R. Johanan said: Wherever [Scripture] writes 'And he abode [or dwelt]', it denotes trouble, Thus: And Israel abode in Shittim — and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab; And Jacob dwelt in the laid where his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan— and Joseph brought to his father their evil report; And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen— And the time drew near that Israel must die; And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree — And the Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was the king's seed in Edom (1K5:5) (talmud sanhedrin 106a)
WITH THE SONS OF BILHAH — meaning that he made it his custom to associate with the sons of Bilhah because his brothers slighted them as being sons of a hand-maid; therefore he fraternised with them. (Rashi ad loc)
But where were the sons of Leah?
THEIR EVIL REPORT — Whatever he saw wrong in his brothers, the sons of Leah, he reported to his father: that they used to eat flesh cut off from a living animal, that they treated the sons of the handmaids with contempt, calling them slaves, and that they were suspected of living in an immoral manner. With three such similar matters he was therefore punished.
Kli Yakar - Shlomo Ephraim ben Aaron Luntschitz (1550 – 1619, Prague)
ולא יכלו דברו לשלום - [Actually], they could have spoken peaceably [towards him,] but they were not able to because they distrusted all of the evil reports he [Joseph] had brought about them. His father said, "It is out of hatred that he has spoken." If so, they were not able to speak to their father in words that could bring about peace. Hence, the text says לשלום
Ha'Amek Davar - Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin - 1816-1893,Volozhin
They could not bear (tolerate) his words to them as [possibly being] peaceful. They were convinced that he [Joseph] hated them. They also beli that he concealed his hatred. Hence they could not bear [his words.] The sense of "they could [not]" is a matter of patience (or tolerance)
v4
AND THEY COULD NOT SPEAK PEACEABLY TO HIM — from what is stated to their discredit we may infer something to their credit: they did not speak one thing with their mouth having another thing quite different in their hearts (Genesis Rabbah 84:9)
Shelah (Sh'ney Luchot HaBrit) - Isaiah Horovitz (c.1565-1630) -- Kedoshim, Ner Mitzvah #63
The Torah exhorts us not to bottle up our hatred against a fellow Jew in our heart (Leviticus 19:17), but to tell him openly if we wish to criticize his conduct, i.e. הוכח תוכיח. Proverbs 27:5 provides the rationale, namely that a rebuke reveals loving concern for the person so rebuked.
This is a virtue as explained by Rashi on Genesis 37:4 that Joseph's brothers, rather than concealing their dislike of Joseph and flattering him, spoke out about it.
One must not contrast this with the statement of our sages who condemned Naval for saying what was in his heart. They even changed the reading of the name of his ancestor from נבל to כלבו so as to emphasise that every evil thing in his heart he expressed with his lips. (Samuel 25; also Jerusalem Talmud Sanhedrin 2,3). His was a special case; he should not have spoken at all instead of using his power of speech only to denigrate others. Joseph's brothers, on the other hand, had to maintain relations with him. Rather than pretend to like him they chose to say what was on their minds.
v12
"His brothers went to pasture their father's flocks in Shekhem." (37:12)
The reader is at once curious: why are these people, whose father's house is in Hevron, taking the sheep all the way to Shekhem?
' We learn in the name of R. Yossi: This is a place destined for trouble. In Shekhem Dina was raped, in Shekhem Yosef was sold by his brothers, and in Shekhem the kingdom of the house of David was divided." (Sanhedrin 102a) We may interpret this as meaning that, according to the Midrash, Shekhem has some special quality of dispute, controversy and trouble.
: "'The brothers went to pasture (et) the flocks of their father in Shekhem' - there is a vocalization point above the word 'et' (denoting the direct object), teaching that they really went to pasture themselves [i.e., take care of their own interests]." (Bereishit Rabba 84, 12; Sifri Be-ha'alotekha 69 and others, as well as Rashi 37:12)
"Why was Yaakov fearful for his sons' welfare? He feared that perhaps the avengers of Shekhem would attack them, and Yaakov's sons would be killed." (Torah Sheleima, 102; this also reflects the interpretation of the Jerusalem Targum, known as the Targum Yonatan)
v14 "'He sent him from the valley of Chevron' - he escorted him [from the city on the mountain] as far as the valley." (Sforno)
v 14 - Hevron is not in a valley but in the mountains- why does the text say it is "emek hevron"
Rashi ad loc "[What do we mean by 'the valley of Chevron'?] Is not Chevron on the mountain? Rather, [the phrase 'valley (emek) of Chevron' means] from a profound (amok) piece of advice from the righteous one who was buried in Chevron, to fulfill what was told to Avraham in the Covenant of the Parts - 'Your descendants shall be strangers [in a land that is not theirs, and they shall serve them and suffer four hundred years].'" (Rashi) (see 15:11-12) Both Josephs dream and Abraham's vision about to be fulfilled
There is an interesting moment in this week's parashah during Joseph's search for his brothers. Initially, Joseph seeks them in Shechem, where Jacob supposes them to be. As Joseph fruitlessly seeks his brothers, a man who perceives that Joseph is wandering aimlessly asks Joseph the purpose of his search. When Joseph replies that he is seeking his brothers, the man tells him he has heard that they are headed for Dothan. Joseph then follows his brothers there, and the story unfolds of his sale as a slave and his descent to Egypt.
One wonders what purpose this episode serves. Rashbam and others suggest that the Torah intends to praise Joseph for assiduously seeking his brothers in accordance with Jacob's wishes despite his own knowledge of his brothers' hostility toward him. Read this way, the inclusion of the anonymous supplier of information is simply a device to highlight Joseph's fidelity to his father's request in the face of obstacles that might have deterred a lesser human being.
However, the midrash identifies the anonymous informant as the angel Gabriel; behind this identification lies the assumption that Joseph's encounter with his informant is not coincidental but rather divinely ordained. God sends a celestial messenger to ensure that Joseph finds his brothers; his consequent descent to Egypt is a vital part of the divine plan to lead Jacob's descendants into enslavement there as had been foreordained. (Eliezer B Diamond, JTS)