שִׁלְחוּ מִכֶּם אֶחָד וְגוֹ׳. וְהֵם לֹא עָשׂוּ כֵן, כִּי חָשְׁשׁוּ לְצָרַת אֲבִיהֶם עַל כֻּלָּן. שלחו מכם אחד, "Despatch one of you, etc." They did not do this as they were concerned that their father would worry needlessly about the fate of all the remaining brothers.
וְעוֹד שֶׁיָּדְעוּ נֶאֱמָנָה שֶׁלֹּא יִשְׁלַח בִּנְיָמִין, וְצֵא וּלְמַד כַּמָּה הִשְׁתַּדְּלוּת עָשׂוּ כֻּלָּם יַחַד עַד שֶׁשְּׁלָחוֹ בְּטַעֲנַת כִּי יְהוּדָה עָרֵב וְהוּא יְבִיאֶנּוּ, וְאִם יְהוּדָה וְכָל אֶחָיו בְּבֵית כֶּלֶא מַה יִהְיֶה בִּטְחוֹנוֹ שֶׁל יַעֲקֹב שֶׁיִּשְׁלַח בִּנְיָמִין וְעָרֵב צָרִיךְ לְהוֹצִיאוֹ מִבֵּית מִשְׁמָר? Furthermore, they were convinced that if only one brother would arrive back in the land of Canaan their father would never allow Benjamin to travel. We only need to look at the strenuous efforts Yehudah had to make to obtain permission for Benjamin to travel even though all the brothers except Shimon had returned home. If all the brothers were in jail in Egypt there would be no chance at all of Jacob allowing the last of the brothers to risk his life also.
אוֹ לְעוֹלָם לֹא הָיָה בְּדַעְתָּם לְהִפָּרֵד בְּשׁוּם אֹפֶן, כִּי הָיוּ יְרֵאִים עַל הַפֵּרוּד לְבַל יִהְיֶה אָשֵׁם לֶהֱיוֹתוֹ לְבַדּוֹ, וְלֹא נִתְרַצּוּ לְבַסּוֹף לְהַנִּיחַ אֶחָד מֵהֶם אֶלָּא לְצַד שֶׁתָּלָה לָהֶם הַנִּסָּיוֹן בָּזֶה כַּאֲשֶׁר אֲבָאֵר בְּפָסוּק (בראשית מב:יט) ״אִם כֵּנִים וְגוֹ׳ וְלֹא תָמוּתוּ״, אָז הֻכְרְחוּ בְּמַעֲשֵׂיהֶם. It may also be that the brothers did not even consider being separated. The only reason that they eventually agreed to leave Shimon behind was that Joseph had made this a test of how they could establish their credibility. I shall explain this in greater detail in my commentary on verse 19.