Vayigash | How Did the Brothers Not Recognize Yosef?

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Dedicated by the Etshalom and Wise families 
in memory of Mrs. Miriam Wise z"l, Miriam bat Yitzhak veRivkah, 
9 Tevet. Yehi Zikhra Barukh
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Yosef's behavior toward his brothers in Egypt raises many questions, and as numerous as the difficulties are, so are the resolutions offered to answer them. Two of the major problems that troubled the biblical commentators are: (1) Why did Yosef not send word back to his father that he was still alive? And (2) What was the purpose of making himself strange to his brothers; did Yosef want to punish them? Was he trying to fulfill his dreams? Or is it something completely different?

From studying the parasha, there seems to be an additional problem, that the commentators generally did not address: How did the brothers not recognize Yosef?[1] Of course, Yosef had changed over the years, but it is difficult to assume that he changed so much that it was impossible to recognize him. Yosef was almost an adult when they last saw him, so how can it be that none of his brothers knew who he was? Even Binyamin, who grew up with him from childhood, failed to recognize him!

If that is not enough, Yosef gives his brothers very thick hints that he is their lost brother. He seats them in the order of their birth (and the Torah notes that the brothers wondered about this), and he generally behaves strangely toward them: he returns their money and refuses to take it back, and he seems not to miss an opportunity to abuse them. It is likely that the story of the slave who rose to greatness was known throughout Egypt, and if only the brothers had tried to find out about this leader upon whom they were so dependent, they would have discovered that he was Yosef.[2]

Yosef’s Strange Behavior

Before we answer the question of how the brothers did not recognize Yosef, let us first address the second question that we raised: Why does Yosef behave so strangely, as if he wants his brothers to recognize him? If he wants to reveal himself to the brothers, he can do that; if he wants to conceal his identity, why does he work so hard to arouse their suspicion, such as by seating them in birth order and refusing to accept the money they tried to return to him?

Yosef's strangest step is his request to see Binyamin. The Torah says that he ordered the brothers to bring Binyamin to him to prove that they were not spies, but what is the connection? How will bringing Binyamin prove they are not spies?

The Attempt to Fulfill the Dreams

It is possible that the two questions answer each other. The previous shiur discussed Yosef’s understanding that the purpose of dreams is not only to reveal what will happen in the future, but also to spur people into action. At this point, Yosef has already tried three times to follow the guidelines he understood from the dreams. The first time, he reported his dreams to his brothers, and as a result he was sold into slavery. Later, he asked the chief butler to save him from the pit, but his efforts were to no avail.[3] Only the third time, when he acted in accordance with the instructions in Pharaoh's dream, did Yosef succeed; he advanced his own position and saved Egypt. Yosef has seen that acting in accordance with the guidelines of a dream is sometimes positive and sometimes negative.

Now, Yosef finds himself in a perplexing situation: should he try to fulfill the dreams of his youth? Should he reveal himself to his brothers, or should he alienate himself from them and try to fulfill the dreams? Yosef does not know how to decide, and so he returns the ball to God's court. On the one hand, he does not tell the brothers outright that he is Yosef; but, on the other hand, he gives strong hints about his identity. If God wants Yosef to reveal himself to his brothers, they will identify him; if God does not want this to happen, the brothers will not recognize him.

Indeed, even though Yosef continues to dispense hints, the brothers still do not recognize him. Even though they wonder at his seating them in the order of their birth, they do not even begin to suspect that he may be Yosef. He gives Binyamin special gifts, but even this step is not helpful, and they still do not recognize him. He sets the story of the goblet into motion, concealing the goblet in Binyamin's sack and then declaring he will take him as his slave. It is hard to think of a thicker hint of Yosef's identity: Binyamin becomes a slave alongside Yosef, who had been sold into slavery; both are sons of Rachel and both are their father's favorites. Now, Yosef stops to think: Will the brothers recognize him? Does God want him to continue to act to fulfill his dreams, or is he perhaps supposed to reveal himself to his brothers?

The Actions of the Brothers

The brothers’ behavior can be understood in two ways. On the one hand, if they did not recognize Yosef, then their behavior is understandable. On the other hand, if they did recognize him or at least suspect that he might be Yosef, then they find themselves in a difficult dilemma. Should they identify Yosef publicly? Does Yosef wish to continue concealing his true identity, or does he want them to recognize him, fall on his neck, and seek his forgiveness?

