44:5 “הלוא זה אשר ישתה אדני בו והוא נחש ינחש בו, אשר הרעתם עשיתם”
“Is this not the one from which my master drinks, and which he regularly divines? You have done evil in how you acted!” Why does it need to say here, “הרעתם אשר עשיתם” – “You have done evil in how you acted” when it already said, “שלמתם רעה תחת טובה ” – that they repaid good with evil? Doing evil is bad, and it is even worse to do evil in place of good – meaning that if someone was good to you, and you repaid that goodness with evil, that is much worse. Thus, it would seem that there is no reason to add here that the brothers acted evil. Why did Yosef have the goblet placed in Binyamin’s sack, as opposed to any of the other brothers? The following Divrei Torah will expound on this topic, and support the P’shat offered in the closing paragraph.
Ramban - 44:5
“הלוא זה אשר ישתה אדני בו והוא נחש ינחש בו, הרעתם אשר עשיתם” – “Is this not the one from which my master drinks, and which he regularly divines? You have done evil in how you acted!” The official was stressing the importance of the goblet, for he wanted it to be understood that stealing this precious goblet was unpardonable. Someone who dare steal the royal goblet from which the great monarch drinks, is demonstrating his disdain for the ruler, and thus any bribe or ransom would not help procure a pardon.
Tsror HaMor – 44:2
“ואת גביעי גביע הכסף תשים בפי אמתחת הקטן ואת כסף שברו” – “And my goblet, the silver goblet, place in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack along with the money of his purchase.” In the bylaws of the land of Mitzrayim, it was written that only the king and his direct servants were allowed to drink from silver goblets, no one else was allowed to. Thus, when they accosted the brothers, they said to them in Posuk 5 – “הלוא זה אשר ישתה אדוני בו ” – that they took the silver goblet – the goblet which only the king and his direct servants drink from.
Rabbeinu Menachem - 44:2
“ואת גביעי גביע הכסף תשים בפי אמתחת הקטן ואת כסף שברו” – “And my goblet, the silver goblet, place in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack along with the money of his purchase.” Yosef had goblets of gold and silver, and the one that was placed in Binyamin’s sack was silver. That is why the Posuk stresses, that it was the “silver goblet” that should be placed in Binyamin’s sack, and not the gold one.
Chizkuni - 44:2
“ואת גביעי גביע הכסף תשים בפי אמתחת הקטן ואת כסף שברו” – “And my goblet, the silver goblet, place in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack along with the money of his purchase.” Why did Yosef have his servants place the goblet in Binyamin’s sack, as opposed to any of the other brothers? When the brothers had initially come, they came without Binyamin. The second time they came, they were forced by Yosef to bring Binyamin. However, Yosef did not recognize how Binyamin looked, for the last time he had seen Binyamin was many years prior, and he did not have a beard at the time. Thus, Yosef wanted to be sure that in fact, it was Binyamin, and not some random person they picked up in the street. Thus, he had the goblet placed in Binyamin’s sack. Then Binyamin would be accused of stealing the goblet, and would be in potentially great danger. Yosef wanted to see how the brothers would react to this. Had they not been so concerned that Binyamin was being accused of stealing the goblet, then he would know that it was not really Binyamin. By the fact that the brothers were very concerned, and that they were doing everything in their power to get him back, it was proof that in fact, it was Binyamin.
Rabbeinu Yoel – 44:5
“הלוא זה אשר ישתה אדני בו והוא נחש ינחש בו, הרעתם אשר עשיתם” – “Is this not the one from which my master drinks, and which he regularly divines? You have done evil in how you acted!” The word, “הלוא” – is the word, “לו” – which means “him” or “לא” which means “not”. The Posuk is telling us both – “לא לו” – that “him” – Yosef, did “not” have another goblet that was dear to him like this goblet.
Even Ezra - 44:5
“הלוא זה אשר ישתה אדני בו והוא נחש ינחש בו, הרעתם אשר עשיתם” – “והוא נחש ינחש” – They told the brothers that Yosef was testing them, to see if they are thieves.
