בראשית, פרק ל״ז, פסוק י״ח

The fateful encounter between Joseph and his brothers begins long before he physically reaches them. Catching sight of him from a distance is not merely a geographic detail, but a reflection of their profound emotional alienation. As he approached alone through an isolated area [ביאור שטיינזלץ], they did not look at him with the natural affection of siblings. Instead, they viewed him as a complete stranger [אור החיים]. This vast physical distance also carried a prophetic weight, as they foresaw through divine inspiration that Joseph's descendants would eventually distance themselves from serving God [חומת אנך].

Confronted with this sight, the brothers hurried to act before he could even get close. The primary approach among commentators is that their hearts filled with cunning as they wove a secret plot. Their goal was to cause his death without directly shedding his blood with their own hands, thereby hiding the deed from the public eye [רמב״ן, הטור הארוך, ביאור יש״ר]. To achieve this from afar, they considered shooting arrows at him or inciting fierce dogs to attack him [רמב״ן, הטור הארוך, צאינה וראינה]. The idea of using dogs was highly calculated; since Joseph had previously spread bad reports about them, they judged him guilty of slander, a sin for which the fitting punishment is being thrown to the dogs [בית הלוי, חתם סופר]. Others suggest that inciting the dogs was meant to serve as a divine test. If Joseph was truly righteous and innocent of wronging them, the dogs would leave him unharmed. However, if the dogs tore him apart, it would prove he was being punished measure for measure for the false reports he brought to their father [אלשיך, שפתי כהן].

This raises a heavy question regarding how righteous men could plan a murder. A group of commentators explains that the brothers judged Joseph under the legal category of a pursuer, someone actively threatening their lives. They were entirely convinced that Joseph was filled with his own malicious plots against them. They believed he was coming to find a pretext to make them sin, ultimately causing their father or God to curse and punish them so that he would remain the only blessed son. Perceiving a severe existential threat to both their spiritual and physical futures, they ruled that they were permitted to take his life in self-defense [ספורנו, העמק דבר, מלבי״ם, רש״ר הירש, חתם סופר]. Their secret schemes and hostile thoughts were entirely directed against him as a preemptive strike [רש״י, רד״ק, מזרחי, שד״ל].

In sharp contrast to the idea of a lethal conspiracy, a unique approach suggests that the brothers never actually intended to kill Joseph. Instead, their conspiracy was entirely a pretense. Their true goal was to threaten and terrify him, using intimidating words and actions to make him believe his life was in danger. They hoped this severe scare tactic would simply deter him from continuing his behavior against them [הכתב והקבלה].