On Joseph (Memra 10)

Tenth Memra on Joseph Tenth Memra on Joseph, and on his father and his brothers when he went down to Egypt. Again, O wealthy one, bring out and give to me from your treasury, choice pearls for the crown of the memra of the glorious Joseph. Not for my sake will you give to me, my Lord, as you requested, but for its sake my word will be adorned, that its beauty may be seen. Give me that I may complete the memra of the mysteries that binds me to it. For in every generation Jacob comes to you for pearls. In you, my Lord, I have walked the path of Joseph among the Egyptians; in you again my word will cast his story richly. Bring your mysteries to the world and cry out for your sake; give me voices again that I may speak for his sake. A mystery was revealed in him and beauty was fashioned from you, and the world was weary that his beauty might be depicted, yet it was not exhausted; nor could it finish his memra, for how can the sea be contained in its measure at any time? It would be fitting to cease from it and not speak, lest I think that I have exhausted it in these words I have spoken. Witness the truth that I have not confessed that I can exhaust it, and this is my word from the beginning: that it is not possible to exhaust it, for there was no power for my tongue to speak it. The end of the story is that without difficulty it is not spoken, for his beauties are high and his path is great, and who can reach it? For the son of God was formed in it clearly.

The beloved youth, the gentle young man, the splendid man, a sea of discourses that could not be exhausted by the mouths of many. He looked to God and to the word of his soul, a light from him, and to his enemies he was not negligent because of their calumny. He prepared his sacrifices with the palm of his hand, that distinguished one, so that he might be like a servant to his master in all his conduct. Joseph possessed compassion and a good heart, and he did not know that a reward was stored up for those who persecuted him. He was chaste, pure, and loving of peace, and full of love, and there was no place in his soul for anger at any time. In his heart he was gentle and humble, Joseph the distinguished one, and that greatness which stood before him did not exalt him. In humility he wished to make himself known to his brothers, so that they might not be estranged from that height of his strength. Then, then Joseph, when you sold me to the Egyptians, it was not because you were stingy, but so that you might remember and be confirmed. To everyone he brought forth what was before the faces, so that they might not be divided, and he spoke softly to them in a gentle manner. It was pleasing to him when he gave robes to his brothers, so that they might repay good in place of the evil they had done to him. In place of the tunics they had stripped from him and left him naked, he gave pairs of robes to all of them to wear. This is the reward of that teaching of the house of God, that in place of evil you shall repay good to those who persecute you.

He was sold by his brothers to the Ishmaelites, and he brought out and put on a garment of many colors. Not only did that beautiful one not suffice for his buyers, but he loved the garment and was compassionate, as it is written. With gifts and presents and precious offerings, he equipped the garment, as for those who do beautiful things. "Because of you, the Lord sent me to the house of the Egyptians," he said to them, "so that you might be ashamed of your faces before him, when you are not ashamed of having sinned against him." He removed the garment from the evil deed that they had done. He gave the whole journey to the Lord, who had sent him, for he was wise in deceiving his buyers. His brothers sold him, and the Lord sent him, as it is said. For both are true, and he said, "I will come. I will come, O Joseph, because you sold me to the Egyptians. And the Lord sent me because of you, to be reconciled with you. And thus it is that the Lord truly sent him, and again thus it is that they sold him arrogantly. And the Lord was not near to them when they sold him, nor did the Lord perceive or approach when they sold him. They did evil, and the Lord did good to Joseph. And it is one journey, and these two are not mixed together: they sold him and he went, and to that which went they were not near. But they sold him, his brothers alone, unjustly.

