Not just buzzing, practically vibrating with anticipation! The viceroy, Joseph, is about to be reunited with his father, Jacob, after years of separation. And the entire country is turning out for the event.
According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, Joseph, now a powerful figure in Egypt, had issued a proclamation – a rather forceful one, at that – commanding everyone to participate in welcoming Jacob. Can you picture it? Countless Egyptians, decked out in fine linens and purple robes, marching to a symphony of musical instruments. Even the women were on the rooftops, ready with cymbals and timbrels! It was a full-blown national celebration.
And Joseph himself? He wore the royal crown, Pharaoh having lent it to him for the occasion. Talk about making an entrance! As he neared his father, Joseph descended from his chariot and walked the rest of the way on foot, a gesture of respect that the Egyptian nobles quickly mirrored.
But here's a fascinating detail: as Jacob saw the approaching procession, he bowed before Joseph, even before recognizing him. Now, this act of honor came with a consequence, at least according to some traditions. Legends of the Jews suggests that Joseph's untimely death was, in part, a punishment for allowing his father to bow before him. It's a reminder that even acts of love and reunion can have complex repercussions.
To soften the impact of the reunion, Joseph sent his eldest sons ahead on horseback, gradually preparing Jacob for the emotional shock of seeing his long-lost son. As each son approached, Jacob momentarily mistook him for Joseph, a clever strategy to ease the transition.
Finally, the moment arrived. Joseph stood before his father, bowing low. The Egyptians followed suit. Joseph embraced Jacob, weeping. But amidst the joy, there was also regret. Joseph was particularly grieved that he had allowed his father to bow down to him moments before.
What was Jacob doing during this emotional reunion? He was reciting the Shema', the central prayer of Judaism, proclaiming God's oneness. He didn't even allow the momentous occasion to interrupt his prayer. After, he declared that he had thought he would experience a "double death" when he was told Joseph had died, losing both this world and the world to come. He felt he couldn’t fulfill God’s promise of becoming the ancestor of twelve tribes. But seeing Joseph alive renewed his hope.
The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) elaborates on this, explaining that Jacob feared he had forfeited his place in the world to come due to his sins. But Joseph's survival meant that God's promise would be fulfilled, and Jacob's death would only be a physical one.
So, Jacob arrives in Egypt with his entire family – sixty-nine souls. But wait, there's a bonus! As the group approached the city walls, Jochebed, the future mother of Moses, was born, bringing the total to a symbolic seventy. And in an interesting aside, Ginzberg notes that all the males were married, even the very young ones, highlighting the importance of family and continuity.
Joseph, ever the strategist, presented some of his brothers to Pharaoh. He carefully selected the weakest among them, ensuring that they wouldn't be conscripted into the Egyptian army. Moreover, wanting to keep his family separate from Egyptian society, he presented them as shepherds – a profession considered distasteful by the Egyptians, who worshipped animals and the constellation of rain, as Ginzberg notes. This helped secure them the land of Goshen, which, according to tradition, had been granted to Sarah by an earlier Pharaoh.
During their audience with Pharaoh, Joseph's brothers made it clear that their stay in Egypt was temporary. They had no intention of assimilating. Then, Joseph brought Jacob before Pharaoh. The king, upon seeing Jacob, remarked to Og, a giant who happened to be present, about how Abraham, whom Og had previously mocked as infertile, now had a large family.
Pharaoh, perhaps suspecting that Jacob might actually be Abraham, asked about his age. Jacob responded, "The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life." He used the word "pilgrimage" to emphasize the temporary nature of life on earth.
These words, however, didn't sit well with God, according to the Midrash. God reminded Jacob that He had saved him from Esau and Laban and restored Joseph to him. For Jacob’s ungratefulness, God shortened his life.
Before leaving Pharaoh's presence, Jacob blessed the king, wishing him the remaining years of his own life and an abundance of water from the Nile. And, indeed, the Nile overflowed, irrigating the land and demonstrating the power of righteous individuals to bring blessings to the world.
Jacob's arrival in Egypt is more than just a family reunion; it's a complex tapestry woven with themes of redemption, destiny, and the delicate balance between gratitude and complaint. It's a story that reminds us that even in moments of great joy, there can be undercurrents of sorrow and consequence, and that even our most heartfelt prayers can be met with unexpected challenges. What does this story tell us about family expectations? About the weight of responsibility in leadership? About the way we tell our own stories of our lives?
