בראשית, פרק מ״ג, פסוק י״ב

As Jacob prepares to send his sons back to Egypt for more provisions, he equips them with precise instructions on how to handle the mysterious money previously found in their sacks. His primary concern is to prevent any misunderstandings or false accusations by the Egyptian ruler. To ensure their safety, Jacob tells his sons to take extra funds, though commentators debate the exact amount they carried. One perspective suggests they took three distinct portions of money. According to this view, Jacob instructed them to bring double the required amount for the new grain, fearing that prices might have risen. Even though they likely knew the current market rates from passing travelers, Jacob suspected a potential plot and wanted to be completely secure. In addition to this double amount for the new purchase, they were commanded to bring back the original money found in their sacks [רש״י, רלב״ג, מלבי״ם]. Proponents of this view note that the instruction to take extra money is presented as a completely separate thought from the returned money, indicating they were entirely distinct funds [גור אריה, מזרחי, ברטנורא].

Conversely, another approach maintains that the brothers only took two portions of money. In this interpretation, the new money was simply a second portion accompanying the returned funds. The total amount was double what they normally needed: half to pay their previous debt and half for the new purchase [אבן עזרא, רד״ק, שד״ל, בכור שור]. This is supported by later events in the narrative, where the brothers are described as taking the extra money without any separate mention of the returned funds, suggesting the old money was already included in that total amount [העמק דבר, ביאור יש״ר].

Beyond the amount itself, Jacob is highly specific about how the original money should be returned. He warns his sons not to keep it packed away until the Egyptians ask about it. Instead, they must hold the money visibly in their hands the very moment they appear before the ruler, immediately demonstrating their honesty and transparency [העמק דבר].

Jacob rationalizes the presence of the returned money by suggesting it was simply an unintentional oversight. The primary approach among commentators is that this mistake was made by the Egyptian official in charge. Perhaps during the measuring process, the money accidentally fell into the grain and was swept into the sacks [רד״ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ], or the official simply forgot to collect it [רש״י, מזרחי]. Some specify that this kind of error implies the official was overwhelmed and distracted, mistakenly placing the money in the sack instead of the cash register, rather than being purely negligent [רש״ר הירש]. Another perspective offers that the Egyptians intentionally placed the money in the sacks as a temporary identification mark, but then forgot to retrieve it before the brothers left [רשב״ם]. Finally, a unique view suggests Jacob feared the oversight was actually committed by the brothers themselves, worrying that they might have simply forgotten to pay for their first rations [בכור שור].