Midrash sa Mga Awit 99:2: Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Midrash Tehillim & Aggadat Bereshit

[Gen. 46:28:) NOW HE HAD SENT JUDAH.] The text is related (to Mal. 3:1): BEHOLD, I AM SENDING MY MESSENGER TO CLEAR A WAY BEFORE ME…. Come and see. Everything which happened to Joseph happened to Zion.³⁷Tanh., Gen. 11:10. It is written about Joseph (in Gen. 37:3): NOW ISRAEL LOVED JOSEPH; and it is written about Zion (in Ps. 87:2): THE LORD LOVES ALL THE GATES OF ZION. It is written about Joseph (in Gen. 37:4): THEY (Joseph's brothers) HATED HIM; and it is written about Zion (in Jer. 12:8): < MY HOUSE > HAS SET ITS VOICE AGAINST ME, THEREFORE I HAVE HATED IT. It is written about Joseph (in Gen. 37:7): AND HERE WE WERE BINDING SHEAVES; and it is written about Zion (in Ps. 126:6): HE SHALL SURELY COME BACK BEARING HIS SHEAVES WITH REJOICING. It is written about Joseph (in Gen. 37:8): THEN HIS BROTHERS SAID TO HIM: SHALL YOU INDEED REIGN OVER US? And it is written about Zion (in Is. 14:7): WHO SAYS TO ZION: YOUR GOD REIGNS. It is written about Joseph (in Gen. 37:5): ONCE JOSEPH DREAMED A DREAM; and it is written about Zion (in Ps. 126:1): WHEN THE LORD BROUGHT BACK THE RESTORATION OF ZION, WE WERE LIKE DREAMERS. It is written about Joseph (in Gen. 37:10): ARE WE TO COME, I AND YOUR MOTHER AND YOUR BROTHERS, AND BOW DOWN TO THE GROUND FOR YOU? And it is written about Zion (in Is. 49:23): THEY SHALL BOW DOWN FOR YOU, NOSE TO THE GROUND, AND LICK THE DUST OF YOUR FEET. It is written about Joseph (in Gen. 37:11): SO HIS BROTHERS WERE JEALOUS OF HIM; and it is written about Zion (in Zech. 8:2): I AM JEALOUS FOR JERUSALEM WITH A GREAT JEALOUSY. It is written about Joseph (in Gen. 37:14): PLEASE GO AND SEE HOW YOUR BROTHERS ARE FARING (shalom); and it is written about Zion (in Jer. 29:7): AND SEEK THE WELFARE (shalom) OF THE CITY. It is written about Joseph (in Gen. 37:18): NOW THEY SAW HIM FROM AFAR; and it is written about Zion (in Jer. 51:50): REMEMBER THE LORD FROM AFAR. It is written about Joseph (in Gen. 37:18): THEY CONSPIRED AGAINST HIM TO KILL HIM; and it is written about Zion (in Ps. 83:4 [3]): THEY DEVISE INTRIGUE AGAINST YOUR PEOPLE. It is written about Joseph (in Gen. 37:23): THEY STRIPPED JOSEPH < OF HIS TUNIC > ; and it is written about Zion (in Ezek. 23:26): AND THEY SHALL STRIP YOU OF YOUR CLOTHES. It is written about Joseph (in Gen. 37:24): AND THEY CAST HIM INTO THE PIT; and it is written about Zion (in Lam. 3:53): AND THEY HAVE DESTROYED MY LIFE IN THE PIT. It is written about Joseph (in Gen. 37:24): BUT THE PIT WAS EMPTY WITH NO WATER IN IT; and it is written about Zion (in Jer. 38:6): AND THERE WAS NO WATER [IN THE PIT], ONLY MUD. It is written about Joseph (in Gen. 37:25): THEN THEY SAT DOWN TO EAT BREAD; and it is written about Zion (in Lam. 5:6): < WE HAVE HELD OUT A HAND TO EGYPT >, TO ASSYRIA TO BE FILLED WITH BREAD. It is written about Joseph (in Gen. 37:28): THEY PULLED AND RAISED JOSEPH FROM THE PIT; and it is written about Zion (in Jer. 38:13): {AND EBED-MELECH THE ETHIOPIAN BROUGHT JEREMIAH UP}…. [AND THEY RAISED JEREMIAH BY THE ROPES AND BROUGHT HIM UP FROM THE PIT]. It is written about Joseph (in Gen. 37:34): THEN JACOB RENT HIS GARMENTS AND PUT SACKCLOTH ON HIS LOINS; and it is written about Zion (in Is. 22:12): AND IN THAT DAY [THE LORD] GOD OF HOSTS CALLED TO WEEPING AND MOURNING, TO BALDNESS AND TO GIRDING WITH SACKCLOTH. It is written about Joseph (in Gen. 37:35): BUT HE REFUSED TO BE COMFORTED; and it is written about Zion (in Is. 22:4): PRESS NOT TO COMFORT ME. It is written about Joseph (in Gen. 37:36): BUT THE MIDIANITES SOLD HIM INTO EGYPT; and it is written about Zion (in Joel 4:6 [3:6]): AND YOU HAVE SOLD THE CHILDREN OF JUDAH AND THE CHILDREN OF JERUSALEM TO THE CHILDREN OF THE GREEKS. All the bad things which happened to Joseph happened to Zion and likewise the good things. It is stated about Joseph (in Gen. 39:6): NOW JOSEPH WAS BEAUTIFULLY BUILT WITH A BEAUTIFUL APPEARANCE; and it is written about Zion (in Ps. 48:3 [2]): BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPE, JOY OF THE WHOLE EARTH, < EVEN MOUNT ZION >.³⁸Cf. above, 9:18. It is written about Joseph (in Gen. 39:21): THE LORD WAS WITH JOSEPH; and it is written about Zion (in I Kings 9:3): MY EYES AND MY HEART SHALL BE THERE FOR ALL TIME. It is written about Joseph (in Gen. 39:9): HE IS NO GREATER < IN THIS HOUSE THAN I > ; and it is written about Zion (in Ps. 99:2): THE LORD IS GREAT IN ZION. It is written about Joseph (in Gen. 39:21): AND HE EXTENDED HIS FAITHFULNESS UNTO HIM; and it is written about Zion (in Jer. 2:2): I HAVE REMEMBERED IN YOUR FAVOR THE FAITHFULNESS OF YOUR YOUTH. It is written about Joseph (in Gen. 41:14): HE SHAVED AND CHANGED HIS GARMENTS; and it is written about Zion (in Is. 4:4): WHEN THE LORD SHALL HAVE WASHED AWAY THE FILTH OF THE CHILDREN OF ZION. It is written about Joseph (in Gen. 41:40): ONLY WITH RESPECT TO THE THRONE SHALL I BE GREATER THAN YOU; and it is written about Zion (in Jer. 3:17): THEY SHALL CALL JERUSALEM THE THRONE OF THE LORD. It is written about Joseph (in Gen. 41:42): AND HE CLOTHED HIM WITH CLOTHES OF FINE LINEN; and it is written about Zion (in Is. 52:1): AWAKE, AWAKE, PUT ON YOUR SPLENDOR, O ZION. It is written about Joseph (in Gen. 46:28): NOW HE HAD SENT JUDAH AHEAD OF HIM < UNTO JOSEPH TO SHOW THE WAY BEFORE HIM >; and it is written about Zion (in Mal. 3:1): BEHOLD, I AM SENDING MY MESSENGER TO CLEAR A WAY BEFORE ME.

