JOSEPH EARNED MERIT etc. Why the difference that first it is
written: And Joseph went up to bury his father, and with him
went up all the servants of Pharaoh etc.,2 followed by, And all
the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father's house,3
and in the sequel it is written: And Joseph returned into Egypt,
he and his brethren,4 followed by, And all that went up with him
to bury his father? — R. Johanan said: At first, before [the
servants of Pharaoh] beheld the glory of the Israelites, they
did not treat them with respect;5 but in the sequel, when they
beheld their glory, they treated them with respect. For it is
written: And they came to the threshing-floor of Atad;6 but is
there a threshing-floor for brambles? — R. Abbahu said: It
teaches that they surrounded Jacob's coffin with crowns like a
threshing-floor which is surrounded with a hedge of brambles,
because the sons of Esau, of Ishmael and of Keturah also came. A
Tanna taught: They all came to wage war [against the
Israelites]; but when they saw