Chizkuni - 44:5
“הלוא זה אשר ישתה אדני בו והוא נחש ינחש בו, הרעתם אשר עשיתם ” – “והוא נחש ינחש” – Yosef’s servants were telling the brothers that Yosef left the goblet on the table, and then looked away, to test them to see if they would take the goblet when he wasn’t looking – to see if they were thieves.
Chemat HaChemed - 44:5
“הלוא זה אשר ישתה אדני בו והוא נחש ינחש בו, הרעתם אשר עשיתם” – “והוא נחש ינחש” – This is from a Loshon of “נחש” – “serpent.” In early times, they used to gaze deeply at snakes, similar to the Romans gazing deeply at birds to utilize their divination.
Rabbeinu Meuchas - 44:5
“הלוא זה אשר ישתה אדני בו והוא נחש ינחש בו, הרעתם אשר עשיתם” – “והוא נחש ינחש” – The Posuk is not saying that the goblet was actually used as some sort of sorcery. Rather, the Posuk is saying that they considered it to be like a bad omen of sorts if one’s vessel that he eats or drinks from is stolen. Thus, they were very upset at the brothers for stealing this goblet from Yosef, a goblet that he drank from.
R' Shmuel ben Yefani Gaon - 44:5
“הלוא זה אשר ישתה אדני בו והוא נחש ינחש בו, הרעתם אשר עשיתם” – “והוא נחש ינחש” This goblet was a kind of water watch. With this goblet Yosef would know what time of day it was, and when he needed to be Mispalel, and take care of his other needs. It was also used for drinking.
Livnot HaSapir – 44:4
“הם יצאו את העיר לא הרחיקו ויוסף אמר לאשר על ביתו קום רדוף אחרי האנשים, והשגתם ואמרת אלהם למה שלמתם רעה תחת טובה” – The Torah tells us, “הוכח תוכיח את עמיתך” – that a Yid must rebuke his fellow Yid when necessary. The Torah says to rebuke your fellow Yid, but how do you know that you must badger him, and even cause him pain until he turns away from his evil ways? We learn this from Yosef Hatzaddik, who badgered his brothers and caused them pain, until they did Teshuva and said Vidui, as the Posuk says, “אבל אשמים אנחנו”.
Od Yosef Chai – 44:5
“הלוא זה אשר ישתה אדני בו והוא נחש ינחש בו, הרעתם אשר עשיתם” – “Is this not the one from which my master drinks, and which he regularly divines? You have done evil in how you acted!” Binyamin was being accused of stealing the king’s, Yosef’s, goblet. The officer pronounced that this was the goblet which Yosef drinks from. We could understand that the officer was stating that it was with the goblet that the king regularly “divines” – does magical things with it – for that is showing its great value to the king, and thus the punishment should be more severe. However, what is the difference if it was the goblet that Yosef drank from or not? One would think that all that matters was that Binyamin stole the goblet from the king, whether it was one that the king drank from or not. Additionally, why does it need to say here, “הרעתם אשר עשיתם” – “You have done evil in how you acted” when it already said, “שלמתם רעה תחת טובה” – that they repaid good with evil? Doing evil is one thing, and it is even worse to do evil in place of good – meaning that if someone was good to you, and you repaid that goodness with evil, that is much worse. Thus, it would seem that there is no reason to add here that the brothers acted evil now. It says in the אפיקי יהודה regarding the words, “ואת גביעי גביע הכסף” – “And my goblet, the silver goblet” – why does it repeat, “גביעי גביע”? Yosef had a silver goblet placed into Binyamin’s sack, so that it would appear that he stole Yosef’s goblet. Had they put a standard goblet in Binyamin’s sack, when they would find the goblet in his sack, and try to accuse Binyamin of stealing the goblet, he would have an answer, and would say it is not true that he stole it. Binyamin could have claimed that it was his goblet that he brought from Kna’an. Perhaps Yosef had a similar goblet, but the one in Binyamin’s sack was his own. In order that Binyamin would not be able to claim this, they took a goblet that had two parts to it: a large goblet with a small goblet connected to the bottom of the big one. The bottom was a base, for beauty, while the top was the part to drink from. This is what Rashi means when he says on the goblet that it was “ארוך” – meaning that it was long for it was in two parts, connected to each other. Yosef commanded the man in charge of his house that he should not put into Binyamin’s sack the entire goblet, but he should put only the top part of