TT #17 · Parashas Mikeitz · Passuk 42:37
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר רְאוּבֵן֙ אֶל־אָבִ֣יו לֵאמֹ֔ר אֶת־שְׁנֵ֤י בָנַי֙ תָּמִ֔ית אִם־לֹ֥א אֲבִיאֶ֖נּוּ אֵלֶ֑יךָ תְּנָ֤ה אֹתוֹ֙ עַל־יָדִ֔י וַאֲנִ֖י אֲשִׁיבֶ֥נּוּ אֵלֶֽיךָ׃
Then Reuben said to his father, “You may kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my care, and I will return him to you.”
Torah Temimah points to Avot de-Rabbi Natan 37:12.
שני בני תמית. שואל שלא כענין – זה ראובן, שאמר את שני בני תמית.
English: “You may kill my two sons…” [This is an example of] one who asks improperly — namely Reuven, who said, “You may kill my two sons.”
On the source / in context: Avot de-Rabbi Natan classifies Reuven’s proposal as a request made improperly; the related Bereishis Rabbah passage records Yaakov’s rejection of the proposal.
Type of Learning: Derash on the verse (midrashic) — not a formal named middah of the 13.
What Is Learned: Reuven’s offer to forfeit the lives of his own sons was regarded as an improper and extreme proposal, and Yaakov did not accept it.