Sotah 13a — the Talmud in English

And she says:

She had said in her prophecy before Moses was born:

“My mother is destined to give birth to a son who will save Israel.” And when

when

Moses was born, the entire house filled with light. Amram,

who was

her father,

Miriam’s

father, kissed her on the head and said to her: “My daughter, your prophecy has been fulfilled.”

He saw that when Moses was born, the house filled with light, and he understood that this was because Moses was the one who would save Israel.

And when they cast him into the Nile, his father stood and slapped

struck

her on the head and said to her: “My daughter, where is your prophecy?”

that Moses would save Israel.

And this is what is written: “And his sister stood at a distance, to know what would be done to him.”

This means that she stood

to know what would ultimately become of her prophecy,

in which she had said that Moses would save Israel. Therefore, she watched to see whether Moses would remain alive and her prophecy would be fulfilled.

We learned in the Mishna:

“Joseph merited

to bury his father Jacob.”

And we raise a difficulty:

What is different at the beginning, as it is written:

When Joseph initially went to bury his father, it is written:

“And Joseph went up to bury his father, and with him went up all Pharaoh’s servants,” and afterward

only afterward is it written that “all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s household” also went up with him to the Land of Israel.

And what is different at the end, as it is written:

When they returned from the Land of Israel to Egypt after Jacob’s burial, it is stated:

“And Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers.”

Here Joseph’s brothers are mentioned first,

and afterward

only afterward is it written that they were accompanied by

“all who had gone up with him to bury his father,”

namely, Pharaoh’s servants. This is difficult: Why is it written at the beginning that Pharaoh’s servants came before Joseph’s brothers, whereas at the end Joseph’s brothers are mentioned first and Pharaoh’s servants afterward?

And we answer:

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: At the beginning,

when they went up to the Land of Israel to bury Jacob, this was

before they had seen

before Pharaoh’s servants had seen

the honor accorded to Israel,

how the inhabitants of the Land of Israel honored Joseph’s brothers. Therefore,

they did not treat them with honor,

and that is why Pharaoh’s servants are mentioned before Joseph’s brothers.

But

if

at the end,

when they returned from the Land of Israel to Egypt, which was after

they had seen the honor

accorded to Joseph’s brothers in the Land of Israel,

Pharaoh’s servants treated them

Joseph’s brothers

with honor,

that is why Joseph’s brothers are mentioned before Pharaoh’s servants.

And the proof that they treated Joseph’s brothers with honor in the Land of Israel is

as it is written:

When they came to the Land of Israel to bury Jacob,

“And they came to the threshing floor of the thornbush.”

They came to a place where thorns had been gathered—the word for “thornbush” means thorns—and the Gemara asks:

“Does a thornbush have a threshing floor?”

Is it customary to gather thorns and make a threshing floor from them? Rather, the verse was expounded,

and Rav Abbahu said: This teaches

that this verse teaches us

that

the inhabitants of the Land of Israel

surrounded Jacob’s coffin with crowns, like this threshing floor

like a threshing floor for grain,

which

in order to prevent theft,

is surrounded

surrounded

with thorns,

so that no one can enter the threshing floor. This indicates that they honored him in the Land of Israel.

And we explain who surrounded Jacob’s coffin with crowns.

When

the descendants of Esau, the descendants of Ishmael, and the descendants of Keturah came, a tannaitic source taught:

We learned that

they all came for war

to kill Jacob’s descendants. Only

when they saw Joseph’s crown,

who was then king in Egypt, and they feared him,

did they all take

all the kings of Esau, Ishmael, and Keturah

their crowns and hang them on Jacob’s coffin.

A tannaitic source taught:

We learned

that thirty-six crowns were hung

on Jacob’s coffin:

Joseph’s crown; twelve crowns of the princes of Ishmael’s descendants; and twenty-three crowns of the chiefs of Esau’s descendants. This makes a total of thirty-six crowns.

“And they mourned there with a very great and grievous lamentation”—

A tannaitic source taught:

We learned that

even horses and even donkeys

were present there in the mourning for Jacob.

And when they came to bury Jacob,

when they reached the Cave of Machpelah,

where Jacob was meant to be buried, since his forefathers Abraham and Isaac were buried there,

Esau came and objected.