He went to be sold, and not because of the price that he was sold; rather, that he might go, for the way was prepared by God. They sold him, and in his going they did not perceive. The Lord sent him, and it was not they who sold him when he was sold. Apart from the Lord, they were selling him when he was not near, and apart from them, the Lord sent him when they were not near. For the Lord and they were not partners, that one might say that a transaction occurred between him and them. They sold, and the Lord sent, as it is written: to them the reproach and the glory to the Lord, who prepared his way. Because of you, the Lord sent me; he restrained you. Go, show the old man Jacob that I have come to see him. Go, tell him: let your great sorrow pass away, for your son is alive and looks to see you truly. Hurry, set out, and bring the good news that is full of joy, which can drive away the sorrow of grief from the venerable one. Hasten the running upon the beautiful tidings, hunting for that sorrow which the great mourner deserves. Five years of famine stood in the whole land, so that no one sowed nor reaped, as if it were decreed. Joseph equipped his brothers with provisions, as he said, and sent them to bring them to his father, as you have heard. He commanded them like a wise man and a lover of joy, that they should not delay on the way when they were driving.

Without this being perceived, this one went on his way, and the sword fell between the brothers because of him. Reuben said, “Why have you sold him?” and another came who said, “I did not say to sell.” And one more said, “This is the favor that he did for him,” and confusion increased, and the place became a place of strife. And the way of the full, peaceful, and abundant good, of good fortune, would be a path of envy, confusion, and jealousy. Because they were not able to command Joseph, that they might remember his word and cease from jealousy. He gave wagons to that honored one among their fathers. Also provisions for the entire way by which they were coming. They carried with him provisions, good things, and good counsels, and they set out on the way in great peace, the hungers that they had satisfied. They reached the hunt of Jacob and were eager for the hopes, which good fortune of fair things would come first. They went up to the hunt of the old man, rejoicing and being glad, and they were saying to him that Joseph stands truly, and from the greatness of the word, he was silent and did not permit, and that good fortune was abundant from him, he was silent and still. And when they showed him the provisions, the gifts, and everything that he had brought, the deeds and words amazed him; the good fortune that he heard left him. The pain of his soul was like a flood because of Joseph, and they went up and pressed him with fair reports.

And though the first affliction was severe, he did not accept it. And his good deeds, like roots, healed him. He saw the calves and the great yoke that Joseph had sent, and the old man's spirit was calmed, and he fixed his gaze. And he began to drive out the sorrow from himself and to be comforted, and to pass his mourning into the hearing of Joseph, that he had come to his hands. "Great is it for me that Joseph is alive; I will go and see him." Before he died, he was comforted in him, and then he departed. Jacob hastened to go to his beloved, and he took his family and set out on the road to the land of the Egyptians. Joseph's love called to him from within Egypt: "Come to you, old man, rejoice in your son and be comforted in him." Short was Jacob's journey to within Egypt, for no other journey in the whole world was like it. Behind him were famine and the covenant of Abraham's house; before him were satiety and the love of his son, which drew him. What a blessed thing it is that his knowledge, through love, is directed toward instruction! It can find more than the hidden vessels within him. The soul is full of wonder from him for contemplation, how all the mysteries of divinity are cast down. Here again, my word requires more hearing, and the love of the soul opens the doors of contemplation for me. The Lord had decreed a bitter covenant for Abraham, that he would be enslaved and his seed would serve in a foreign land.

He said to him, "The Lord of your seed, Abraham, will inherit the land." And concerning that which he said, that by the sacrifice he would know the future. And he said to him, "The Lord of the sacrifice, the three-year-old heifer," which he showed him in the sacrifices, revealing the future to him. And he commanded him to divide the carcass, that by the division of the halves he might teach the tribes of his sons. And Abraham approached as he was commanded by God: a goat, a ram, a bull, a three-year-old heifer, and he divided the carcass. And he placed a half opposite its companion, as he had been told, and he arranged in the land twelve halves, as in a mystery. In that sacrifice he delineated the tribes and their divisions, and in the Levites he sealed the lineage that is without end. And the bird descended upon the halves and was pecking at it, by which he delineated the kings of the peoples who would plunder him, showing that his name would preserve his entire seed. And as the bird drove away the forces from it. And when the revelation of the future dawned upon Abraham, sorrow came, a circumcision of the covenant upon his sacrifice. And it weighed heavily upon that which he had said, that by the sacrifice he would know, and he decreed upon himself that for four hundred years he would be a slave. By a single thought that struck his very self, because he had asked, "How shall he inherit?"—to his heirs he enslaved, among the Egyptians, the years that he decreed.

