Joseph Obeys Jacob Though His Brothers Hate Him

Midrash Aggadah, Genesis 37:13

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"And Israel said to Joseph, etc.; and he said to him: Here I am" (Genesis 37:13). He conducted himself toward his father with honor and reverence. Jacob said to him: Joseph, you know that your brothers hate you, and yet you say, "Here I am"? He said to him: Father, I know that they hate me, but even if they were to kill me, I will not turn your word back empty.

Themes

JosephHatredPatriarchsJacobAdam Eve

Biblical References

Continue Reading

Legends of the JewsEliphaz's LegacyThe familiar story centers on Jacob, later named Israel, and his brother Esau. Their relationship? Let’s call it “fraught.” But according to the Legends of the Legends of the JewsJacob's Seventeen Years in Egypt Repaid the Seventeen Raising JosephTake Jacob, for instance. The story goes that Jacob, after years of hardship and separation from his beloved son Joseph, was finally reunited. And according to Targum JonathanWhy Esau's Teeth Hurt When He Kissed JacobWhen Esau and Jacob finally reunited after twenty years of separation, the Bible says Esau ran to his brother, embraced him, kissed him, and they wept (Genesis Midrash AggadahJoseph Curling His Hair and the Slander of His BrothersThe verse opens, "These are the generations of Jacob: Joseph," and the Maggid pauses on the strangeness of it. Why does the line of Jacob hang upon a single sonMidrash AggadahWhy Jacob's Days Drew Near and His Oath to Joseph on CircumcisionThe verse says the days of Israel "drew near" to die—and the Sages heard a sorrow in that word. Wherever Scripture says a man's days "drew near," it means he feMidrash AggadahWhy Jacob Lost Thirty-Three Years and the Sealed ParashaThe Sages noticed a strange thing about the verse "And Jacob lived." It is a "closed" portion, pressed tight against what came before, with no open space. Why?