Cain's Song

[5] "Oh that you were as my brother, who nursed at my mother's breasts" (Song of Songs 8:1). As which brother? Like Cain to Abel? Cain killed Abel. Like Ishmael to Isaac? Ishmael hated Isaac. Like Esau to Jacob? Esau hated Jacob. Like the brothers of Joseph to Joseph? Joseph's brothers hated Joseph. Rather, like Joseph to his brothers. You find that after all the evils they did to him, what is written concerning him? "And now, fear not; I will sustain you and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spoke to their heart" (Genesis 50:21). Rabbi Simlai said: He said to them, You are the head and I am the body; if the head goes, of what good is the body? Another interpretation: He said to them, You have been compared to the dust of the earth, and to the sand of the sea, and to the stars of heaven. Behold, I will go and make war against them: if I can prevail against them, then I can prevail against you; but if I cannot prevail against them, I cannot prevail against you. Another interpretation: He said to them, How shall I become the adversary of Father? Father begets and I bury? Another interpretation: He said, How shall I become the adversary of the Holy One, blessed be He? The Holy One blesses and I slay with the sword? Another interpretation: He said to them, You are the established order of the world: twelve hours in the day and twelve hours in the night, twelve months, twelve constellations, twelve tribes — can I abolish the established order of the world? Another interpretation: He said to them, Before you came down here, the Egyptians treated me as a slave; once you came down here, you made known my noble lineage. Another interpretation: He said to them, If I kill you now, the Egyptians will say, A band of young men he saw, and he said, These are my brothers — and as proof of this, after a time he found a pretext against them and killed them. Another interpretation: He said to them, If I kill you now, the Egyptians will say, With his brothers he does not keep faith, yet with us he keeps faith? Therefore, "and he comforted them, and spoke to their heart" (Genesis 50:21). And these matters are a fortiori: If Joseph, who was speaking good words and comforting words to his brothers, comforted them, then when the Holy One, blessed be He, comes to comfort Jerusalem, how much more so! "Comfort, comfort My people, says your God" (Isaiah 40:1).