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31it will come to pass, when he sees that the boy is gone, he will die, and your servants will have brought down the hoary head of your servant, our father, in grief to the grave.
it will come to pass, when he sees that the boy is not here, he will die: His father will die because of his calamity [of the loss of his son].
והיה כראותו כי אין הנער ומת: אביו מצרתו:
32For your servant assumed responsibility for the boy from my father, saying, 'If I do not bring him to you, I will have sinned against my father forever.'
For your servant assumed responsibility for the boy: Now if you ask why I enter the fray more than my other brothers, [I will reply that] they are all [standing] from the outside [without commitment], while I have bound myself with a strong bond to be an outcast in both worlds. [From Gen. Rabbah 93:8]
כי עבדך ערב את הנער: ואם תאמר למה אני נכנס לתגר יותר משאר אחי, הם כולם מבחוץ, אבל אני נתקשרתי בקשר חזק להיות מנודה בשני עולמות:
33So now, please let your servant stay instead of the boy as a slave to my lord, and may the boy go up with his brothers.
1Now Joseph could not bear all those standing beside him, and he called out, "Take everyone away from me!" So no one stood with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
Now Joseph could not bear all those standing: He could not bear that Egyptians would stand beside him and hear his brothers being embarrassed when he would make himself known to them. [From Tanchuma Vayigash 5]
ולא יכול יוסף להתאפק לכל הנצבים: לא היה יכול לסבול שיהיו מצרים נצבים עליו ושומעין שאחיו מתביישין בהודעו להם:
2And he wept out loud, so the Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard.
and the house of Pharaoh heard: Heb. פַּרְעֹה בֵּית, the house of Pharaoh, namely his servants and the members of his household. This does not literally mean a house, but it is like “the house of Israel” (Ps. 115:12), “the house of Judah” (I Kings 12:21), mesnede in Old French, household. [From Targum Onkelos]
וישמע בית פרעה: ביתו של פרעה, כלומר עבדיו ובני ביתו. ואין זה לשון בית ממש אלא כמו (תהלים קטו יב) בית ישראל, (מלכים א' יב כא) בית יהודה מיישניד"א בלע"ז [בני הבית]:
3And Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?" but his brothers could not answer him because they were startled by his presence.
Please come closer: He saw them drawing backwards. He said, “Now my brothers are embarrassed” (Tanchuma Vayigash 5). He called them tenderly and pleadingly and showed them that he was circumcised (Gen. Rabbah 93:10).
גשו נא אלי: ראה אותם נסוגים לאחוריהם, אמר עכשיו אחי נכלמים, קרא להם בלשון רכה ותחנונים, והראה להם שהוא מהול:
5But now do not be sad, and let it not trouble you that you sold me here, for it was to preserve life that God sent me before you.