הן כסף וגו' השיבנו אליך ק"ו ואיך נגנב
Behold, the money which we found in our sacks’ mouths we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan; how then should we steal out of thy lord’s house silver or gold?
Bereishis Rabbah 92:7.
Sefaria · Bereishis Rabbah 92:7
הֵן כֶּסֶף אֲשֶׁר מָצָאנוּ... הֱשִׁיבֹנוּ. הָאַחִים בּוֹנִים קַל וָחֹמֶר מִן הַכֶּסֶף שֶׁהֵשִׁיבוּ.
English: Bereishis Rabbah 92:7 identifies “Here is the money we found” as one of the Torah’s ten qal va-chomer arguments: if they returned the money, how much more would they not steal.
On the daf / in context: The midrash appreciates the logical force of the argument: if they returned money they could have kept, how much more would they refrain from deliberate theft.
Type of Learning: Derash on the verse (classic midrash / qal va-chomer) — one of the middot of interpretation applied to narrative reasoning.
What Is Learned: The brothers’ defense is formally strong; their earlier honesty with the returned silver becomes the premise of a qal va-chomer against the present accusation.