Midras Kejadian 45:28: Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Aggadat Bereshit & Bereshit Rabbah

Another interpretation (of Gen. 39:1): WHEN JOSEPH WAS TAKEN DOWN TO EGYPT. This text is related (to Hos. 11:4): WITH HUMAN TIES I DREW THEM IN, WITH BANDS OF LOVE.⁶³See Gen. R. 86:1. Israel would have deservedly gone down to Egypt in chains and collaria,⁶⁴The Latin word means “neck chains.” just as they went down to Babylon, had not Joseph gone first. All that happened to Joseph happened to Zion.⁶⁵See below, 11:11. That which is written of Joseph is written of Zion. It is written of Joseph (in Gen. 39:6): BEAUTIFULLY BUILT WITH A BEAUTIFUL APPEARANCE; and it is written of Zion (in Lam. 2:15): A PERFECTION OF BEAUTY. For this reason Jacob was afraid to go down to Egypt: Because it had been decreed over Abraham (in Gen. 15:13): KNOW FULL WELL THAT YOUR SEED SHALL BE ALIEN IN A LAND < NOT THEIRS WHERE THEY SHALL SERVE THEM AND BE OPPRESSED BY THEM >. So he dwelt in the land of Canaan. They came and said to him: Joseph was sold when he resembled a bull. It is so stated (of Joseph in Deut. 33:17): LIKE A FIRSTLING BULL HE HAS MAJESTY. And here he is ensconced in Egypt (Gen. 45:26)! When Jacob heard this, he said: See, I am going down to Egypt even though I am paying Abraham's bill (of indebtedness). Immediately (it says in Gen. 45:28): THEN ISRAEL SAID: ENOUGH, MY SON JOSEPH IS ALIVE. < I WILL GO AND SEE HIM BEFORE I DIE >. Immediately all the tribes went down with him. Who caused them to go down to Egypt? Joseph. (Hos. 11:4:) WITH HUMAN TIES I DREW THEM IN. This < HUMAN > is Joseph. (Gen. 39:1:) WHEN JOSEPH WAS TAKEN DOWN TO EGYPT.

[3] Another interpretation: "Why do you say, O Jacob..." This is what scriptures say: Jacob said to him, "I never loved anyone as much as Joseph, and you sent him down to Egypt." [God] replied, "It was already decreed, as it is written, 'Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land not their own' (Genesis 15:13). And perhaps you treated him as a slave, but Joseph is the ruler, as it is written, 'Joseph is now in Egypt, and I myself will take him' (Genesis 45:28). And your sons, when they were in Egypt, perhaps you treated them as slaves, but they were as swift as eagles (Psalm 68:14). And it is written, 'He brought them out with silver and gold, and no one among the tribes stumbled' (Psalm 105:37). After all this, Why do you say, 'Jacob'..?'"

[3] Another interpretation: "And Zion said, 'The Lord has forsaken me.' David said, 'I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. Have you forever rejected us? Will you be angry with us forever?' (Psalm 77:6-8). What did Zion mean when she said, 'The Lord has forsaken me'? She meant to say, 'I have considered all the days since creation and have not been redeemed. I considered the days of menstruation, as the prophet said, "Their way was like the uncleanness of menstruation before me" (Ezekiel 36:17). I considered the days of childbirth, as the prophet said, "Therefore, he will give them up until the time when she who is in labor bears a child" (Micah 5:2). I thought about the generations, as it is written "May his days be like those of a generation (Psalm 71:7)." I thought that twenty years had passed since Isaac desired to have children, as it says "Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah... (Genesis 25:20)," and he had a son at the age of sixty, as it says "Isaac was sixty years old when they were born (Genesis 25:26)." I thought and was not redeemed. I thought that twenty-two years had passed for Jacob, corresponding to the twenty-two years that Joseph was separated from him [his father], and after twenty-two years he was reunited with him, as it says "Joseph is still alive (Genesis 45:28)." I thought and was not redeemed. I thought that Babylonian rule lasted for seventy years, as it says "When Babylon reaches seventy years (Jeremiah 29:10)," and I thought that the rule of Media and Greece would also end, but I was not redeemed. For many years, Aram enslaved me, and I was not redeemed. Has God forgotten how to pity? (Psalm 77:10), or perhaps "Has His faithfulness disappeared forever?" (Psalm 77:9). Therefore, I say, "God has abandoned me." (Isaiah 49:14)