We all know that Yosef Hatzaddik was thrown into a pit by his brothers and then sold . My question is , the pasuk says (37:20) that the brothers said they would see what would become of Yosef's dreams - ״ ...ונראה מה יהיו חלומותיו.״ If they wanted to see what would happen with his dreams why, when they went down to Mitzrayim for food (or anytime really ,I guess) did they not ask to speak with their brother?
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Please clarify the question. Are you assuming that they knew he was alive in Egypt?– mevaqeshDec 21, 2015 at 4:48
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1 Answer
As pointed out by Rav Hirsch and others, the brothers did not sell Yosef to the caravan of Yishmaelim. When Reuven came back and found that he was gone, they did not know what had happened to him. There are also midrashim that the reason they entered Egypt through "ten different gates" was that they were investigating what had happened and if they could find him. However, the Torah does not discuss this because it is not relevant to the story it wants to tell.
There is also the medrash that Yosef (as the Egyptian viceroy) announced that Yosef ben Yaakov was present in the room and called out for him to show himself. The brothers looked all around but still could not recognize Yosef until he said "I am Yosef, is my father still alive"?
The statement ״ ...ונראה מה יהיו חלומותיו.״ was really a sarcastic statement of disbelief in the dreams and up until this point, they continued to believe that the dreams had been proven false. This is cited from the Ramban in the Art Scroll commentary on 37:20.
answered Dec 20, 2015 at 21:03
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I don't understand why your answer includes its second paragraph. How does that address the question? The rest seems good, though. (Though it can do with cites.)– msh210 ♦Dec 21, 2015 at 6:01
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@msh210 I added the citation from the Art Scroll commentary as I do not have Rabbi Sorotzkin or Rabbi Munk here with me. Dec 21, 2015 at 12:39