Literary Devices – Bereshit 43/0
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Literary Devices – Bereshit 43
Structure
Parallels and Contrasts
Key Words
אִישׁ (man) This alludes to the brothers’ lack of knowledge of the identity of Yosef, who in their eyes is simply a powerful and inscrutable man. The brothers too are referred to as “anashim” rather than being identified as Yosef’s brothers or Yaakov’s sons, reflecting their lack of awareness of the family dynamics at play as they descend to Egypt. The generic identifier of “ish” is used repeatedly for the various characters in the chapter as an expression of their concealed identities. The word “ish” also alludes to the power dynamics in the chapter, as the brothers struggle with Yosef’s bewildering ways of asserting power (“ish” often connotes authority).
Allusions Through the use of allusions, the Torah presents the brothers’ journey to Egypt as a symbolic reenactment (and perhaps corrective) of Yosef’s journey to Egypt after they sold him:
- When trying to convince his father to let them bring Binyamin to Egypt, Yehuda refers to Binyamin as “הַנַּעַר” (verse 8), which is the word with which Yosef is introduced in 37:2.1
- The balsam, spices, and ladanum that Yaakov instructs his sons to bring to Egypt as a gift (verse 11) call to mind the same items that were being carried on the caravan that carried Yosef into slavery (see Bereshit 37:25).2 These are the only two mentions of these three items together in Tanakh, strengthening the allusion.
Character Titles
Binyamin
- Binyamin
- "Your/Our Brother" – In yehuda's speech to his father, he does not refer to Binyamin by name, but rather as "our brother", perhaps reflecting that, in contrast to teh sibling's earlier feelings towards Yosef, they felt a brotherly bond with Binaymain.
- הַנַּעַר – the other term used by Yehuda to describe Binyamin's "הַנַּעַר", the lad. This is the same term used to describe Yosef when he is first introduced to the reader, perhpas suggesting that the experience of bringing Binyamin to Egypt, for the brothers, is a reenactment of the emotional experience of sending their other brother, Yosef to Egypt.
- בִּנְיָמִין אָחִיו בֶּן אִמּוֹ – When Binyamin appears before Yosef, he is described as “Binyamin, his brother, the son of his mother”, stressing that they are full siblings and reflecting Yosef’s feelings of closeness to him.
