I am not quite sure what to make of verse 37, because of what Reuben said. Was he once again making a resolution that he would not follow through with? (There is a possibility.) Or, are we beginning to see here that the brothers are not the same as they were when they sent Joseph into Egypt? Now we find Reuben willing to make a great personal sacrifice in order that they be able to go down into Egypt and eat. I do not know.
There is a third possibility. Some commentators put this forth, and that is that a later editor inserted the word Reuben in there; and the actual one who uttered this was Judah. There is apparently some reason to believe that—and even somewhat of a biblical reason—because, when finally the appeal was made to Joseph, it was Judah that did it (not Reuben). So there is that possibility.
Now another point in which we see progress comes at the end of the chapter. The brothers explain to Jacob that they would be unable to go back to Egypt without Benjamin, and Jacob protested. For a time he would refuse to let Benjamin go, then Reuben intervened pledging his own sons for the safety of Benjamin.
These were dramatic and drastic statements that they were making and you wonder at this time, being unconverted men, if they really knew what they were promising before God, so to speak.
Earlier Reuben had served himself, no one else's happiness, not even his father's, was allowed to intrude. Now he put himself and his own family on the line regarding Benjamin. So we are seeing a change in his character here.
Does the pattern of necessity really bring changes? It did in this story. We see two changes, first in Judah and then in Jacob. The change in Judah was an important one, similar to the change already noted in his brother Reuben in the previous chapter. When Jacob had refused to allow Benjamin to allow to go to Egypt with the others, Reuben had intervened to pledge his own sons as security.
This was extravagant. Jacob would never have killed Reuben's sons, but the sentiment behind the pledge was nevertheless sincere. This is the same concern for Benjamin, now seen in Judah's remarks.
