After their father passed, Joseph eased his brothers' fears, saying: "Fear not, for am I instead of God? While you meant evil toward me, God meant it for good... Not only was Joseph reassuring his brothers that meting justice to them was not something he planned to do, rather, explains  Ibn Kaspi he was reminding them

And Pharaoh said to Jacob, "How many are the days of the years of your life?" Picking up on the expression days of the years, Rabbi Hirsch explains that people often think in terms of years - what will I achieve this year, or in five or ten years time. Vital as this is to

And Jacob said, "Look, I have heard that there are provisions in Egypt. Go down there, and get us provisions from there that we may live and not die." There is a redundancy in this verse we may live and not die - obviously, if they live then they won't die! Explains the Ohr HaHayim,

The tragedy of Joseph's sale opens with the words: And Joseph's brothers went to graze their father's flock at Shechem. The text of the Bible contains some dots over this verse, teaching us, Rashi explains, that really they went "to graze themselves," ie to enjoy themselves - they said they were working but really they went

...Jacob's hip socket was wrenched as he wrestled with him...and he was limping on his hip. Jacob's injury suggests that God did not fulfil His promise to Jacob that I will guard you wherever you go,Hizkuni explains that despite God's promise Jacob was greatly afraid and since he showed a lack of faith in God's