GEN1509 Gratitude should be for everything good that came out from the benefit that you received, and not just for the immediate benefit … a giant in Torah is thankful to others for a good turn. Even a seemingly small favor is judged by the total chain of events that follow it.   … At the other end of the spectrum is the perplexing response of some people to repay goodness with bad. The concept is found in Yosef’s explaining his refusal to succumb to the seductions of Potiphar’s wife [this verse] and explicitly in the words of Yosef when he sent Menashe to demand from the brothers Genesis 44:4: Why did you replay evil for good? [When he accused them of stealing his silver goblet].  As unreasonable as it seems, it is quite common. The Torah writes about Pharaoh, “A new king arose over Egypt who did not know of Yosef.” [Exodus 1:8].   Rashi cites the words of Chazal that he was the same king but he acted as if he did not know of Yosef. King David also refers to this trait when he writes Psalms 109:5 “They have imposed upon me evil in place of good …” According to Rashi, he was referring to Edom ad Ishmael, and according to the Radak he was referring to Jews such as Doeg, who had repaid his goodness with evil. King Solomon writes: Proverbs 17:13 “One who responds to goodness with evil, evil will never leave his house.” It stands to reason that he was hinting to the same people that his father, King David, was referring to. Several Torah leaders of the last generation used to jest that the larger the favor, the larger the stones one will likely receive in return for the favor. There is also a common expression in English – “no good deed will go unpunished.” CASTLE 1032-4

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GEN1546 See [[GEN1509]] Genesis 39:9 wickedness CASTLE 1032-4

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GEN1560 If you ask for forgiveness, and the person just tells you that it is all right, or it will be okay, or that it was all for the good, this is not the same thing as telling you that he forgives you. He must state explicitly that he forgives you.  Yosef told his brothers that they should not be distressed and should not reproach themselves for having sold him down to Egypt, because Hashem had merely sent him there ahead of them to serve as a provided. [this verse]. Later, Yosef also comforted them and spoke to their hearts. Genesis 50:21 Even so, this was not considered forgiveness and Yosef really never forgave them. [That was the reason for the tragedy of the Asarah Harugei Malchus (the death of the ten great Sages who were martyred and brutally murdered by the Romans, about 1,500 years later.) See Rabbeinu Bachyei Bereshis 44:17 and 50:21.]   Probably, he was not obliged to forgive them since they had treated him so severely that is was impossible to ever repair the damage they caused. Although he told them the reasons why they should not be concerned, this was not equivalent to actually saying that he forgave them, which he never did. [Some say that Yosef’s brothers never really regretted what they did, and continued to believe that what they did was correct. Accordingly, Yosef would definitely not have had to forgive them. If that is the case, and Yosef was unaware of the fact that they had never really repented even if his words were the equivalent of forgiving them they would not have been forgiven because the forgiveness was based on a misconception.] CASTLE 835

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GEN1614 See [[GEN1560]] Genesis 45:5 distressed CASTLE 835

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