To one thought, four hundred years were set as a sacrifice, and he weighed, cut, and divided the sacrifice with uprightness. Because of the small mountain that was in your heart, that thought, these sacrifices would enslave the seed of Abram. For the bones that would not be divided over his kingdoms, concerning which he said, "No bone will ask how and in what." And he said, "Every bone that came to Abraham, his love made subject." How does he boast, turning his hunt when he speaks? Because of this, the sacrifice and the mountain came with him, to the hunt of the offering of that righteous one when he approached. And behold, to the division that was hovering between halves, also the mountain of the burning mountain at the offering. And silence fell, also darkness, upon Abraham. And his soul was amazed in vision from revelations. And his time came, he stood in the place of the mysteries, that he might see and hear and understand the future things. And his soul was illuminated, and he knew how he would inherit the land, and that it would be enslaved because he turned to ask. And the Lord spoke from within the mountain to the righteous one, "That you may know that by the sacrifice your seed will be. For four hundred years they will serve among the altars." Also to him, to the people who enslave him, a bone will know. Not that which he learned alone from God, but another that he did not desire to come to his knowledge.

His sacrifice he accepted, and his offering ascended in the fire, and as the land inherited, he showed what he sought from God. And that which was to be served among the threshing floors, he again showed him, in one revelation, both the first and the last, so that no portion would be left of the gold of that precious one. By the decree of the covenant, he purified the soul so that it might be clean. When the Lord said to him, "Your seed will inherit the land," in that inheritance his bodily desire boiled. And that boiling, which was in the storehouse, was for the man like that one. By the decree of the covenant, the Lord took him from Abraham. And that is what the Lord decreed: the yoke that would enslave him. See how he set out on the path while being enslaved. He sent Joseph to be in Egypt like a steward, who was preparing sustenance for the seed of the house of Abraham. And when he sent him, before them he placed a sign. To the rock he sent and drove them from their dwelling. And in that place where he set his face to lead them, he covered the valleys so that they would not be hindered when they went to the appointed time of the old man. They ran and rejoiced, not knowing that they were being led to servitude. By the rod of servants he led them, and they followed him. And they thought they were being led to freedom. Jacob ran to go see his son Joseph, and he did not know that a servant in Egypt would be his son.

His sons and his daughters and the fires of his house, as he descended, that the entire seed of the house of Abraham might be subjected, the Lord first offered Joseph and delivered Joseph, and made a sign with his father and subjected Joseph. And because he was unable to bring out even one from servitude, the whole race of his son Jacob, as he descended, that they might be offered, both willing and unwilling, all of them, the multitude that went to the land that was destined for them. The Lord who offered was seeking to bring Joseph, and wisely led him on a path that would not be hindered. He led Joseph, Jacob himself, and placed him in the land of Egypt, and called him, and he went to see his son. A beloved son and great abundance and a good land, he placed before him, so that without difficulty he might be subjected. He opened Egypt and revealed it and filled all the valleys, and the land of Canaan he seized with famine and drove them out. They left their homes, not hindered, for they abandoned them, because famine had grown, and they arose to change their land for it. They went down to Egypt as if it were their dwelling place, so that abundance and beloved Joseph were to them like their lives. What hindered old Jacob from changing his land? Except the love of his son Joseph, who was not his son. For the Lord distressed Jacob, not because he wished, that he was a man of sorrow and a blessed seed of the house of Abraham.

