According to Taberî, the theft accusation that the brothers attributed to Yusuf is actually related to his grandfather (his mother's father) breaking an idol and throwing it by the roadside; according to another narration, his mother had him break this idol. Furthermore, the matter that Yusuf concealed within himself expresses that the theft accusation that the brothers hurled at Benjamin is actually false and that Allah knows this falsehood. These two matters have been narrated in the context of Yusuf's inner response to his brothers' complaints and accusations.

وقد اختلف أهل التأويل في السرق الذي وصفوا به يوسف، فقال بعضهم: كان صنما لجده أبي أمه كسره وألقاه على الطريق

According to this exegete, the purpose of the brothers' statement 'if he stole, then his brother also stole before' is to separate themselves from the method of Yusuf and Benjamin, because the two are from a different mother and have a different nature. Different narrations are related regarding the theft attributed to Yusuf: breaking his grandfather's idols, distributing food to the poor, or his aunt tying him with a belt to keep him with her. Râzî also conveys the linguistic discussion between Zeccâc and Abû Ali al-Fârisî regarding what the pronoun in the expression 'fa-aserrahâ' refers to, and ultimately includes an interpretation that Yusuf concealed the brothers' response or the nature of that theft within himself.

وكان غرضهم من هذا الكلام أنا لسنا على طريقته ولا على سيرته ، وهو وأخوه مختصان بهذه الطريقة لأنهما من أم أخرى

Kurtubî points out that the brothers' accusation of Yusuf of theft was made in order to clear themselves from his deed, implying that Yusuf is not one of them and that if he stole, this is a 'hereditary trait' coming from a thieving brother. He successively narrates different narrations about the source of this theft accusation (Isaac's belt, stealing an idol, hiding a piece of meat from food, stealing food for the poor, or that it is completely a slander).

وإنما قالوا ذلك ليبرءوا من فعله لأنه ليس من أمهم وأنه إن سرق فقد جذبه عرق أخيه السارق لأن الاشتراك في الأنساب يشاكل في الأخلاق

Ibn Kesîr narrates that Yusuf's brothers based their theft accusation on the incident where he stole an idol for his grandfather (his mother's father) and broke it, or according to the narration related by Mujâhid, the incident of taking Isaac's belt that was with his aunt. According to this narration, because his aunt loved Yusuf very much, she secretly tied the belt under his clothes in order to keep him with her, then announced that it was lost and had everyone search for it, and found the belt with Yusuf; thus she prevented Jacob from interfering with him. The brothers, remembering this incident, said 'before him, a brother of his also did the same.'

كان أول ما دخل على يوسف من البلاء فيما بلغني أن عمته ابنة إسحاق وكانت أكبر ولد إسحاق وكانت عندها منطقة إسحاق وكانوا يتوارثونها بالكبر

Beydâwî narrates in this verse that the person whom the brothers accused as 'a brother of his stole before him' is Yusuf, and conveys various narrations regarding this accusation (his aunt's belt, an idol, sheep/poultry, a golden statue). He points out that Yusuf concealed something within himself in response to this accusation (fa-aserrahâ yûsuf fî nafsih) and lists different interpretations regarding what this concealed pronoun is (a response, a word, or charging him with theft). Furthermore, he conveys that the expression 'antum sharr makânan' is an explanation of this concealed matter and refers to the brothers' actual theft and bad conduct.

فأسرها يوسف في نفسه ولم يبدها لهم أكنها ولم يظهرها لهم، والضمير للإجابة أو المقالة أو نسبة السرقة إليه وقيل إنها كناية بشريطة التفسير يفسرها قوله: قال أنتم شر مكانا فإنه بدل من أسرها.

According to Zemahşerî, Yusuf concealed within himself a statement meaning 'your condition is worse' in response to his brothers' theft accusation; because he knows that he and his brother did not actually commit theft. Furthermore, the exegete conveys multiple narrations regarding the theft incident attributed to Yusuf by his brothers (breaking an idol, burying the statue in a church, or the narration of Abraham's belt, etc.).

فقال : بنو راحيل الذين لا يزال منكم عليهم البلاء ، ذهبتم بأخي فأهلكتموه