Why Judah Told Joseph His Brother Was Dead

"And his brother is dead" (Genesis 44:20). Joseph said to him: Did you see him dead? He said to him: He is dead. [Joseph said:] Did you stand at his grave? He said to him: Yes. Did you place dust upon his eyes? He said to him: No. Joseph said to him: And why do you lie? Behold, Joseph is here beside me. Another interpretation: "My lord asked his servants" (Genesis 44:19). Judah said to him: Know for yourself that it is with a false pretext that you have come against us. How many provinces have come down to buy [grain] — but did you at all question them as you have questioned us? Is it perhaps your daughter that we seek to marry, or is it your sister that we seek? Yet even so we did not conceal a thing from you. "And we said unto my lord etc., and his brother is dead." Now, would a man like Judah say a thing that was not certain? "And his brother is dead" — rather, Judah said: If I tell him that he is alive, he will say to me, Go and bring him, just as he said concerning Benjamin. Therefore he said, "And his brother is dead."