the goblet that one drinks from into his sack, while the smaller lower part he should hold onto it. This way, if Binyamin says that he brought the goblet from his home, they will ask him where the other half is? Binyamin will not be able to produce it, for they did not put in his sack. They will then show Binyamin that they have the other half, obviously proving that Binyamin did not bring it from home, rather he stole it from Yosef. The Torah used a double Loshon of, “גביעי גביע” – for there were two parts to the goblet. I would like to add to this, and say that the top part, the part that one drinks from was made of silver, while the bottom part, the base, was made of gold. That is why the Posuk says, “ואת גביעי” – the goblet that I drink from, “גביע הכסף” – the part of the goblet that was silver, that was the part that was to be placed in Binyamin’s sack, while the other half, the gold half, was to remain in Yosef’s possession, so that they could prove that Binyamin stole Yosef’s goblet. With this we can understand what the Posuk says after this, “ואיך נגנוב מבית אדוניך כסף או זהב”- “How could we steal from the house of your master silver or gold?” If Binyamin only stole from a silver goblet, then why ask how could he have stolen silver or gold? However, as we explained, the goblet had two parts, the top was silver and the bottom was gold. Thus, they were saying how could you have stolen silver or gold from Yosef, the top silver part that he actually stole, or the bottom gold part? After they said to Binyamin that he did something terrible, that he did evil in place of good, they say even more, that you did evil to yourself by taking only the top part of the goblet so that it is clear to all that in fact you stole the goblet of our master, Yosef. The divination part of the goblet was in the gold part, the bottom part that Binyamin did not take. The divination part – is the part which identified Binyamin as the thief who stole the goblet. They were saying that Binyamin was foolish, for he left behind the part of the goblet which had the divination, which gave them the ability to find out who stole the top part, and proof positive that it was stolen. Now we can understand what the words, “הרעתם אשר עשיתם” – “You have done evil in how you acted” are teaching us. The goblet was made of two parts, a top part and a lower part. The lower part was gold, and was the part that was used for sorcery, while the top part was the silver part, and was used to drink. Only the silver part, the top part, was placed in Binyamin’s sack, and not the bottom part, which was used for sorcery. So in addition to repaying goodness with evil, the brothers were being told that it was also not a smart thing to do, for they left behind the sorcery part, and it was through that part that they knew that it was someone from among the brothers who stole the top part. Binyamin was accused of a despicable act, the act of stealing the goblet from Yosef, who was good to the brothers. The irony was that it was not Binyamin who actually stole the goblet, nor was he the one who sold his brother Yosef.
Conclusion: The Purpose of the Goblet Incident
Why indeed did Yosef have the goblet placed in Binyamin’s sack? It was to teach us how to give Mussar to another. Yosef took the one person who was completely not involved in the sale, and the brothers saw how they believed he acted in an abhorrent way, for in return for goodness, he gave back evil. Yosef was good to them; why would you steal his goblet? This was meant to cause the brothers to think about that act that they did many years ago, an act that they repaid goodness with evil. Yaakov Avinu was their father, who certainly gave them much goodness. What did they give in return? Evil. They sold his precious son, Yosef, and caused him to have much pain for many years. The brothers were to see this, and recognize their evil action, and do Teshuva for it. Once they would do Teshuva, Yosef would have completed his mission at that time, and then he would reveal himself as their brother. One must rebuke another when needed, but it must be done with great wisdom, so that the person will accept the rebuke, and in fact do Teshuva for his actions. May we be Zoche to rebuke properly, and be Zoche to accept rebuke in the proper way.
