Rehabilitation or Revenge: A Closer Look at Yosef's Treatment of his Brothers

This lecture was delivered at the Tanakh Study Days sponsored by Herzog Academic College, and is shared courtesy of the HaTanakh.com website. 5781

Genesis 42 - 44, 18

The Torah describes Yosef's treatment of his brothers, from the time they appear before him to purchase food, in great detail. However, there is no explicit source documenting Yosef's inner motivation. In general, the commentators preferred to promote an altruistic agenda, which can be supported by Yosef's behavior in other contexts. Nonetheless, in an attempt at "pshuto shel mikra", one cannot totally rule out revenge as a significant, if not dominant factor. During this lecture, we will carefully examine nuances of the story in an attempt to show that via the detailed narrative, the Torah reveals the inner force motivating Yosef's actions.