What is the significance of the words "Ka'asher Hishbi'echa" that Pharaoh added?
Rashi (from Sotah 36b): If not for the oath, Pharaoh would not have granted Yosef permission to leave. 1 He was afraid that if he would force Yosef to transgress 2 the Shevu'ah that he made to his father, Yosef would also transgress 3 the Shevu'ah that he made to Pharaoh regarding the one language (Lashon ha'Kodesh) that Yosef knew, and that Pharaoh did not.
Ha'amek Davar: You should bury him in the grave that he dug, and not in the first place you come to in Eretz Yisrael.
The Gemara says that Pharaoh asked Yosef to 'permit' his Shevu'ah. Perhaps Rashi says 'transgress,' for if one permits a Shevu'ah with Hashem's name, retroactively he said Hashem's name in vain. When R. Yehoshua ben Levi swore not to leave Gan Eden, Hashem said. "If he never permitted a Shevu'ah that he took, he may also fulfill this one" (Kesuvos 77b). (PF)
Rosh, Moshav Zekenim: Why should Yosef transgress two Shevu'os? Surely, the Shevu'ah to his father, a Ben Bris, was more important! Rather, if he would transgress the Shevu'ah to Pharaoh, they would depose Pharaoh (in Egypt, the king must know all 70 languages) and make Yosef the sole king, and he could fulfill the Shevu'ah to his father. (In Egypt, a slave may not rule - see 41:12:1:1. Why should they be adamant about knowing 70 languages, but not about a slave ruling? - PF). See Gur Aryeh (50:6:1.1).
QUESTIONS ON RASHI
Rashi writes: "'... Pharaoh feared... lest Yosef say, 'I will then violate my own oath to you, not to reveal that I know Leshon ha'Kodesh... whereas you do not!'" Why did Pharaoh feel more threatened by Yosef's language, than by Yosef's superior wisdom in general?
Gur Aryeh #1: As ruler over all the nations, Pharaoh must know the languages of those nations. 1 Knowing an additional language would demonstrate that Yosef was more fit for the throne.
Gur Aryeh #2: More than the language itself, Yosef's mastery showed that Yosef was inherently more fit to be king, chosen by Hashem. Were he to reveal this, the Egyptians would depose Pharaoh and crown Yosef instead.
Maharal (Ohr Chadash p. 63): Language is a nation's Tzurah; through which its potential is actualized. Also see Gur Aryeh to Devarim 1:22. (This follows from the observation that speech in general is the Tzurah of man; refer to 2:7:4.2.)
Rashi writes: "... Pharaoh feared... lest Yosef say, 'I will then violate my own oath to you, not to reveal that I know Leshon ha'Kodesh... whereas you do not!'" Why didn't Pharaoh know Leshon ha'Kodesh? Could he not learn it now, from Yosef or from someone else?
Gur Aryeh: Pharaoh ruled over the inhabited world, and mastered all of its languages; yet he could not even relate to Leshon ha'Kodesh, due to its sanctity.
