Illustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Commentary פַּרְשָׁנוּת
Who sold Yosef?
While the answer seems obvious (his brothers, of course!), a close reading of the text shows that it is more complicated.
וַיַּֽעַבְרוּ֩ אֲנָשִׁ֨ים מִדְיָנִ֜ים סֹֽחֲרִ֗ים וַֽיִּמְשְׁכוּ֙ וַיַּֽעֲל֤וּ אֶת־יוֹסֵף֙ מִן־הַבּ֔וֹר וַיִּמְכְּר֧וּ אֶת־יוֹסֵ֛ף לַיִּשְׁמְעֵאלִ֖ים בְּעֶשְׂרִ֣ים כָּ֑סֶף וַיָּבִ֥יאוּ אֶת־יוֹסֵ֖ף מִצְרָֽיְמָה׃
Midianite merchants passed by and they drew and lifted Yosef out of the pit, and sold Yosef to the Yishmaelites for 20 shekels of silver. And they brought Yosef into Egypt.
This text is ambiguous: who is the “they” that lifted Yosef out of the pit and sold him?
וַיִּמְשְׁכוּ. בְנֵי יַעֲקֹב אֶת יוֹסֵף מִן הַבּוֹר וַיִּמְכְּרוּהוּ לַיִּשְׁמְעֵאלִים, וְיִשְׁמְעֵאלִים לַמִּדְיָנִים, וְהַמִּדְיָנִים לַמִּצְרִים:
And they drew up—the sons of Yaakov drew up Yosef from the pit, and they sold him to the Yishmaelites, and the Yishmaelites to the Midianites, and the Midianites to Egypt.
According to Rashi, it was the brothers who first sold Yosef. Rashi explains that the Torah mentions multiple caravans because Yosef was sold multiple times.
Here’s a different reading, from Rashbam, who was Rashi’s grandson:
וְיַעַבְרוּ אֲנָשִׁים מִדְיָנִים: בְּתוֹךְ שֶׁהָיוּ יוֹשְׁבִים לֶאֱכוֹל לֶחֶם וּרְחוֹקִים הָיוּ קְצָת מִן הַבּוֹר… וְקֹדֶם שֶׁבָּאוּ הַיִּשְׁמְעֵאלִים עָבְרוּ אֲנָשִׁים מִדְיָנִים אֲחֵרִים דֶּרֶךְ שָׁם וְרָאוּהוּ בַּבּוֹר וּמְשָׁכוּהוּ וּמְכָרוּהוּ הַמִּדְיָנִים לַיִּשְׁמְעֵאלִים, וְיֵשׁ לוֹמַר שֶׁהָאַחִים לֹא יָדְעוּ.
The brothers were sitting down to eat food, at a distance from the pit… and before the Yishmaelits came, some other Midianite men passed by on the road there, and saw [Yosef] in the pit and pulled him out. The Midianites sold him to the Yishmaelites. It is likely that the brothers didn’t know.
- What evidence can you find for each opinion? Look ahead to Bereishit 40:15 and 45:4 for more clues! It can be interesting to see how a story gets retold.
- How does your understanding of the story change based on who sold Yosef? If the brothers had already decided to sell Yosef, and were responsible for leaving him alone in a pit, does it matter that they might not have actually done it because other people got there first?
- Why do you think the Torah tells the story in this ambiguous way?
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