Midrash Tanchuma, Nasso 30 | Jewish Mythology

(Numbers 7:54:) "On the eighth day, the prince of the Children of Manasseh." R. Abbin Berabbi the Levite said, “As Joseph was offering his praise, his master saw him murmuring with his mouth.122Numb. R. 14:3. He said to him, ‘What are you saying.’ Then he answered and said to him, ‘I am offering praise to the Holy One, blessed be He.’ He said to him, ‘I want to see Him.’ Joseph said to him, ‘Consider the sun, [who is merely] one of His several attendants.123In an unvowelled Hebrew text “sun” (shemesh) and “attendant” (shammash) would have the same spelling, i.e., ShMSh. [Since] you cannot look at [His attendant], how much the less [can you look at] His own glory.’124See above. Exod. 8:6; below, Numb. 3:15. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, ‘By your life, because of you I am appearing to him.’ Thus it is stated (in Gen. 39:3), ‘When his master saw that the Lord was with him.’” R. Chaninah said, “What is the meaning of (Ps. 24:10), ‘Who is this King of glory]?’ [It is] since He shares His glory with those who fear Him.125Above, Exod. 2:7, and the other parallels listed there. In the case of a king of flesh and blood, no one [else] uses his scepter; but the Holy One, blessed be He, gave his scepter to Moses, as stated (in Exod. 4:20), ‘and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.’ In the case of a king of flesh and blood, no one [else] sits on his throne; but it is written about Solomon (in I Chron. 29:23), ‘Then Solomon sat upon the throne of the Lord.’ In the case of a king of flesh and blood, no one [else] rides on his horse; but Elijah ride on the horse of the Holy One, blessed be He. Now which horse belongs to the Holy One, blessed be He? Storm and whirlwind. Thus it is stated (in Nahum 1:3), ‘the Lord is in the whirlwind, and the storm is His road.’ And He gave it to Elijah. So it is written (in II Kings 2:11), ‘and Elijah went up in a whirlwind into the heavens.’ In the case of a king of flesh and blood, no one [else] wears his attire; but the Holy One, blessed be He has put his attire on the messianic king. And what is the attire of the Holy One, blessed be He? Honor and majesty, as stated (in Ps. 104:1), ‘You have put on honor and majesty.’ And it is written (in Ps. 21:6), ‘honor and majesty do You bestow upon him.’” What is written about the Holy One, blessed be He (in Is. 59:18)? “According to their deeds, so shall He repay.”126Biblical translations commonly render “RECOMPENSE” (gemulot) as “THEIR DEEDS.” What is the meaning of “[He] shall repay […] He shall repay” (twice)? That He repays the good according to their good [deeds] and the evil according to their evil [deeds]. What is written about Joseph (in Gen. 49:22)? “Joseph is a fruitful son.”127So literally. Biblical translations usually render “son” (ben) by a word like “bough” or “vine.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “Joseph, there shall be peace upon the eye which you closed and did not look at any of the Egyptian women.”128Cf. Gen. R. 98(99):18. Thus it is stated (ibid., cont.), “daughters129Again English versions generally read “boughs” or the like. step upon the wall (i.e., to gaze).” R. Abbin said, “What is the meaning of ‘upon the wall ('ly shwr)’?130Numb. R. 14:6. The Holy One, blessed be He, said, ‘It is for me ('ly) to pay a reward (skr) for that eye.’” Our masters have taught (in Zev. 14:4, 5, 6, 7, 8) that they would eat in the Temple within the curtains, but in Shiloh (which lay in Ephraimite territory) [they would eat outside the sanctuary as far away as the eye could see,131See Zev. 118b. as] the Holy One, blessed be He, rewarded Joseph for what he did. What is written [about Joseph (in Gen. 39:12)? “And he left his cloak [in her hand].” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “By your life, when the Children of Israel go out from Egypt in the future, the sea is going to see your coffin and flee.”132See Mekhilta deRabbi Ishmael, Beshallah, 4; Gen. R. 84:5; M. Pss. 114:9. It is so stated (in Ps. 114:3), “The sea saw and fled […].” What did it see? It saw that Joseph had kept all of the Ten Commandments. Simeon, the man of Kitron, says, ��It saw the bones of Joseph.”133Gen. R. 87:8). And in addition, Joseph's coffin (aron) proceeded before the ark (aron). And the peoples of the world saw it and said, “What is the nature of this ark which is proceeding before the ark of the Torah?” Then Israel said, “This is a coffin of a dead man that is proceeding before the ark of the Torah, since this [man] fulfilled everything that was written in this [Torah], before the Torah was given. And therefore he merited to proceed with it.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Joseph, “Joseph, although I have rewarded you with a little reward in this world, the main fund remains for you in the world to come, when Israel is redeemed with an everlasting redemption. Through the merit of Jacob and through your merit, they will be redeemed, as stated (in Ps. 77:16), “With Your mighty arm You redeemed Your people, the Children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.”

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