Midras Kejadian 20:1: Pesikta Rabbati, Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Shemot Rabbah & Aggadat Bereshit

... [What about all] the praise of Joseph, who exceeded in the honor of his father? And yet he did not enter into him all the time, such that were it not that they came to tell him, "Your father is sick," he would not have known! Rather this is to inform you of his righteousness. For he did not want to be alone with his father, lest he say to him, "How did your brothers act with you?" And [then] he would curse them.... Hence he did not go to his father all the time.)

(Gen. 20:1:) THEN ABRAHAM JOURNEYED FROM THERE TO THE LAND OF THE NEGEV. This text is related (to Job 14:18): AND YET A FALLING MOUNTAIN WILL CRUMBLE.⁹²M. Pss. 53:2; cf. Gen. R. 52:1ff. This is Sodom and its companion cities, as stated (in Gen. 19:23f.): THE SUN HAD RISEN UPON THE EARTH…. THEN THE LORD RAINED DOWN < UPON SODOM AND UPON GOMORRAH BRIMSTONE AND FIRE … AND HE DESTROYED THOSE CITIES >. R. Samuel bar Nahmani said: Woe to those wicked people because they cause a place of mercy to become a place of retribution. Wherefore, note how David gives praise⁹³Gk.: kalos. (in Ps. 148:1, 7f.): HALLELUJAH! PRAISE THE LORD FROM THE HEAVENS…. < PRAISE THE LORD … FIRE AND HAIL >…. But there is no fire there < in the heavens >, no hail, and no brimstone. Our colleague R. Ariste (citing Ps. 96:6) said: HONOR AND MAJESTY ARE BEFORE HIM. Where is there a place for retribution? From on earth, as stated (in Ps. 148:7) PRAISE THE LORD FROM THE EARTH, YOU SEA MONSTERS AND ALL OCEAN DEEPS. Ergo: < Retribution is > FROM THE EARTH. < Then > how can it be written (in Gen. 19:24): THEN THE LORD RAINED DOWN … < FROM THE LORD OUT OF THE HEAVENS > ? Simply to teach you < this >: From the beginning when they were created, the Holy One gave a decree concerning them and said to them: In accordance with how you shall see the creatures, so let it be done to them.⁹⁴Cf. Mark 4:24 & //s; Galatians 6:7f. A parable: To what is the matter comparable? To a caldron⁹⁵Gk.: miliarion; Lat.: miliarium. of gold. < Whoever > wanted warm water would find < some > within it. < Whoever > wanted it cold would take < some > out of it. < Whoever > wanted burning coals would take < some > out of it. So < also > the Holy One said to the heavens: Whatever you see, do. For the Sodomites and the children of Esau there would be brimstone and fire; for Israel, dew. Thus it is stated (in Micah 5:6 [7]): THEN THE REMNANT OF JACOB SHALL BE IN THE MIDST OF MANY PEOPLES, LIKE DEW. The Holy One said: What need do I have for these people? He immediately destroyed them, as stated (in Gen. 19:25): AND HE DESTROYED THOSE CITIES…. Ergo, it says (in Job 14:18): AND YET A FALLING MOUNTAIN WILL CRUMBLE, AND THE ROCK IS REMOVED FROM ITS PLACE. Now there is no rock but Abraham, as stated (in Is. 51:1f.): LOOK UNTO THE ROCK FROM WHICH YOU WERE HEWN … < LOOK UNTO ABRAHAM >. < He is the one > who journeyed from his place, as stated (in Gen. 20:1): THEN ABRAHAM JOURNEYED FROM THERE < TO THE LAND OF THE NEGEV >….

(Gen. 20:1:) THEN ABRAHAM JOURNEYED FROM THERE. This text is related (to Ps. 26:4f.): I HAVE NOT DWELT WITH FALSE PEOPLE… I HAVE HATED THE COMMUNITY OF EVILDOERS, < AND WILL NOT DWELL WITH THE WICKED >. I HAVE NOT DWELT WITH FALSE PEOPLE. These are the people of the Tower < of Babel >, who were < in fact > false people. They went and said to Abraham: Come and dwell with us, since you are a valiant man, for we see that the Holy One has made his dwelling above and left us below. The Holy Spirit, however, cries out (in Is. 57:20): BUT THE WICKED ARE LIKE THE TROUBLED SEA. You could not dwell in security even for one hour. (Ps. 82:5:) THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN, AND THEY WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; THEY WILL WALK ABOUT IN DARKNESS. THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN. This is the generation of Enosh⁹⁶See Gen. 4:26, which rabbinic texts interpret to mean that in the days of Enosh people began practicing idolatry. AND THEY WILL NOT UNDERSTAND. [This is] the generation of the flood. THEY WILL WALK ABOUT IN DARKNESS. This is the generation of the Tower < of Babel >. Abraham said to them: What are you seeking from the Holy One who dwells above? Has he perhaps said to you: Come, labor and provide⁹⁷Gk.: pronoos, i.e., “thinking beforehand.” for me? He creates, and he provides; he makes, and he sustains. What do you want from him? (Gen. 11:4:) {THEY SAID TO HIM} [THEN THEY SAID]: COME, LET US BUILD FOR OURSELVES A CITY AND A TOWER. Then let us place our idols above him and make war with him. It is so stated (ibid., cont.): AND LET US MAKE A NAME (i.e., a god) FOR OURSELVES.⁹⁸See M.Pss. 74:2. Thus it is < also > written (in Exod. 23:13): YOU SHALL NOT MENTION THE NAME OF OTHER GODS. Abraham said to them: What are all these for? They said to him: Lest he do to us something like what he did to earlier generations. He said to them: You have forsaken (what Prov. 18:10 calls) A TOWER OF STRENGTH, THE NAME OF THE LORD; yet you say: AND LET US MAKE A NAME (i.e., a god) FOR OURSELVES! What did the Holy One do? He dispersed them, as stated (in Gen. 11:8): SO THE LORD DISPERSED THEM. Now to what extent had they built and ascended the Tower? The Holy One was deriding them, as stated (in Ps. 2:4): THE ONE WHO DWELLS IN THE HEAVENS WILL LAUGH; < THE LORD WILL DERIDE THEM >. When they had gone up above on the Tower, < there follows > immediately (in vs. 5): THEN HE WILL SPEAK UNTO THEM IN HIS WRATH…. So it (the Tower) fell from on high, as stated (in Ps. 5:11 [10]): CONDEMN THEM, O GOD, LET THEM FALL BY THEIR OWN COUNSELS. Thus Abraham had no dealings with them. Then the Holy One looked down upon them and saw them, as stated (in Ps. 53: 3f. [2f.]): {THE LORD} [GOD] OF HEAVEN LOOKED DOWN UPON THE CHILDREN OF ADAM … ALL OF THEM ARE DROSS…. When they became dross, they made themselves deities. (Ibid., cont.:) THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, NOT EVEN ONE. From here you learn that Abraham was not one of them. The ONE mentioned here is none but Abraham, as stated (in Ezek. 33:24): ABRAHAM WAS ONE AND HE INHERITED THE LAND. Abraham began saying (in Ps. 26:4f.): I HAVE NOT DWELT WITH FALSE PEOPLE; I HAVE HATED THE COMMUNITY OF EVILDOERS. It is therefore stated (in Gen. 20:1): THEN ABRAHAM JOURNEYED FROM THERE.