT'S IN IT FOR REUVEN!

    For some reason, Reuven is interested in
saving Yosef.  Why does Reuven suddenly
become so dedicated to his father?

      One could suggest that Yaakov was quite
angry with Reuven since the incident with
Bilha (see 35:22), after which he was most
likely cursed by his father (see 49:4), and
hence lost his 'bechora'.  Reuven may have
hoped that by saving Yosef from the brothers,
he would 'prove himself' once again worthy to
his father.  This would explain his reaction
when he tells his brothers that Yosef is
missing - "va-ani ana ani ba".  This was his
big chance to redeem himself.  Now, it only
looks worse for him.  After all, should
Yaakov find out what happened, bottom line,
it was Reuven's idea to throw him in the pit!
For Reuven, this could have been 'strike
three'!  [Just a thought.] 

 

D. WHY THE BROTHERS HATED YOSEF

    One could suggest that the brothers'
hatred of Yosef may have been more than just
'petty sibling jealousy'.  Considering that
they all realized that they were a chosen
family, with great goals for their future,
and also realizing that in previous
generations, certain children were chosen,
and others 'rejected' - they may have felt
that it was their spiritual 'responsibility'
to 'expel' Yosef from this 'chosen family',
considering his behavior.

    Examine Yosef's dreams.  Compare them to
Yitzchak's original bracha to Eisav /Yaakov,
and the standard blessing of bechira.

    How would this confirm the brothers'
fear? Do the brothers have reason to believe
that Yaakov is making a mistake by favoring
Yosef?  Do they have a precedent for
'intervening'?

    

 

 

 

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