He wanted to prevent Jacob’s burial.

He said to them,

Esau said to Jacob’s sons: The verse states,

“Mamre, Kiryat HaArba, which is Hebron,” and Rabbi Yitzḥak said

that Esau explained why it is called

Kiryat HaArba:

because

four pairs

are destined to be buried in the cave. The pairs already buried there

were Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, and Isaac and Rebecca.

It follows that two burial places remained there. Esau claimed that one belonged to him and one to

Jacob and Leah.

Leah, Jacob’s wife, had already been buried there, and it follows that

he,

Jacob,

buried Leah

his wife

in his own

portion, which had come to him.

And this remaining portion

the last burial place that remained

is in his possession;

it belongs to me.

They said to him,

Jacob’s sons said to Esau:

You sold it.

When you sold the birthright to Jacob, you also sold Jacob your right to a burial place in the Cave of Machpelah.

He said to them,

Esau said to Jacob’s sons:

Granted that I sold the birthright,

even though I sold the portion due to me as the firstborn,

the ordinary portion

the portion due to me like the other sons—

did I sell that?

I did not sell it. Since two burial places remained in the Cave of Machpelah, one belongs to Jacob, who already buried Leah there, and one belongs to me. Therefore, he wanted to prevent Jacob’s burial in the Cave of Machpelah.

They said to him,

Jacob’s sons said to Esau:

Yes,

you did indeed also sell your portion in the cave to our father.

As it is written:

Our father Jacob told us at the time of his death that we should bury him

“in my grave which I dug for myself,” and Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yehotzadak:

By this they intended to say to him that, since

the word for “dug” can also mean “sold,” as

indeed

in the coastal cities they call a sale a “digging,”

it is clear that you sold your portion in the cave to our father Jacob.

He said to them,

Esau said to Jacob’s sons:

Give me the document,

show me the deed of sale in which I sold my portion in the cave to Jacob.

They said to him,

Jacob’s sons said to Esau:

The document

the deed of sale

is in the land of Egypt.

And who will go?

Jacob’s sons wondered which of them should go to Egypt to bring the deed of sale. They decided:

Let Naphtali go,

they should send Naphtali, because

he is as swift as a doe,

being quick and light-footed like a doe,

as it is written: “Naphtali is a doe let loose, who gives beautiful sayings.” And Rabbi Abbahu said: Do not read “beautiful sayings,” but “sayings of a document,”

and this was the deed of sale that they sent Naphtali, who was swift like a doe, to bring from Egypt.

Meanwhile,

Ḥushim, son of Dan,

Ḥushim, the son of Dan, the son of Jacob,

was there.

However, since

his ears were heavy,

he did not hear well all the negotiations taking place between Esau and Jacob’s sons.

He said to them,

Ḥushim asked Jacob’s sons:

What is this?

Why are you not burying Jacob?

They said to him: This one is objecting

Esau is preventing them from burying him

until Naphtali comes,

until Naphtali returns

from the land of Egypt

and brings the deed of sale in which Esau sold Jacob the burial place in the cave; then they will bury him.

He said to them,

Ḥushim, son of Dan, said to Jacob’s sons:

And until he comes,

do you mean that until

Naphtali comes from the land of Egypt

and brings the deed of sale,

my grandfather

Jacob, my grandfather, will

lie in disgrace,

without burial?

Ḥushim, son of Dan, took

Ḥushim, son of Dan,

a club

a stick,

struck his head

and hit Esau on the head. As a result of the blow,

his eyes fell

Esau’s eyes fell

onto Jacob’s feet.

Then

Jacob opened his eyes

Jacob opened his eyes

and

when he saw what had happened to Esau,

your brother,

he smiled and rejoiced at Esau’s downfall.

And this is what is written

in the Book of Psalms:

“The righteous shall rejoice”

our forefather Jacob,

“when he sees vengeance,”

when his eyes opened and he saw the vengeance carried out against Esau;

“he shall bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.”

As the righteous one walked, he bathed in the blood of the wicked.

At that moment,

when Esau was killed,

Rebecca’s prophecy was fulfilled, as it is written:

She had prophesied:

“Why should I be bereaved of both of you on one day?”

