And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?

Israel said to them: You have done this for my misery in that you told him you had also another brother.

And Israel said, Why did ye deal so ill with me as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?

And Israel saith, 'Why did ye evil to me, by declaring to the man that ye had yet a brother?'

And Israel said, Why were you so cruel to me as to say to him that you had a brother?

At dixit Israel, Utquid malefecistis mihi, ut nuntiaretis viro, quod adhuc frater esset vobis.

And Israel said,.... In answer to the speech of Judah:
wherefore dealt ye so ill with me; had done that which brought so much evil upon him, gave him so much grief and trouble, and threw him into such perplexity and distress, that he knew not what to do, or course to take:
as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother? which he thought was done imprudently and unadvisedly, and that there was no need of it; which, had it not been done, would have prevented this anxiety of mind he was now in, and the mischief he feared would follow.1

To the father's reproachful question, why they had dealt so ill with him, as to tell the man that they had a brother, Judah replied: "The man asked after us and our kinsmen: Is your father yet alive? have ye a brother? And we answered him in conformity (פּי על as in Exodus 34:27, etc.) with these words (i.e., with his questions). Could we know, then, that he would say, Bring your brother down?" Joseph had not made direct inquiries, indeed, about their father and their brother; but by his accusation that they were spies, he had compelled them to give an exact account of their family relationships. So that Judah, when repeating the main points of the interview, could very justly give them in the form just mentioned.