Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 42:27/אבן עזרא על בראשית מ״ב:כ״ז
אויפתח האחד. האחד מהן. ויתכן להיות ראובן כי הוא הבבור, כמו אחד בחשבון:
1AND AS ONE OF THEM OPENED. Va-yiftach ha-echad means, and one of them opened. The reference is possibly to Reuben, as he was the first born. In this case ha-echad (one of them) means the first in number.28) has the definite article prefixed to it. Thus it means the number one or the first one, that is, the eldest. If Scripture had meant one of them, it would have read echad.