38 is a hard time to come to the realization that you are not your parents’ favorite. Not that your parents don’t love you, but their attention may be focused elsewhere. If your parents are on their way to becoming 145 years old, perhaps your favored sibling is a good 20 years younger than you. Maybe it’s a good time to throw that smartass down a well.
Does the favorite get picked on because he is the favorite? That seems odd, but it could also be true. Something compensates in the parents’ heads for all that attention. They have to make some of it negative. If you are older than the favored one, you might want to join in making sure the balance is kept. If you’re younger, you might stay the hell out of sight, spiteful of the attention and simultaneously grateful the spotlight is not on you.
When Joseph’s older brothers got to Egypt, they must have suspected at some level that they were fucked. Even though the Vizier didn’t seem to speak their language, he looked a hell of a lot like Joseph (whom they had thrown down a well or sold to some Ishaelites [aka Arabs] depending on who you ask.) He was bound to be pissed. Turns out, he was most interested in seeing his little brother. And then his dad.