Midrasch zu Bereschit 43:1

R. Joshua of Sikhnin was of the opinion that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave Abraham a sign that whatever happened to him would likewise happen to his descendants. He chose Abraham from among all those in his father’s house, as it is said: Thou art the Lord God who didst choose Abraham, and brought him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham (Neh. 9:7). And He selected Abraham’s sons to be His chosen ones among the seventy nations, as is said: For thou art a Holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be His own treasured nation out of all the peoples that are upon the face of the earth (Deut. 14:2). He said to Abraham: Get thee, and to Abraham’s sons, He said: I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Emorite, etc. (ibid. 3:17). He promised Abraham: And I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing (Gen. 12:2), and He told his sons: The Lord bless thee, and keep thee (Num. 6:24). To Abraham He said: I will make thee a great nation (Gen. 12:2), and to his descendants He said: And what great nation is there (Deut. 4:8). Concerning Abraham it is written: Abraham was one (Ezek. 33:24), and of Israel it is said: And who is like thy people Israel, a nation one in the earth (I Chron. 17:21). In reference to Abraham it is said: and hunger was in the land (Gen. 12:10), and about his descendants it is said: When they returned to Egypt, hunger was already in the land (ibid. 43:1). Abraham descended to Egypt because of famine, and his sons, also, descended because of famine, as is said: And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn from Egypt (ibid. 42:3). When Abraham descended the Egyptians approached him, and the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair (ibid. 12:14), and concerning his descendants, the Egyptians declared: Come, let us deal wisely with them lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that when there befalleth us any war, they also join themselves unto our enemies, and fight against us, and get them up out of the land (Exod. 1:10).

R. Joshua of Sikhnin said in the name of R. Levi: The Holy One transmitted a sign⁵⁹Gk.: semeion. to Abraham that whatever had happened to him would happen to his children.⁶⁰Cf. Gen. R. 40:6. Abraham was chosen from the whole household of his father. Israel also was chosen from seventy tongues. It was said to Abraham (in Gen. 12:1): GO … < FROM YOUR FATHER'S HOUSE >; and it was said for Israel (in Exod. 3:17): AND I HAVE SAID: I WILL BRING YOU UP < OUT OF THE AFFLICTION OF THE LAND OF EGYPT >. It was said to Abraham (in Gen. 12:3): I WILL BLESS THOSE WHO BLESS YOU; and also for Israel (in Numb. 6:24): THE LORD BLESS YOU AND KEEP YOU. It was said to Abraham (in Gen. 12:2): [THEN I WILL MAKE YOU INTO A GREAT NATION, BLESS YOU], AND MAKE YOUR NAME GREAT; and also concerning Israel (in Deut. 4:8): AND WHAT GREAT NATION IS THERE < WHICH HAS STATUTES AND ORDINANCES AS RIGHTEOUS AS ALL THIS LAW THAT I SET BEFORE YOU THIS DAY >? Abraham was called an individual, as stated (in Ezek. 33:24): ABRAHAM WAS ONE (ehad); and also Israel (in I Chron. 17:21): AND WHO IS LIKE YOUR PEOPLE ISRAEL, A UNIQUE (ehad) NATION ON EARTH? Just as with Abraham, when he came to the land, there was a famine in the land; with Israel also, when they had settled in the land of Israel, there was famine, as stated (in Gen. 43:1): BUT THE FAMINE WAS SEVERE IN THE LAND. Just as Abraham went down to Egypt because of famine, [as stated (in Gen. 12:10): NOW THERE WAS A FAMINE IN THE LAND, AND ABRAM WENT DOWN TO EGYPT]; so with Israel, as stated (in Gen. 42:3): SO THE TEN BROTHERS OF JOSEPH WENT DOWN TO BUY GRAIN < FROM EGYPT >. Just as in the case of Abraham, when he went down to Egypt, the Egyptians provoked him; so in the case of Israel, as stated (in Exod. 1:10): COME, LET US (Egyptians) ACT SHREWDLY < TOWARD THEM (Israel), LEST THEY MULTIPLY >…. Just as in the case of Abraham, four kings engaged him in battle;⁶¹“Engage in battle” comes from the Hebrew root ZWG, which corresponds to the Greek zeugos or zugon. so in the case of Israel, the nations are going to make an alliance⁶²Gk.: omonoia. against them, as stated (in Ps. 2:2): THE KINGS OF THE EARTH TAKE THEIR STAND, < AND THE RULERS TAKE COUNSEL TOGETHER AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST HIS ANOINTED >. Just as in the case of Abraham, the Holy One went out to fight before him and slew his enemies; so the Holy One has fought for Israel. In the age to come the Holy One is going out to fight their wars, as stated (in Zech. 14:3): THEN THE LORD WILL COME FORTH AND FIGHT WITH THOSE NATIONS AS WHEN HE FIGHTS IN THE DAY OF BATTLE.

And when Jacob heard the words of the infants of his sons, he wept bitterly and his ‎compassion was aroused in their behalf. And Jacob called unto his sons, and all of them came ‎unto him, and they sat down before him. And he said unto them: See ye not that your children ‎are this day crying before me: Oh give us bread and there is none, and now go ye once more ‎and buy for us a little food. And Judah answered and said unto his father: If thou wilt send the ‎lad with us, then we will go down and purchase food for thee, but if thou wilt not send him ‎along we shall not go down; for the man hath admonished us saying: You shall not see my face ‎unless your brother be with you. For the king of Egypt is great and powerful, and if we go unto ‎him without our brother, then all of us will die. Knowest thou not, and hast thou not heard it, ‎that this king is exceedingly brave and wise and there is none like him in all the earth? Behold ‎we have seen all the kings of the earth yet have we seen none like the king of Egypt. For there ‎is none greater among the kings of the earth than Abimelech, king of the Philistines, but the ‎king of Egypt is greater and mightier than he, and Abimelech could not compare with one of his ‎princes. Thou hast not seen, oh my father, his temple and his throne and his servants that ‎stand before him. Thou hast not seen this king seated upon his throne in his beauty and in the ‎dignity of royalty, in kingly garments, with a large crown of gold upon his head. Thou hast not ‎seen the glory and the grandeur which God hath bestowed upon him, for there is none like ‎him in all the earth. Thou hast not seen, oh my father, the wisdom, understanding and ‎knowledge which God has placed within his heart, nor his pleasant voice when he spoke unto ‎us. We don’t know, oh my father, who has made known unto him our names and all the ‎incidents of our lives. He has inquired even concerning thee, saying: Is your father still alive ‎and is peace with him. Thou hast not seen that all the affairs of the Egyptian government are ‎under his control without even asking Pharaoh his master. Thou hast not seen the awe and the ‎terror which he exercises over all the Egyptians, and even we, when on leaving his presence, ‎we concluded to do unto Egypt as we have done to all the cities of the Amorites, and yet, ‎though our anger was burning exceedingly concerning his words, considering us as spies, when ‎we came before him once more his fear fell upon all of us and no man will be able to speak ‎unto him a word great or small. And now, our father, do send the lad along with us, and we will ‎go down and purchase food for thee for our support that we die not of hunger. And Jacob said ‎unto them: Ye have dealt ill with me as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother. What is ‎this thing that ye have done unto me? And Judah said unto his father, Jacob, deliver thou the ‎lad into my hands, and we will go down into Egypt and buy food and return, and if we come ‎back and the lad is not with us, then let me bear the blame forever.‎