After Yosef demands to keep Binyamin as his slave, Yehuda proposes that they all become his slaves. When Yosef refuses this offer, Yehuda becomes suspicious: How is it possible that the only brother who did not participate in the sale of Yosef will now become a slave? Yehuda begins to suspect that his lost brother stands before him, and to test this hypothesis, he formulates his oration with care and cunning.

Yehuda’s Oration

Then Yehuda came near to him, and said: Oh my lord, let your servant, I pray you, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not your anger burn against your servant; for you are even as Pharaoh. (Bereishit 44:18)

At the beginning of his speech, Yehuda describes what happened to them from the day they set foot in Egypt. However, when we examine the speech, it is clear that there are several notable differences between the actual events and Yehuda’s description of them.[4]

My lord asked his servants, saying: Have you a father, or a brother? And we said to my lord: We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loves him. (Bereishit 44:19-20)

Yosef never asked the brothers if they had a father or a brother. Moreover, Yehuda never told him that Binyamin was the only son left to his mother. If we flip through the previous parasha, we see that the brothers only told Yosef that one brother had died and one brother stayed with his father, but they never told him that the two brothers were from the same mother.

And you said to your servants: Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes upon him. (Bereishit 44:21) 

Unsurprisingly, this detail as well is inaccurate. Yosef did not ask to set his eyes upon Binyamin, and in fact this detail seems very puzzling: Why should the ruler of Egypt watch over Binyamin and set his eyes upon him?[5]

It seems that Yehuda's oration was carefully composed of two parallel layers. If the officer who is abusing him is in fact just the ruler of Egypt, the minor changes in Yehuda's words will not arouse any suspicion. But if this ruler is Yosef, he could understand these changes as implying that Yehuda suspects him, which might even cause him to reveal himself to them. Yehuda reminds Yosef that he and Binyamin are the only children of their mother, and now that Binyamin has been taken, Yaakov is left with no son from his beloved wife. At the same time, he hints to him that he has noticed his strange interest in the young son, and that he suspects him of being Yosef.

Finally, Yehuda adds one more crucial hint:

And your servant my father said to us: You know that my wife bore me two sons; and the one went out from me, and I said: Surely he is torn in pieces; and I have not seen him since; and if you take this one also from me, and harm befall him, you will bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to the grave. (Bereishit 44:27-29)

Yosef does not know what Yaakov thinks about his disappearance. Yehuda adds, as if it is an aside, information that would only interest Yosef: Yaakov does not know where you are, but he has not lost hope of seeing you again.

Now therefore, let your servant, I pray you, abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brothers. For how shall I go up to my father, if the lad be not with me? lest I look upon the evil that shall come on my father. (Bereishit 44:33-34) 

          Both Yehuda's proposal and the proposal of the brothers at the end of the previous parasha are puzzling. The viceroy proposes taking Binyamin; the brothers suggest that he take all of them, and when he refuses, Yehuda makes his speech and proposes that Yosef take him as a slave instead of Binyamin. What is the meaning of this strange counteroffer? The purpose of turning Binyamin into a slave would be to punish him for stealing the goblet, not simply to acquire another slave for Yosef. How would turning Yehuda, who had not sinned, into a slave solve that problem? And if enslaving Binyamin has no special value, Yehuda could instead suggest paying him several time's Binyamin's worth or his own worth in order to free Binyamin or himself.

It seems the brothers realize, or at least suspect, that the Egyptian ruler is Yosef, and their proposal is meant to hint to Yosef that they understand that they must bear punishment.

Yehuda's proposal continues this line of reasoning. As punishment for having participated in the sale of Yosef, Yehuda suggests that he become a slave – and he will thus free Binyamin, who had no part in the sale.

Once Yehuda completes his oration, Yosef can no longer restrain himself. First, he hears that Yehuda regrets his sale and is ready to bear punishment for his part in it. Second, he hears that Yaakov has not lost hope of seeing him again, and that he is still grieving his disappearance. Third, he understands that Yehuda recognizes him, and there is no longer any reason to hide. At this point, he can no longer restrain himself:

Then Yosef could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried: Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Yosef made himself known to his brothers. (Bereishit 45:1)

(Translated by David Strauss)