Indeed, her two sons, Jacob and Esau, died on the same day.

And although their deaths did not occur on the same day,

since Jacob died before Esau—as several days passed from Jacob’s death until they traveled from Egypt to the Land of Israel, and only then did Esau die—

nevertheless,

their burials

of Jacob and Esau

did occur on the same day,

and in this way Rebecca’s prophecy was fulfilled, since both were buried on one day.

And we raise a difficulty concerning what was stated in the Mishna: Joseph merited burying his father, and the meaning of the verse is likewise that Joseph buried him, as it is stated, “And Joseph went up to bury his father.” It follows that Jacob’s burial is attributed to Joseph.

But seemingly, why did Joseph’s brothers allow Joseph to have Jacob’s burial attributed to him, implying that

if Joseph had not attended to him,

if Joseph had not taken care of his burial,

his brothers would not have attended to him,

his brothers would not have taken care of Jacob’s burial?

But the verse

nevertheless states:

“And his sons carried him to the land of Canaan.”

This shows that they too were involved in Jacob’s burial. If so, why did they agree that Jacob’s burial should be attributed to Joseph?

And we answer:

They said:

Jacob’s sons

allowed him,

they allowed Joseph to attend to Jacob and have the burial attributed to him, because

his honor,

the honor of our forefather Jacob, would be greater if it were said that he was buried

by kings,

through Joseph, who was a king,

rather than

if it were said that he was buried by us and people would say that he was buried

by ordinary people,

by simple people like us.

We learned in the Mishna:

“Who was greater for us than Joseph,

that only Moses attended to him?”

The Sages taught: Come and see how beloved mitzvot were to Moses our teacher: All of Israel were occupied with the spoils,

as it is stated: “And they emptied Egypt of its wealth,”

while he was occupied with a mitzva

involving the bones of Joseph,

as it is stated:

“The wise of heart will take mitzvot.”

And from where did Moses our Teacher know where Joseph was buried?

They said

to him:

Serah daughter of Asher, who remained from that

generation,

and perhaps she knows where Joseph is buried.

Moses went to her.

He said to her: Do you happen to know where Joseph is buried?

She said to him: The Egyptians made an iron ark for him and set it

and sank the ark

in the Nile River so that its waters would be blessed,

so that the Nile would continually rise and fill the canals and channels extending from it throughout the land, from which the fields were irrigated, since rain does not fall in Egypt.

Moses went and stood on the bank of

the

Nile.

He said to it: Joseph, Joseph! The time has arrived concerning the oath by which the Holy One, blessed be He, swore that I would redeem you, and the time has arrived for the oath that you imposed upon Israel

that they would bring up your bones from Egypt with them:

»

Immediately, Joseph’s ark surfaced!

And do not wonder how iron could float,

for it is written

in Kings, concerning the disciples of Elisha: “

And it came to pass, as one was felling the beam, that the iron

[топора]

fell into the water,”

and he cried out, saying, “

Alas, my master, and it was borrowed”

[and I have nothing with which to repay it]. “

And the man of God said: Where did it fall? And he showed him the place, and he cut

[cut off]

a piece of wood and threw it there, and the iron floated.”

Is this not a kal va-chomer? If Elisha

who was

a disciple of Elijah, and Elijah was a disciple of Moses

who learned the Torah of Moses,

caused iron to float because of him, then surely it should do so because of Moses our Teacher!

Rabbi Natan says: In the cemetery

in the burial ground

of kings he was buried,

Joseph, but it was not known in which grave.

Moses went and stood at the cemetery of kings. He said: Joseph! The time has arrived concerning the oath by which the Holy One, blessed be He, swore that I would redeem you, and the time has arrived for the oath that you imposed upon Israel. If you reveal yourself, all the better; and if not, behold, we are released from your oath!

At that moment, Joseph’s ark trembled! Moses took it and brought it to him.

And throughout all the years that Israel was in the wilderness, these two arks—one containing a dead man

Joseph’s

and one containing the Divine Presence

and the Tablets within it

traveled alongside one another, and passersby would say: What is the nature of these two arks?

They said

the Israelites:

One contains a dead man, and one contains the Divine Presence!

The passersby asked:

But what business does a dead man have traveling with the Divine Presence?