The Lord first offered Joseph and delivered Joseph, and decreed a sign that was placed in the book and not to be altered. Thus, through his wisdom, he managed both worlds: that which was enslaved and that which was not constrained, as he led him. The king of Egypt, who was appointed, enslaved Joseph, and gave wagons to carry and bring servants to his land. While he was seeking the honor of Joseph because of Joseph, he pursued and took a side for his servants to be taken with him. The governance on both sides of her accomplished, that the beloved might be the one decreed and not hindered. So that the heart of the king who enslaved Joseph would not be raised, the mystery of the enslavement was hidden from him. And that they might not be hindered on the way from hardship: they did not know where or how they were being led. But in captivity, the king Pharaoh brought Joseph, for him honor and for them the affliction of having been enslaved. And from the captivity, he had already released the rest as well, and the entire seed did not descend to be enslaved. The judgments of the Lord, all of them, are a wonder to the distinguishers. And in his mysteries, the end of all wisdom. By reason of hunger, he brought Joseph out from among their houses, and because of Joseph, he delayed Joseph as he was being led. And he called and led this one to that one, and they were troubled, and the entire race descended as he pressed on to be enslaved.

And Pharaoh gave new servants whom the Lord gave him, and he did not perceive that he was being raised up, for if he had perceived, the seed of Abraham would have been enslaved as was decreed, and he would not have known the reason for the path that would not be hidden from him. The governance of the Lord is high above thoughts, and his deeds are an abyss that is full of wonder. Even that which he decreed concerning Abraham, that he would be enslaved, he preserved until the time when his seed was revealed. In the sons of Israel, they sold their sisters along with their brothers, and the affections of her womb and of Jacob enslaved the house of the Egyptians. And it was also the cause of the first of the great people, that after he served in Egypt as was decreed, the evil that was coming and was destined from God, it was the cause that they took woe from affliction, so that the Lord might raise and exalt from the lowly, that he might not be enslaved until they gave him a hand. He decreed affliction, death to Adam because he had sinned, and through his sons they began and opened the gate to death prematurely. He decreed again this, that the seed of Abraham would be enslaved, and through his sons they began and sold the brother and thus were enslaved. Thus all evils come from the beginning, for the Lord did not wish to harm the creatures. But Jacob went out rejoicing and on the way, that he might come and see his son Joseph as was promised.

The noble one hastened at the good news he heard, that he might quickly go and be comforted by his beloved. Israel set out on the road to Egypt, and his sons with him. And he arrived at Beer-sheba and offered great sacrifices. And the Lord by night arranged his revelation to the righteous one, that he might be encouraged and proceed on a path without fear. He showed him the good Levite on the road to Laban. And he spoke with him in a vision of the night, lovingly. The good friend is the Lord alone toward his beloved, for whenever his friends go, he proceeds and helps them. There is no hiding place for one who is near to God, for all the ends and regions are his. For the earth in its fullness is the Lord's, as it is written, and there is no place that does not belong to him who calls upon him. Except for the world, if you have a way to pass through, the Lord is with you, a helper or a divider. His are the regions and the corners, and with his beloved he dwells and sets out without being disturbed. The Lord encouraged Jacob's heart on the road as he proceeded to the land of Egypt, that he might not regret leaving his land. "Behold, I am coming with you," he said to him, "I am coming, your brother, and I am coming to bring you up from within Egypt. For the great people I will make you a house among the Egyptians." And Jacob heard and proceeded on his way with a good heart.

Israel arrived and came to Egypt to his beloved, and Joseph heard and also went out to meet his father. The old mourning father and the exiled youth met each other. And the mourning ceased and the distress that had held them passed away. The father’s affections were stirred by love for his son, and the loved ones rejoiced in the beloved meeting of their countenances. The eager old man and the radiant youth rejoiced together, and with joy they drove away the distress of the great separation. The loving ones wept for each other, who had been separated by afflictions. And they embraced and kissed one another lovingly. The old man Jacob fell upon Joseph’s neck and wept, and the youth also wept upon the neck of his grieving father. A great weeping mingled with many joys, so that where the nature boiled, it caused his tears to flow. The affections of fatherhood were stirred at the sight of his son, and weeping was agitated by the outpouring of affections that had been poured forth. The day saw its sun, its beloved, and set out on its course, and all the light was hidden from its rays. Jacob said, “Now I can die, since I have seen you, my son, for when I did not expect it, I have received the very self of your father. Now if I die, death is nothing to me, for your sight has comforted me like a remedy for a grievous death. Hope was cut off for me, my son, that I would see you; there was no expectation, and when I did not hope, the Lord gave to me, and behold, I have received you.

