Joseph Tests His Brothers and the Binding of Simeon in Egypt

What did Joseph do? He commanded that the names of the people who entered, which were written down each and every day, be brought to him. They came in on the first day, and the names of those who had entered were brought before him, and so each and every day they would inform him. When Joseph's brothers came down, they did not all enter through one gate. The keeper of the gate would say to him, "What is your name?" He said to him, "Reuben son of Jacob son of Isaac," and likewise Simeon, and likewise all of them. They brought the written records to Joseph. When he read them, he knew that his brothers were there. He sent for Manasseh his son. He said, "See where they are going." Manasseh went and saw them going about in the marketplace, going out from this market to that market, from this lane to that lane. He sent after them and they came before him. When he saw them he surely recognized them, "but he made himself a stranger to them" (Genesis 42:7). What is the meaning of "he made himself a stranger to them"? Rabbi Yohanan said: He became as a stranger toward them. "And he said to them, 'From where do you come?'" (ibid.). He said to them, "You are spies" (ibid. 42:9). They said to him, "No, my lord; your servants have come to buy food" (ibid. 42:10). "We your servants are twelve brothers" (ibid. 42:13). Rabbi Yohanan said: It is like a raven that brought fire into its nest. He said to them, "Are you brothers?" They said to him, "Yes." "And why did you not all enter through one gate?" They said to him, "Because our father commanded us thus, on account of the eye." He said to them, "By the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies" (Genesis 42:16). When he would swear falsely, he would swear by the head of Pharaoh. To what is the matter comparable? To a woman who stole a sheep from the flock and fled, and the shepherd was running after her. She went to her house and covered it with a garment. The shepherd said to her, "Have you seen a sheep?" She said to him, "May I eat the flesh of this one lying on the bed, for I know nothing." So too Joseph: when he wished to swear falsely, he would swear by the life of Pharaoh. "And they said to him, 'No, my lord; your servants have come to buy food'" (ibid. 42:10). He said to them, "You should know that you are spies. Why were you going about and circling the whole province?" They said to him, "We had a brother, and we sold him as a slave, and from the hour that we sold him, our father sits and mourns over him. And we have come down with the money in our hands, to say: wherever we find him, we will redeem him." He said to them, "Can a man who sells a thing go back on it?" They said to him, "For this we have come down, and double the money is in our hands to redeem him." He said to them, "And what if he does not wish to sell him?" They said to him, "Even if we are burned over him, we will not move until we redeem him." He said to them, "That is what I said to you, saying: you are spies" (ibid. 42:14). What did he do? "And he took Simeon from them" (ibid. 42:24). He said, "He bound me and cast me into the pit; I too will bind him." What did they do? They loaded up and went to their father, "and they told him all that had befallen them" (ibid. 42:29). He said to them, "Go, buy us a little food" (ibid. 43:2). Judah said to him, "The man solemnly warned us, saying, 'You shall not see my face' etc." (ibid. 43:3). He said to them, "I will not send Benjamin even if I am killed." They said to him, "It is better for you to lose one soul and not seventy." What did he do? He set his heart upon Benjamin and began to pray over them: "And may God Almighty grant you mercy before the man" (Genesis 43:14) — because they had said "the man spoke" (ibid. 42:30), therefore he said "before the man."