Ramban's Commentary on Parshat Vayigash: A Short and Fascinating Torah Insight for the Weekly Portion

In this week's portion, Parshat Vayigash, it is said:

'And they spoke to him all the words of Joseph.' (Genesis 45:27)

Ramban explains:

'It seems to me in the plain meaning that it was never told to Jacob that his brothers sold Joseph, but he thought he wandered in the field and those who found him took him and sold him to Egypt. For his brothers did not want to tell him their sin, as they feared his anger and he might curse them as he did to Reuben, Simeon, and Levi (later on in Genesis 49:3-7). Joseph, in his good character, did not want to tell him, and thus it is said: 'They commanded Joseph saying, your father commanded before his death, saying...' and if Jacob knew about this matter, it would have been appropriate for them to plead with their father on his deathbed to command Joseph not to go against his word, and they would not have been in danger, nor would they have had to invent words.'

In other words, Ramban suggests that the story of Joseph's sale remained hidden from Jacob all his life. According to Ramban, the brothers did not tell Jacob about their actions out of fear of his reaction. Jacob, who had rebuked his sons like Reuben, Simeon, and Levi in the past, might have reacted harshly to such a serious act. Joseph, who was a highly moral person, never revealed the truth to Jacob during his lifetime.

Ramban explains that proof of this is seen later when the brothers approach Joseph after Jacob's death, claiming that 'your father commanded before his death.' According to Ramban, if Jacob had known about the sale of Joseph, the brothers would have asked him before his death to command Joseph to forgive his brothers, knowing he would not go against his father's words. The fact that Joseph's brothers told him, after Jacob's death, that their father commanded before his death that he forgive them indicates that Jacob never knew all his life that Joseph's brothers were the ones who sold him.