Illustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio

After Yosef reveals himself to his brothers, the brothers return to אֶרֶץ כְּנַעָן (Eretz Canaan, the Land of Canaan) to let Yaakov know that Yosef is still alive. The pasuk says that Yaakov did not believe them at first (Bereishit 45:26).

A book called Avot de-Rabbi Natan offers this explanation. Years earlier, the brothers lied to Yaakov when they dipped Yosef’s כְּתוֹנֶת פַּסִּים (ketonet passim, fine coat) in blood, and made Yaakov believe that a wild animal had killed Yosef. Now, when they told Yaakov that Yosef was still alive, Yaakov could not believe them.