Vayigash

אל תרגזו בדרך BE NOT AGITATED BY THE WAY — Do not busy yourselves with Halachic discussions lest the road become unsteady for you (i.e. lest you lose your way). Another explanation is: Do not take very long steps and enter the town where you will slay over night while the sun is still shining. According to the plain sense of the verse, however, it must be explained thus: Because they felt ashamed he feared that they might quarrel on the way about his having been sold, arguing one with another. One would say: “It was through you he was sold”. Another: “It was you who made slanderous statements about him and caused us to hate him”.

וישלח את אחיו, every expression denoting accompaniment (sending something along) is made clear by means of the dagesh, whereas when the word means merely “sending” it is in the “weak” construction without the dagesh. [The author speaks of the use of the root שלח, which may mean “to send,” or to “send with.” When it means the latter, this is noticeable through the dagesh in the letter ל. Ed.] In our verse it means the latter.

אל תרגזו, do not be nervous about robbers that you might encounter on the route. I have no hostile neighbours on any of my borders. This is also the meaning of the word רגזו in Psalms 4,5. The verse there implies that you should be worried not to commit a sin against G’d. If you are, you will not have to worry about any man-made hazards. The meaning of the same root in Deuteronomy 28,65 is also the same, i.e. as a result of your sinful conduct G’d burdened you with a heart which is constantly worried about all kinds of disaster that may befall you. This is part of the punishment you will experience for not having worried about ignoring G’d’s commandments previous to the retribution. Chabakuk 3,7 as well as Isaiah 32,11 make similar points. On the other hand, the same root used in Job 9,6 or when it appears in the Book of Daniel and the Book of Ezra refers to a state of anger. The word טרנבלד (old French for trembling) is the translation of כעס for anytime that word appears in the 24 books of the Bible.

וישלח את אחיו, he gave them permission to leave, as when the angel had said to Yaakov (after the wrestling match) שלחני כי עלה השחר, “let me go for dawn has risen.” (24,56)

אל תרגזו בדרך, do not quarrel with one another on the journey concerning your having sold me, blaming each other for the decision taken at the time.

אל תרגזו בדרך, “do not fear any danger on the way,” as I have complete control of the region. The root רגז is used here in the same sense as in Psalms 4,5: רגזו ואל תחטאו, “tremble and do not sin anymore.” We also encounter it in this sense in Deuteronomy 28,65: לב רגז which the Targum renders as “a fearful heart.”