This Midrash expands the verse in Exodus (Ex. 13:19) which states tersely of Moses that upon the Exodus from Egypt, Moses took the remains of Joseph with the Israelites. It is an excellent example of the many extended aggadic passages present in what claims to be a halakhic Midrash.

“And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him” (Ex. 13:19).

This demonstrates the wisdom and piety of Moses. For all Israel was busy with the spoils while Moses was busy fulfilling the commandment concerning the bones of Joseph. The verse says of him, “The wise of heart accepts commands, but he whose speech is foolish comes to grief” (Prov. 10:8). 213 And how did Moses know where Joseph was buried? They said that Serah, the daughter of Asher, remained from that generation and she showed Moses the grave of Joseph. She said to him, “They put him in this place. The Egyptians made him a metal coffin and they sank it in the Nile.”

So Moses went and stood by the Nile. He took a pebble, threw it in, and cried out, saying, “Joseph, Joseph, the time has come for the fulfillment of the oath which the Holy One Blessed be He swore to our father Abraham, for He is redeeming His children. Honor the Lord, God of Israel,

…and do not delay the redemption, for because of you we are delayed. Otherwise, we will be exempted from your oath.” Immediately, Joseph’s coffin floated to the surface and Moses took it.

Do not be surprised at this. Behold it is written, “As one of them was felling a tree-trunk, the iron ax-head fell into the water, and he cried out, ‘Alas, master, it was borrowed!’ ‘Where did it fall?’ asked the man of God. He showed him the spot and he cut off a stick and threw it in and he made the ax-head float” (2 Kings 6:5–6). These things are a case of a fortiori reasoning. 214 If Elisha, the disciple of Elijah, could make the iron rise to the surface, then all the more so could Moses, the master of Elijah, do so. 215

Rabbi Nathan said: “Joseph was buried in the necropolis of Egypt in order to teach you that according to the measure which man metes out, so do they mete out to him. Miriam waited for her brother a while as it is said, ‘And his sister stood far off’ (Ex. 2:4). So, in the wilderness God made the ark, the Divine Presence, the priests, the Levites, all Israel and the seven clouds of glory all wait for her, as it is written, ‘And the people did not travel on until Miriam was readmitted’ (Num. 12:15). 216 Joseph was privileged to bury his father, for there was none greater than he among his brothers, as it is said, ‘And Joseph went up to bury his father… and chariots and horsemen went up with him’ (Gen. 50:7–9). Who do we have as great as Joseph, with whom none other than Moses busied himself? Moses busied himself with the bones of Joseph, and there is none greater than he in Israel, as it is said, ‘And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him’ (Ex. 13:19). Whom do we have greater than Moses, with whom none other than the Divine Presence busied itself, as it is said, ‘And He [God] buried him [Moses] in the valley’ (Deut. 34:6).

“Furthermore, with Jacob Pharaoh’s servants and the elders of his house went up, as it is said, ‘And with him all the servants of Pharaoh and the elders of his house went up’ (Gen. 50:7). And with Joseph the ark, the Divine Presence, the priests, the Levites, all of Israel and the seven clouds of glory went up. Furthermore, Joseph’s coffin (Hebrew ‘aron’) was traveling with the Ark (Hebrew ‘aron’) of the Eternal Living One. Passersby said, ‘What is the nature of these two ‘aronot?’”

“They said to them, ‘This is the aron of a dead man, and this is the aron of the Eternal Living One.’

They said, ‘How is it that a dead man is going with the aron of the Eternal Living One?’

