According to Taberî, this verse informs those who ask about the story of Joseph and his brothers that there are lessons in this situation; his brothers described themselves as a strong community of eleven people (asabe), and they saw their father Jacob's preference for Joseph and his brother from the same mother in affection as a clear error. The expression 'mubin' indicates that this error is self-evident to anyone who thinks and observes.

يعنون: إن أبانا يعقوب لفي خطأ من فعله في إيثاره يوسف وأخاه من أمه علينا بالمحبة، ويعني بالمبين أنه خطأ، يبين عن نفسه أنه خطأ لمن تأمله ونظر إليه.

According to Zemahşerî, the brothers claimed that they were a strong and useful community of ten people (asabe), while Joseph and Benjamin were small and useless children, and therefore they were more worthy of their father's affection. He also states that the expression 'inna na la-khasiroun' means that if they cannot protect their younger brothers, they will be destroyed or deserving of destruction due to weakness and incapacity. The text also notes that they responded to only one of their father's two excuses (such as the possibility of a wolf eating him) and ignored the other.

والعصبة والعصابة : العشرة فصاعدا . وقيل : إلى الأربعين ، سموا بذلك لأنهم جماعة تعصب بهم الأمور ويستكفون النوائب . وروي النزال بن سبرة عن علي رضي الله عنه : ( ونحن عصبة ) ، بالنصب .

According to this exegete, Joseph and his brother being more beloved to their father caused jealousy in the other brothers; the reason for this is that despite the brothers being older in age, strong, and useful to their father, they were not prioritized in affection. Furthermore, it is stated that the brothers' speaking these words does not contradict their belief in Joseph's prophethood, because the condition of infallibility ('isma) was not required in the period before prophethood.

والجواب : أنه عليه السلام ما فضلهما على سائر الأولاد إلا في المحبة ، والمحبة ليست في وسع البشر فكان معذورا فيه ولا يلحقه بسبب ذلك لوم

According to Kurtubî, 'Yusuf' mentioned in this verse is in the nominative case as the subject (mubtada), and the lam at the beginning is an emphatic lam specific to oath clauses; the expression means 'by God, Joseph and his brother...'. It is stated that the brothers did not intend to accuse their father of straying from the faith with the word 'dalal', but rather characterized his preference for two brothers over the ten brothers as a miscalculation or wrong choice.

لم يريدوا ضلال الدين إذ لو أرادوه لكانوا كفارا بل أرادوا لفي ذهاب عن وجه التدبير في إيثار اثنين على عشرة مع استوائهم في الانتساب إليه

Ibn Kesîr states that when the brothers say 'we are a group', they express themselves as a large community, and their complaint is directed at Jacob's preference for Joseph and his brother over themselves (the majority). He also states that there is no definitive evidence that Joseph's brothers were prophets, and that on the contrary, the context of this verse points to the opposite. He notes that some people claim that revelation came to them after this event, but that this claim is without evidence, and that those who put forward this view rely only on a certain verse, which is insufficient.

واعلم أنه لم يقم دليل على نبوة إخوة يوسف وظاهر هذا السياق يدل على خلاف ذلك ومن الناس من يزعم أنهم أوحي إليهم بعد ذلك وفي هذا نظر ويحتاج مدعي ذلك على دليل

Beydâwî explains in this verse that Joseph's brothers criticized their father for loving him and Benjamin more than himself, claiming that they formed a strong community (usba) and were therefore more worthy of affection. Their statement that their father was in 'manifest deviation' because of this preference is attributed either to his preferring what is worthless or to his abandoning justice in affection. He also states according to a report that Joseph's father's love for him stemmed from certain signs (curiosities) in him, that this affection increased with him seeing the dream, and that the brothers' increasing jealousy drove them to harm him.

روي أنه كان أحب إليه لما يرى فيه من المخايل وكان إخوته يحسدونه، فلما رأى الرؤيا ضاعف له المحبة بحيث لم يصبر عنه، فتبالغ حسدهم حتى حملهم على التعرض له.