וַיֹּ֕אמֶר גַּם־עַתָּ֥ה כְדִבְרֵיכֶ֖ם כֶּן־ה֑וּא אֲשֶׁ֨ר יִמָּצֵ֤א אִתּוֹ֙ יִהְיֶה־לִּ֣י עָ֔בֶד וְאַתֶּ֖ם תִּהְי֥וּ נְקִיִּֽם׃
And he said, “Now also let it be according unto your words: he with whom it is found shall be my bondman, and ye shall be blameless.”
Classical midrash on the mitigation of the brothers’ rash oath.
Sefaria · Bereshit Rabbah (context)
אֲשֶׁר יִמָּצֵא אִתּוֹ יִהְיֶה לִּי עָבֶד וְאַתֶּם תִּהְיוּ נְקִיִּים. הָעֶבֶד מֵקֵל אֶת הַגְּזֵרָה שֶׁל הָאַחִים.
English of Core Text: “He with whom it is found shall be my bondman, and ye shall be blameless.” The steward softens the brothers’ own decree.
On the daf / in context: The midrash notes that the steward (acting under Yosef’s instructions) deliberately reduces the penalty from death to servitude and exempts the others, setting up the precise pressure that will fall on Binyamin alone.
Type of Learning: Derash on the verse (classic midrash) — not a formal named middah of the 13.
What Is Learned: By moderating the brothers’ extreme self-imposed sentence, the steward isolates the test onto Binyamin and thereby creates the conditions for Yehudah’s final speech.