창세기 42:3의 미드라쉬

As soon as Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he said to his sons: Get you down thither, and buy for us from them, etc. And Joseph’s ten brethren went down (ibid. 42:2–3). Why did all ten go? Because in that number resides the power to set aside retribution.⁴Because ten comprise a minyan and so they could beseech God as a congregation. For example, when the Holy One, blessed be He, was about to destroy Sodom, our patriarch Abraham pleaded for heavenly mercy in their behalf. He spoke first of fifty men, but finally reduced the number to ten, as it is said: Peradventure ten shall be found there (ibid. 18:31). Ten men also comprise a congregation, as is said: How long shall I bear with this evil congregation (Num. 14:27), and God standeth in the congregation of God (Ps. 82:1). Hence Scripture states: Joseph’s ten brethren went down (Gen. 42:3). Just as in the case of Sodom, Scripture speaks here of ten. And the sons of Israel came to buy among those that came (Gen. 42:5), in order that no one would recognize them. The Holy One, blessed be He, declared: Because you have said: We shall see what will become of his dreams (ibid. 37:20), his dream was fulfilled. Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but they did not recognize him, for they had felt no compassion for him, while Joseph recognized them because he pitied them.

And God said unto Jacob: “Arise, go up to Beth-El” (Gen. 35:1). May our master teach us: How many times is a man’s “account book”⁷The heavenly ledger wherein man’s deeds are recorded. open? Thus did our masters teach us: A man’s account book is opened three times: when he journeys alone upon a highway; when he resides in a dilapidated house; when he vows and fails to fulfill. R. Aha the son of Jacob deduced the first statement from the biblical verse If harm befall him by the way (Gen. 42:3). R. Eliezer the son of R. Yosé the Galilean stated: If you should discover that a righteous man is setting out on a journey, leave even three days earlier or three days later in order to travel with him. But if you should see a wicked man setting out on a journey, leave three days earlier or three days later in order not to go with him, as it is said: Set thou a wicked man over him; and let an adversary stand at his right hand (Ps. 109:6). A righteous man, however, is accompanied by angels of peace, as it is said: For He will give his angels charge over thee (ibid. 91:11).

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).

(Gen. 42:3:) SO JOSEPH'S TEN BROTHERS WENT DOWN < TO BUY GRAIN IN EGYPT >. Jacob said to them: Will you please not < all > enter by one gate²⁷Gk.: pyle. because of the evil eye?²⁸Tanh., Gen. 10:8; Gen. R. 91:6; cf. 91:2; cf. also above, 10:8; below, 10:17. And so they did. When they entered, they did not all enter as a unit, but each and every one all by himself. What did Joseph do? He posted guards over the entrance gates of Egypt. He said: Let each and every one who enters have his name and the name of his father written under your supervision. Then you are to bring their names to me. So, when the children of Jacob entered, each and every one all by himself, he (a guard) said: What is your name? So he told him: Reuben ben Jacob. And so it was with each and every one of them. < A guard > would write down his name and the name of his father. Then they brought < the names > to Joseph. Joseph immediately recognized them, as stated (in Gen. 42:8): SO JOSEPH RECOGNIZED HIS BROTHERS. He began to recall the dreams, as stated (in Gen. 42:9): NOW JOSEPH REMEMBERED THE DREAMS THAT HE HAD DREAMED ABOUT THEM. (Vs. 7:) BUT HE BECAME A STRANGER UNTO THEM, AND HE SPOKE HARSHLY WITH THEM. He began to treat them harshly, AND (ibid., cont.) HE SAID TO THEM: WHERE DO YOU COME FROM? When they said: From the land of Canaan, he said to Simeon and Levi: Are you accustomed to pillaging people just as you did at Shechem (in Gen. 34:25-26)? Ergo (in Gen. 42:7): AND HE SPOKE HARSHLY WITH THEM.

(Gen. 42:8:) SO JOSEPH RECOGNIZED HIS BROTHERS, when they fell into his hands. (Gen. 42:8, cont.:) BUT THEY DID NOT RECOGNIZE HIM,²⁹I.e., treat him like a brother. when he had fallen into their hands.³⁰Gen. R. 91:7. David said (in Ps. 80:2 [1]): GIVE EAR, O SHEPHERD OF ISRAEL, WHO LEADS JOSEPH LIKE A FLOCK.³¹Cf. Gen. R. 91:5; Tanh., Gen. 10:7; PR 29/30B:1 (= 29:6 in the Breslau edition); M. Pss. 80:2. Thus has R. Tanhuma expounded (on Gen. 42:2): GO DOWN THERE (RDW) < means > that he saw that they would go down and be enslaved in Egypt for two hundred and ten (i.e., the numerical value of RDW) years.³²Tanh., Gen. 10:8; Gen. R. 91:2. Another interpretation of GO DOWN. < These words are > to teach you that anyone who buys produce from the marketplace has a going down (in status).³³Gen. R. 91:6. It is assumed here that such trade signifies misfortune, since normally one’s own land provided for basic needs. See Men. 103b. (Gen. 42:3:) SO JOSEPH'S TEN BROTHERS WENT DOWN. "The children of Israel" is not written here but JOSEPH'S < TEN > BROTHERS. < It is so written > because at the beginning they had not treated him with brotherhood, in that they had sold him. Then they had finally repented and said: When shall we go down to Egypt and return Joseph to our father? So, when their father told them to go down to Egypt, they all went with one mind to return him. It is therefore written (in Gen. 42:3): SO JOSEPH'S < TEN > BROTHERS WENT DOWN. And why ten? Because it was up to them to end the divine punishment and annul the decree (of Gen. 15:13). You therefore find in the case of Sodom that Abraham went down from fifty < righteous > to ten.³⁴The midrash is alluding to Abraham bargaining with the Holy One over the fate of Sodom in Gen. 18:22-33. When he did not find ten, Abraham the Righteous was silent. Moreover, because there were not ten < righteous > in the generation of the flood, they were not saved. Indeed, there were none there except Noah, his three sons, and their wives, i.e., eight.

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.

What is written above on the matter (in Gen. 42:3)? SO JOSEPH'S TEN BROTHERS WENT DOWN. When they went down to Egypt, Joseph cunningly issued three prostagmata⁷⁴The Greek word means “commands.” {i.e., writs}:

Rabbi Jannai said: The sale of Joseph was not atoned by the tribes until they died, as it is said, "And the Lord of hosts revealed Himself in mine ears, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die" (Isa. 22:14). Owing to the sale (of Joseph) a famine came into the land of Israel for seven years, and the brethren of Joseph "went down to buy corn" (Gen. 42:3) in Egypt. And they found Joseph (still) living, and they absolved themselves of the ban; and Jacob heard about Joseph that he was living, and his soul and his spirit revived. Did their father Jacob's spirit die, so that it had to be revived? But, owing to the ban, the Holy Spirit had departed from him, and when they had removed the ban the Holy Spirit rested on him as at first; that || is what is written, "The spirit of Jacob their father revived" (Gen. 45:27).