"Who will give from Zion the salvation of Israel." Rabbi Levi said: All the blessings, comforts, and goodness that the Holy One, blessed be He, brings upon Israel, come from Zion. Torah comes from Zion, as it is said: "For out of Zion shall go forth the law" (Isaiah 2:3). Blessing comes from Zion, as it is said: "May the Lord bless you out of Zion" (Psalm 134:3). Appearance comes from Zion, as it is said: "Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God appears" (Psalm 50:2). Support comes from Zion, as it is said: "May the Lord support you from Zion" (Psalm 20:3). Life comes from Zion, as it is said: "For there the Lord commanded the blessing—life forevermore" (Psalm 133:3). Greatness comes from Zion, as it is said: "The Lord is great in Zion" (Psalm 99:2). Salvation comes from Zion, as it is said: "Who will give from Zion the salvation of Israel?" (Psalm 14:7). You find this phrase twice in the book of Psalms, once in the first book and once in the second book. But why? Rabbi Levi said: The master said one, and the disciple said the other. The Master said: "Would that this heart of theirs were in them" (Deuteronomy 5:26). And the disciple said: "Would that all the Lord's people were prophets" (Numbers 11:29). Neither the words of the master nor the words of the disciple are fulfilled in this world, but both are fulfilled in the world to come. The words of the master are fulfilled, as it is said: "And I will give you a new heart" (Ezekiel 36:26). From where [do we know that] the words of the disciple [are fulfilled]? As it is said: "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh" (Joel 2:28). Another reason: Why it is said two times? Rabbi Yudan said in the name of Rabbi Joshua ben Levi: Because children say twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening, "Save us, O God, who saves us" (I Chronicles 16:35). Therefore, "Who will give from Zion," is [said] two times. Rabbi Tanchuma said: I said this before Rabbi Nechuniah, and he said to me, "That is not the basis of it. Rather it is because, 'Save us, O God, who saves us,' is said once in the book of Psalms and once in the book of Chronicles. Therefore, [it is said] two times. It is comparable to a king's son who betroths the daughter of another king, and they set up preliminaries on a certain day. The son of the king is awaiting his party, and the daughter of the king is awaiting her party. What is delaying [it]? The preliminaries, as it is said: 'For the day of vengeance is in my heart' (Isaiah 63:4)."

A song, a psalm for the sons of Korah. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, etc. And our God is great only in His city alone. But the sons of Korah said that the Lord is great for what He did in His city and His sanctuary. And so it says, "The Lord is great in Zion, and He is high above all the peoples" (Psalm 99:2), to say that what He did in His city, He did not do for all the nations. And so it says, "For, lo, I begin to work evil at the city which is called by My name; and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished" (Jeremiah 25:29). Woe to our God's city, etc.