A tale of loyalty, promise, and righteous living.
You see, before he passed, Joseph made his brothers promise to carry his bones with them when they finally left Egypt. A pretty big ask, right? But it speaks volumes about his connection to his homeland and his trust in his family. And they kept that promise. According to Legends of the Jews, during those forty years in the wilderness, Joseph's coffin was right there with them, in the midst of the Israelite camp. This wasn't just a sentimental gesture, though. It was, in a way, a reward for Joseph's own promise to his brethren: "I will nourish you and take care of you." God, it is said, declared, "As thou livest, for forty years they will take care of thy bones." A beautiful echo of commitment across generations.
Now, imagine the scene. The Israelites are trekking through the desert, and among all their belongings, they're carrying not one, but two important shrines. One was the aron (אַרון), the Ark of the Covenant, holding the luchot (לוחות), the tablets of the Ten Commandments, representing the living God. And right alongside it was the coffin of the dead Joseph.
Talk about a juxtaposition!
It's said that travelers would see these two arks side-by-side and wonder, "How doth the ark of the dead come next to the ark of the Ever-living?" It's a question that gets to the heart of what it means to live a righteous life, doesn't it? The answer they received was powerful: "The dead man enshrined in the one fulfilled the commandments enshrined in the other."
Think about that for a moment.
Joseph's life, his actions, were a living embodiment of the very principles enshrined in the Ten Commandments. Each commandment was reflected in his choices. As the story goes:
"In the latter it is written, I am the Lord thy God, and he said, Am I in the place of God? Here it is written, Thou shalt have no other gods before My face, and he said, I fear God." Joseph, despite his immense power in Egypt, never saw himself as a god, always acknowledging a higher power.
He showed reverence in so many ways. "Here it is written, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, and therefore he did not swear by God, but said, By the life of Pharaoh." Even in speech, he was careful. "Here it is written, Remember the Sabbath day, and he said to the overseer of his palace on Friday, Slay and make ready, meaning for the Sabbath." Even in a foreign land, he observed the Sabbath.
And what about honoring parents? "Here it is written, Honor thy father and thy mother, and he said, when his father desired to send him to his brethren, Here am I, although he knew it was perilous for him to go." He was willing to risk his own safety for his father's wishes.
He honored all of God's commandments: "Here it is written, Thou shalt not kill, and he refrained from murdering Potiphar when Potiphar's wife urged him to do it. Here it is written, Thou shalt not commit adultery, and he scorned the adulterous proposals of Potiphar's wife. Here it is written, Thou shalt not steal, and he stole nothing from Pharaoh, but gathered up all the money and brought it unto Pharaoh's house. Here it is written, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor, and he told his father nothing of what his brethren had done to him, though what he might have told was the truth. Here it is written, Thou shalt not covet, and he did not covet Potiphar's wife."
The story of Joseph's bones traveling alongside the Ark is more than just a quirky detail from the desert wanderings. It's a powerful reminder that our actions, our choices, are what truly define us. It's a testament to the idea that a life lived according to the commandments is a life that continues to resonate, even after death. It begs the question: What ark will our lives be measured against?