Aggada -- Translations into English; Bible. Old Testament -- Legends; Jewish legends; Midrash -- Translations into English
After these words, Jacob could doubt no longer that Joseph bad been
torn by wild beasts, and he mourned for his son, saying: "O my son
Joseph, my son, I sent thee to inquire after the welfare of thy
brethren, and now thou art torn by wild beasts. It is my fault that
this evil chance hath come upon thee. I am distressed for thee, my son,
I am sorely distressed. How sweet was thy life to me, and how bitter is
thy death! Would God I had died for thee, O Joseph, my son, for now I
am distressed on thy account. O my son Joseph, where art thou, and
where is thy soul? Arise, arise from thy place, and look upon my grief
for thee. Come and count the tears that roll down my cheeks, and bring
the tale of them before God, that His wrath be turned away from me. O
Joseph, my son, how painful and appalling was thy death! None hath died
a death like thine since the world doth stand. I know well that it came
to pass by reason of my sins. O that thou wouldst return and see the
bitter sorrow thy misfortune hath brought upon me! But it is true, it
was not I that created thee, and formed thee. I gave thee neither
spirit nor soul, but God created thee. He formed thy bones, covered
them with flesh, breathed the breath of life into thy nostrils, and
then gave thee unto me. And God who gave thee unto me, He hath taken
thee from me, and from Him hath this dispensation come upon me. What
the Lord doeth is well done!" In these words and many others like them
Jacob mourned and bewailed his son, until he fell to the ground
prostrate and immovable.
When the sons of Jacob saw the vehemence of their father's grief, they
repented of their deed, and wept bitterly. Especially Judah was
grief-stricken. He laid his father's head upon his knees, and wiped his
tears away as they flowed from his eyes, while he himself broke out in
violent weeping. The sons of Jacob and their wives all sought to
comfort their father. They arranged a great memorial service, and they
wept and mourned over Joseph's death and over their father's
sorrow.[64] But Jacob refused to be comforted.
The tidings of his son's death caused the loss of two members of
Jacob's family. Bilhah and Dinah could not survive their grief. Bilhah
passed away the very day whereon the report reached Jacob, and Dinah
died soon after, and so he had three losses to mourn in one month.
He received the tidings of Joseph's death in the seventh month, Tishri,
and on the tenth day of the month, and therefore the children of Israel
are bidden to weep and afflict their souls on this day. Furthermore, on
this day the sin offering of atonement shall be a kid of the goats,
because the sons of Jacob transgressed with a kid, in the blood of
which they dipped Joseph's coat, and thus they brought sorrow upon
Jacob.[65]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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