How the Brothers Plotted Against Joseph

[9] "If they say, 'Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause'" - These are the brothers of Joseph, who were lurking and saying, 'When will the end come, and we will kill him?' And when he came to them, they began to say to one another, 'This is the hour; this is the season,' and the Divine Presence (Shechinah) was jesting and saying, 'Woe to them for the blood of this righteous one.' Therefore, it is said, "We will lurk secretly for the innocent without cause." And of them all, none wanted to save him except Reuben, as it is said, "Reuben heard, and he saved him from their hand." He said to them, 'Come, and I will give you advice,' They said to him, 'What advice are you giving us?' He said to them, 'Let us throw him into the pit while he is alive, and our hand will not be upon him,' From where [do we learn this]? As it is stated: (Proverbs 1:12): "We will swallow them up alive as the grave, and whole, as those that go down into the pit" - that he went down to the pit in his innocence, and he did not know what they were going to do to him. Rabbi Levi ben Zavdai said: "Who lowered [Joseph] into the pit from among all his brothers? You must say it was Simeon and Levi, as it is said (Genesis 49:6), 'Into their council let my soul not enter.' But Reuben intended to save him and return him to his father, as it is said (Genesis 37:22), 'That he might save him from their hand, to restore him to his father.' (Genesis 37:29): 'And Reuben returned to the pit' - where was he? Rabbi Judah and Rabbi Nehemiah [disagreed]: Rabbi Judah said, 'The burden of the household was thrust upon him, and as soon as he was free from his burden, he came and looked into the pit and did not find him. This is the meaning of "And Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit, and he tore his clothes."' Rabbi Nehemiah said, 'He was occupied in his sackcloth and fasting over the incident that occurred, and he did not turn [from it], and as soon as he was free from his sackcloth and fasting, he came and looked into the pit and did not find him, as it says "And Reuben returned to the pit, etc." ' Not only that, but once they sold him, the Divine Presence (Shechinah) mocked them and said to them (Isaiah 55:8), 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, etc.,' not with the thought that you think, 'nor your ways my ways,' and not in the way that you say, for if there were not a decree from before Me, your counsel would be nothing. (Proverbs 1:13): 'All precious substance shall we find, our houses shall be filled with spoil' - this is the sale of Joseph, who was a precious son to his father, as it is said (Genesis 37:3), 'For he was the son of his old age,' he was found to sustain them, as it is written (Genesis 45:5), 'For God sent me before you to preserve life.' 'Our houses shall be filled with spoil' - that they filled their houses with silver and gold from Joseph's treasures. Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said: The ten martyrs were drawn [to their deaths] only by the sin of selling Joseph. Rabbi Avin said: You must say that ten were exacted from every generation, and still, that sin persists. (Proverbs 1:14): 'Your lot shall be cast among us' - when Joseph sat down, he took the key and was calling out: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun - they are sons of one mother, let them come and sit; Dan and Naphtali - they are sons of one mother, let them come and sit; Gad and Asher - they are sons of one mother, let them come and sit; and he went back and hit with the key and said: Benjamin is an orphan, and I am an orphan, it is fitting for an orphan to sit with an orphan, 'One purse shall be ours' - for they all ate at one table at the banquet. How did he do it? He gave each one one portion, and to Benjamin five portions, how? He took his portion, and Benjamin's portion, and Ephraim's portion, and Manasseh's portion, and the portion of Asenath, Joseph's wife, and gave it to Benjamin, as it is said (Genesis 43:34): 'And he took and sent portions to them from before him, but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs, and they drank and were merry with him.' Rabbi Shmuelai said in the name of Rabbi Isaac from Magdala: From the day that Joseph separated from his brothers he did not taste the taste of wine until that day, as it is written (Genesis 49:26), 'And the crown of the head of his brothers' Nazirite.' Rabbi Yosei bar Hanina said: They also did not taste the taste of wine, as it is said, 'And they drank and were merry with him.' Another explanation, 'Your lot shall be cast among us' - this is the Torah, which was the lot of the Holy One, Blessed be He, and given to Israel; 'One purse shall be ours' - at the time when they stood at Mount Sinai and said (Exodus 24:7), 'All that the Lord has spoken we will do and we will hear.'"