Joseph was brought down to Egypt (Genesis 39:1). Lamentations gives the frame: "Good is the man who sits alone and is silent, for he will bear the yoke upon himself. He will put his mouth to the dust and hope that there may be hope, because the Lord will not cast off forever" (Lamentations 3:27-29). The rabbis read this as Joseph's biography in three verses.
He sat alone — seventeen years old in a foreign country, sold by his brothers, property of an Egyptian officer. He was silent — the Torah does not record Joseph complaining about what happened to him, not in the pit, not in Potiphar's house, not in the prison. He bore the yoke upon himself — everything that was given to him to carry, he carried. And he hoped. Even in prison, after Potiphar's wife lied and Pharaoh's butler forgot him, he kept his interpretation of dreams sharp, his faith unbroken.
Job's friends gave him the same counsel they later gave Job: your suffering is temporary; your end will be peaceful. The midrash reports that Joseph's suffering, too, was a preparation — not punishment, but tempering. God does not cast off forever. The darkness in Joseph's story is absolute, and the reversal — from prisoner to viceroy in a single day — is the most dramatic in Genesis. The yoke in the dark is the condition for the throne in the light. The rabbis told this story again and again because it is the story of every exile.
Chapter (59) 60: Psalms [1] "A song of ascents. Many times they have afflicted me from my youth," let Israel say (Psalm 129:1). And it shall be, when you find yourself in great distress and tribulation, this song shall bear witness against you (Deuteronomy 31:21). The Holy One, blessed be He, said, "When Israel finds itself in such troubles and I deliver them from it, at that moment they shall sing a song," as it is said, "Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord" (Exodus 15:1). This is also true when they were in Egypt and were enslaved; once they were saved and sat down to eat, they immediately sang a song, as it is said, "You will have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept" (Isaiah 30:29). On that same night, it is said, "a night of watching" (Exodus 12:42). This is also true at the sea, when they were in great distress, as it is said, "They crossed the sea through great trial" (Zechariah 10:11), and when God performed miracles and saved them, they immediately sang a song, as it is said, "And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians, and the people feared the Lord, and believed in the Lord, and in Moses his servant" (Exodus 14:31). Immediately after that they sang, "Then sang Moses and the children of Israel" (Exodus 15:1). When they came to the wilderness and were thirsty, as it is said, "Their soul fainted within them" (Psalm 107:5), and they cried out to the Lord, when they saw the well of water, they immediately sang a song, as it is said, "Then Israel sang this song, 'Spring up, O well'" (Numbers 21:17-18). Therefore, it is written, "And it shall be, when you find yourself in great distress" (Deuteronomy 31:21), and so it was with Deborah and Barak when Sisera oppressed them, as it is said, "And Sisera called together all his chariots" (Judges 4:13), and when the Holy One, blessed be He, delivered them, immediately Deborah sang, as it is said, "Then Deborah sang" (Judges 5:1). Similarly, when Sennacherib came, Hezekiah said, "And my song shall be with you" (Isaiah 38:20). And so with David, when troubles came upon him, as it says, "For troubles without number surround me" (Psalm 40:13), and once the Almighty saved him from all of them, immediately he said a song, as it says, "These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David and his servants" (2 Samuel 21:22), "Then David spoke to the Lord the words of this song" (2 Samuel 22:1). Therefore, it says, "And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles have befallen them, this song shall testify before them" (Deuteronomy 31:21), therefore we say in Psalm 129:1, "Many times they have oppressed me from my youth."