I was dead while alive, for I was hidden from your eyes, and when I saw you, I lived, I lived from then on, because I saw you. These are the lives that, when I lost you, were not lives, and when I found you, again the lives returned. Bury me now, for like a dream death seems to me, since these lives that were before the time were death to me. My beloved son, the life of my life you have given me, and I looked and saw you and rejoiced in you, and my sorrows fled. The dead one who lives has raised you from within the grave, for I was in the abyss, like a great burden upon the departed. I asked for your corpse to be redeemed for me, and no one gave it to me, and my sorrows mourned for you; in you I rejoiced. Because of Joseph, all the graves of the dead opened, so that I might be redeemed like a departed one for a great price. All joys the world sees from here and beyond, and from within the grave the dead are redeemed for their loved ones. Now that you have come, I will go and die for you, my beloved, so that my heart, which was broken for you, may rejoice. Your sweet scent reached my nostrils and revived my bones. Your sorrows for you have shown the brightness of my countenance; I descended to the abyss rejoicing, for I knew that you are not dead, and I lay down and was at peace, for I knew that you are in the house of the living.

The seal of his brothers, blessed is he who preserved you from the wolves and gave me to see you, and I was revealed in you when I did not hope. I forgot my bitterness, and my troubles passed, and my evils ended, and all joys I gained from seeing you from then on. Let not the hope of his death be cut off without consolation, for from the grave Joseph was revealed to him. Israel the elder mourned in the vision of his son, and Joseph the youth, the beloved, rejoiced in the embrace of his father. Behold, in the mourning that shortly before was a storm, Joseph was sold, sealed, driven away, condemned, and bound; and Jacob the aged mourned, was sad, filled with woe, and his mourning was strong, his affliction great, and he endured tremors; he rent his garment, put on sackcloth, and wept greatly. And the youth was enslaved, and the elder was far from consolation. Come, see now that the time has passed and the season is complete, and Joseph triumphed, grew great, ruled, and became a great one. Jacob's mourning was changed into joy of heart, and that sorrow was turned into gladness; and he put on garments of good life and passed over. And as they were not, so they were not from the beginning. Jacob mourns and Joseph rejoices, and mourning is not; and these that were with you with time are not. The wheel turned and brought down the times, and they were changed, and all of them because of Joseph, not against him.

The Lord of times in his hand is placed all changes, and his is the care of your glories and your ranks. He lowers and raises according to his will the seasons, that in all his dispensations he may bind all thoughts, changing times, both smallness and greatness, upon whom alone the world relies, and not upon times. He gives wealth and poverty, both of them, and taught the world that he is changeable in his deeds. He kills and heals, for whoever swallows him becomes swollen, that there is a remedy for all pains that are healed by him. Leave Jacob sitting in mourning while he guards for him, that great consolation at the end in the vision of his son. He placed his testimony in the young Joseph when he was sold, and hid the mystery from his parent because of the dispensation. And when he served him the entire path of the future, he called and gave him that he might be revealed in him when he died. He asked of him a little time and sealed in him his mysteries, and when all his types were fulfilled, he gave him to his father. He rejoiced over the youth and sent him on the way without his father, and when his affairs were completed, he took leave and revealed himself to him. He kept the redemption that was placed beside him as a true one, and he was prepared by it and completed his work and was not disturbed. He received the service from within the pit when he was sold, and gave a freeborn son who came and sat on the chariot.

He took the sealed bond of the loan from the house of his brothers, and gave it to the rich man before whom the lords of his son and the apostle and the one who served him bowed down a little. The glory of Egypt he put on and was adorned for his aged father. He ceased then from the story that is not to be grasped, while confessing that the victory of the son of the Hebrews is his discourse. Is it not that discourse which took the completion of the confession of the one who hid? Blessed is he whose story is not to be grasped from the lands. Completed is the tenth memra on Joseph, which was spoken for the blessed Mar Jacob the Teacher.