When the Egyptian nobles observed their viceroy completing his preparations to meet his father, they did the same. Indeed, Joseph had issued a proclamation throughout the land, threatening with death all that did not go forth to meet Jacob. The procession that accompanied him was composed of countless men, arrayed in byssus and purple, and marching to the sound of all sorts of musical instruments. Even the women of Egypt had a part in the reception ceremonies. They ascended to the roofs of the houses and the walls of the cities, ready to greet Jacob with the music of cymbals and timbrels. Joseph wore the royal crown upon his head, Pharaoh had yielded it to him for the occasion. He descended from his chariot when he was at a distance of about fifty ells from his father, and walked the rest of the way on foot, and his example was followed by the princes and nobles of Egypt. When Jacob caught sight of the approaching procession, he was rejoiced, and even before he recognized Joseph, he bowed down before him, but for permitting his father to show him this mark of honor, punishment was visited upon Joseph. He died an untimely death, before the years of life assigned to him had elapsed. That no harm befall Jacob from a too sudden meeting with him, Joseph sent his oldest son ahead with five horses, the second son following close after him in the same way. As each son approached, Jacob thought he beheld Joseph, and so he was prepared gradually to see him face to face. Meantime Jacob had espied, from where he was seated, a man in royal robes among the Egyptians, a crown upon his head, and a purple mantle over his shoulders, and he asked Judah who it might be. When he was told that it was Joseph, his joy was great over the high dignity attained by his son. By this time Joseph had come close to his father, and he bowed himself before him down to the earth, and all the people with him likewise prostrated themselves. Then Joseph fell upon his father's neck, and he wept bitterly. He was particularly grieved that he had permitted his father to bow down before him but a little while before without hindering it. At the very moment when Joseph embraced his father, Jacob was reciting the Shema', and he did not allow himself to be interrupted in his prayer, but then he said, "When they brought me the report of the death of Joseph, I thought I was doomed to double death—that I should lose this world and the world to come as well. The Lord had promised to make me the ancestor of twelve tribes, and as the death of my son rendered it impossible that this promise should be realized, I feared I had incurred the doom by my own sins, and as a sinner I could not but expect to forfeit the future world, too. But now that I have beheld thee alive, I know that my death will be only for the world here below." Such was the manner of Jacob's arrival in Egypt. He came with his whole family, sixty-nine persons they were in all, but the number was raised to seventy by the birth of Jochebed, afterward the mother of Moses, which took place when the cavalcade had advanced to the space between the one and the other city wall. All the males in his family were married men; even Pallu and Hezron, the latter of whom was but one year old at the time of their migration, and the former but two years, had the wives with them that had been chosen for them by their parents. In general, all the sons and grandsons of Jacob had married young, some of them had been fathers at the age of seven. Joseph took some from among his brethren, and presented them to Pharaoh. He chose the weakest of them, that the king might not be tempted to retain them in his service as warriors. And as he did not desire his family to live at close quarters with the Egyptians and perhaps amalgamate with them, he introduced them as shepherds. The Egyptians worshipped the constellation of the rain, and paid divine honors to animals, and they kept aloof from shepherds. Pharaoh therefore was inclined to grant Joseph's wish, to give them the pasture land of Goshen for their sojourning place, the land that was theirs by right, for the Pharaoh that took Sarah away from Abraham by force had given it to her as her irrevocable possession. In their conversation with Pharaoh the brethren of Joseph made it plain to the Egyptian king that it was not their intention to remain in Egypt forever, it was to be only a temporary dwelling-place. Then Joseph set Jacob his father before Pharaoh, and when the king saw him, he said to Og, who happened to be with him at that moment, "Seest thou! Thou wast wont to call Abraham a sterile mule, and here is his grandson with a family of seventy persons!" Og would not believe his own eyes, he thought Abraham was standing before him, so close was the resemblance between Jacob and his progenitor. Then Pharaoh asked about Jacob's age, to find out whether he actually was Jacob, and not Abraham. And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, "The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years," using the word pilgrimage in reference to life on earth, which the pious regard as a temporary sojourn in alien lands. "Few and evil," he continued, "have been the days of the years of my life. In my youth I had to flee to a strange land on account of my brother Esau, and now, in my old age, I must again go to a strange land, and my days have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage." These words sufficed to convince Pharaoh and Og that the man standing before them was not Abraham, but his grandson. When Jacob uttered the words, "The days of the years of my pilgrimage have been few and evil," God said to him: "Jacob, I saved thee out of the hands of Esau and Laban, I restored Joseph unto thee, and made him to be a king and a ruler, and yet thou speakest of few and evil days. Because of thy ingratitude, thou wilt not attain unto the days of the years of the life of thy fathers," and Jacob died at an age thirty-three years less than his father Isaac's. On going out from the presence of Pharaoh, Jacob blessed the king with the words, "May the years still in store for me be given unto thee, and may the Nile overflow its banks henceforth again and water the land." His words were fulfilled. In order to show that the pious are a blessing for the world, God caused the Nile to rise above its bed and fructify the land of Egypt.
