As this shabbat's parasha is Vayeshev with, amongst other topics, the selling of Joseph by his brothers into slavery, the question arises: What exactly went on at the time? Who did the brothers sell him to, and who sold him to Potiphar?
"And they sat down to eat bread; and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites came from Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery and balm and ladanum, going to carry it down to Egypt...Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother, our flesh.' And his brethren hearkened unto him. And there passed by Midianites, merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they brought Joseph into Egypt...And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard...And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hand of the Ishmaelites, that had brought him down thither.
It's unclear from the verses whether Joseph was sold by the brothers to the Ishmaelites or the Midianites, nor which of these people sold him to Potiphar. Moreover, this translation (Machon Mamre) appears to translate the Hebrew "מדנים" - Medanim - as Midianites - "מדיינים", though Biblically Medan and Midyan were two different brothers: "And Abraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah. And she bore him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah."
I heard today a shiur where a number of explanations were brought. Feel free to add more.
The Maharal in Gur Aryeh brings a few answers:
1. The Ibn Ezra says that the Ishmaelites and the Midianites were one and the same, based on a verse that speaks about the Midianites but says: "And Gideon said unto them: 'I would make a request of you, that ye would give me every man the ear-rings of his spoil.'--For they had golden ear-rings, because they were Ishmaelites." (Judges 8:24)
This, however, does not explain the issue with the Medanim.
2. The Ramban (Nachmanides) says that the Ibn Ezra's answer is problematic because clearly the Ishmaelite reference in Judges is speaking about the "Bnei Kedem" that came with the Midianites to attack Israel. Therefore Ramban explains that its must be that these were two separate groups; the Ishmaelites bought him from the brothers and sold him to the Midianites who then sold him to Potiphar.
This again doesn't explain the issue with the Medanim.
Moreover, the Maharal says that that the problem with this explanation is that it doesn't explain the final verse, in which Joseph is sold to Potiphar by the Ishmaelites.
3. There are those that explain that Joseph was sold by the Ishamaelites to the Midianites and the Midianites tried to sell him to Potiphar, but he refused because he was suspicious that Joseph may have been kidnapped (the assumption being that something about Joseph seemed suspicious - maybe he didn't look like the average slave, the fact that he was sold by himself and not as part of a group, etc), so the Midianites sold him back to the Ishmaelites to prove that it's okay to sell him, and the Ishmaelites in turn sold him to Potiphar.
But about this, the Maharal says that this explanation lacks basis, because why would the Torah need to tell us all of this?
4. Therefore, the Maharal says, the Ibn Ezra's explanation makes more sense, and builds upon it: The brothers sat down to eat, and from afar saw what they thought were a group of Ishmaelites. In reality, the Torah explains to us that these were actually Midianites. Perhaps they dressed like Ishmaelites. Then the Torah goes back to the brothers' view, where they think they're selling him to Ishmaelites, when in reality, he's being sold to the Midianites, as further explained by the Torah. Finally, the Midianites sell him to Potiphar, but Potiphar, too, thinks that he's buying his new slave from a group of Ishmaelites.
5. Finally, the Maharal brings Rashi who explains that the Midianites were a small group within the caravan of Ishmaelites, to at times the sale was named after the larger group, though ultimately the buyers were the smaller group of Midianites.
The Rashbam brings his own interesting answer:
The brothers tossed Joseph into the hole, and sat down to eat away from the hole (possibly due to Joseph's yelling). As they were originally planning to kill him, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites in the distance and thought to sell him to them. What they didn't know was that another group of Midianites was coming from another direction, and came upon Joseph. They pulled him out of the hole without the brothers' knowledge and took him prisoner. It seems that they were now aware that they had a kidnapped prisoner which was problematic (as per the no. 3 explanation in the Maharal), they chose to sell him to the passing Ishmaelites. From here, says the Rashbam, Joseph was sold to Egypt. And he explains that Medan, Midyan and Yishmael were brothers, and that the Medanim and Ishmaelites were one people.
"And they sat down to eat bread; and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites came from Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery and balm and ladanum, going to carry it down to Egypt...Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother, our flesh.' And his brethren hearkened unto him. And there passed by Midianites, merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they brought Joseph into Egypt...And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard...And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hand of the Ishmaelites, that had brought him down thither.
It's unclear from the verses whether Joseph was sold by the brothers to the Ishmaelites or the Midianites, nor which of these people sold him to Potiphar. Moreover, this translation (Machon Mamre) appears to translate the Hebrew "מדנים" - Medanim - as Midianites - "מדיינים", though Biblically Medan and Midyan were two different brothers: "And Abraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah. And she bore him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah."
I heard today a shiur where a number of explanations were brought. Feel free to add more.
The Maharal in Gur Aryeh brings a few answers:
1. The Ibn Ezra says that the Ishmaelites and the Midianites were one and the same, based on a verse that speaks about the Midianites but says: "And Gideon said unto them: 'I would make a request of you, that ye would give me every man the ear-rings of his spoil.'--For they had golden ear-rings, because they were Ishmaelites." (Judges 8:24)
This, however, does not explain the issue with the Medanim.
2. The Ramban (Nachmanides) says that the Ibn Ezra's answer is problematic because clearly the Ishmaelite reference in Judges is speaking about the "Bnei Kedem" that came with the Midianites to attack Israel. Therefore Ramban explains that its must be that these were two separate groups; the Ishmaelites bought him from the brothers and sold him to the Midianites who then sold him to Potiphar.
This again doesn't explain the issue with the Medanim.
Moreover, the Maharal says that that the problem with this explanation is that it doesn't explain the final verse, in which Joseph is sold to Potiphar by the Ishmaelites.
3. There are those that explain that Joseph was sold by the Ishamaelites to the Midianites and the Midianites tried to sell him to Potiphar, but he refused because he was suspicious that Joseph may have been kidnapped (the assumption being that something about Joseph seemed suspicious - maybe he didn't look like the average slave, the fact that he was sold by himself and not as part of a group, etc), so the Midianites sold him back to the Ishmaelites to prove that it's okay to sell him, and the Ishmaelites in turn sold him to Potiphar.
But about this, the Maharal says that this explanation lacks basis, because why would the Torah need to tell us all of this?
4. Therefore, the Maharal says, the Ibn Ezra's explanation makes more sense, and builds upon it: The brothers sat down to eat, and from afar saw what they thought were a group of Ishmaelites. In reality, the Torah explains to us that these were actually Midianites. Perhaps they dressed like Ishmaelites. Then the Torah goes back to the brothers' view, where they think they're selling him to Ishmaelites, when in reality, he's being sold to the Midianites, as further explained by the Torah. Finally, the Midianites sell him to Potiphar, but Potiphar, too, thinks that he's buying his new slave from a group of Ishmaelites.
5. Finally, the Maharal brings Rashi who explains that the Midianites were a small group within the caravan of Ishmaelites, to at times the sale was named after the larger group, though ultimately the buyers were the smaller group of Midianites.
The Rashbam brings his own interesting answer:
The brothers tossed Joseph into the hole, and sat down to eat away from the hole (possibly due to Joseph's yelling). As they were originally planning to kill him, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites in the distance and thought to sell him to them. What they didn't know was that another group of Midianites was coming from another direction, and came upon Joseph. They pulled him out of the hole without the brothers' knowledge and took him prisoner. It seems that they were now aware that they had a kidnapped prisoner which was problematic (as per the no. 3 explanation in the Maharal), they chose to sell him to the passing Ishmaelites. From here, says the Rashbam, Joseph was sold to Egypt. And he explains that Medan, Midyan and Yishmael were brothers, and that the Medanim and Ishmaelites were one people.
