It addresses the strangeness of expression in a few places in the Bible that have וַיֹ֫אמֶר followed by another וַיֹ֫אמֶר. Notice the expression in the following:
Genesis 37:21-22
וַיִּשְׁמַ֣ע רְאוּבֵ֔ן וַיַּצִּלֵ֖הוּ מִיָּדָ֑ם וַיֹּ֕אמֶר לֹ֥א נַכֶּ֖נּוּ נָֽפֶשׁ׃ וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֣ם ׀ רְאוּבֵן֮ אַל־תִּשְׁפְּכוּ־דָם֒ הַשְׁלִ֣יכוּ אֹת֗וֹ אֶל־הַבּ֤וֹר הַזֶּה֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בַּמִּדְבָּ֔ר וְיָ֖ד אַל־תִּשְׁלְחוּ־ב֑וֹ לְמַ֗עַן הַצִּ֤יל אֹתוֹ֙ מִיָּדָ֔ם לַֽהֲשִׁיב֖וֹ אֶל־אָבִֽיו׃
Wouldn't it have been more natural to read the text continuously as one speech instance?וַיִּשְׁמַע רְאוּבֵן וַיַּצִּלֵ֫הוּ מִיָּדָם וַיֹּ֫אמֶר לֹא נַכֶּ֫נּוּ נָ֫פֶשׁ ... אַל־תִּשְׁפְּכוּ־דָם הַשְׁלִ֫יכוּ אֹתוֹ אֶל־הַבּוֹר הַזֶּה
And Reuben heard and saved him from their hand, and he said, "Let us not strike him mortally.... Do not spill blood. Cast him into this pit."Steiner suggests, in accord with a few ancient commentators, that the repetition of ויאמר indicates a pause that (in this case) means that the first was his thought and the second was his speech to his brothers. In other words, "and he said to himself, 'Let us not kill him," and he said to his brothers, 'Don't spill his blood, but cast him into the pit.'" According to this latter statement, he was including himself in the groupthink of killing Joseph, but he didn't want them to be personally responsible (let him die of natural causes or by the hand of someone else).
Did you read the article? What do you think of the argument?