They said to him, ‘He who is lying in this aron (Joseph) fulfilled what is written on what is lying in this aron (the Ten Commandments).’” 217

On that which is lying in this aron it is written, “I am the Lord your God” (Ex. 21:2). About Joseph it is written, “Am I a substitute for God?” (Gen. 50:19). On that which is lying in this aron it is written, “You shall have no other gods besides Me” (Ex. 20:3). About Joseph it is written, “I fear God” (Gen. 42:18). It is written, “You shall not swear [by the name of the Lord your God]” (Ex. 20:7). Concerning Joseph it is written, “By the life of Pharaoh’s life” (Gen. 42:16). It is written, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy” (Ex. 20:8). Of Joseph it is written, “Slaughter there an animal” (Gen. 43:16), and “prepare” indicates nothing other than preparation for the Sabbath, as it is said, “But on the sixth day, they should prepare” (Ex. 16:5). It is written, “Honor your father” (Ex. 20:12). Of Joseph it is written, “Israel said to Joseph, ‘Your brothers are pasturing at Shechem. Come, I am sending you to them.’ And he said, ‘I am ready’” (Gen. 37:13). It is written, “You shall not murder” (Ex. 20:13); he did not murder Potiphar. 218 It is written, “You shall not commit adultery” (Ex. 20:13); he did not commit adultery with the wife of Potiphar. It is written, “You shall not steal” (Ex. 20:13). He did not steal, as it is said, “Joseph gathered in all the money…and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house” (Gen. 47:14). It is written, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Ex. 20:13). And behold these things are a case of a fortiori reasoning: since he did not say even a true thing, all the more so did he not say a false one! It is written, “You shall not covet” (Ex. 20:14); he did not covet the wife of Potiphar. It is written, “You shall not hate your brother in your heart” (Lev. 19:17). Of Joseph it is said, “And he reassured them and he spoke to their hearts” (Gen. 50:21). 219 It is written, “You shall not take vengeance and shall not bear a grudge” (Lev. 19:18). And it is written, “Although you intended evil for me, God

intended it for good” (Gen. 50:20). It is written, “Let your brother live with you” (Lev. 25:35); “and Joseph sustained his father and his brothers, and all his father’s household” (Gen. 47:12).

When Joseph made them swear to bring up his bones for burial in the Land of Israel, he made them swear that they would have their children swear. Rabbi Nathan said, “Why did he make his brothers swear but did not make his own children swear? He said, ‘If I make my children swear, the Egyptians will not permit them. And if they say, “Our father [Joseph] brought up his father (Jacob),” they will immediately tell them, “Your father was a king.”’”

Thus he made his brothers swear and not his sons. Joseph said to them, “My father had me swear voluntarily and I brought him up; I came here voluntarily and I will have you swear that you will return me from here again with you and steal me.” And so they did for him, as it is said: “And the bones of Joseph which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt were buried at Shechem, in the plot of ground which Jacob had bought for a hundred qesitah from the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, and it was an inheritance to the sons of Joseph” (Josh. 24:32).

“God will surely remember you” (Ex. 13:19). He remembered you in Egypt; He remembered you at the Red Sea; He remembered you in the desert; He remembered you in the Sea; He remembered you at Nahal Arnon; He remembered you in the desert; He will also remember you in the World to Come. 220

212. Trans. S. Berrin based on the text of H. S. Horovitz and I. A. Rabin, Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael (Jerusalem: Bamberger & Wahrman, 1960), pp. 78–80.

213. Moses, the wise of heart, immediately undertook to fulfill the command of Joseph to bring his bones back to the Land of Israel.

214. Qal va-homer: see 10.4.1.

215. To recover the metal coffin of Joseph.

216. Miriam had contracted the skin disease zara‘at, usually mistranslated “leprosy,” and the people waited during her period of quarantine and purification.

217. The Mekhilta compares each of the Ten Commandments to events in the life of Joseph to show how Joseph fulfilled them.

218. According to midrashic tradition, the wife of his master Potiphar tried to convince Joseph to murder her husband.

219. Even after his father’s death, Joseph reassured his brothers that he held no grudge or hatred for their having sold him into slavery in Egypt.

220. This is an example of the messianic peroration (conclusion) with which many homiletical sections of Midrash end.