But the Midrash read to teach the Israelites that if they were worthy, the Land of Israel would be an eternal possession, but if not, they would be banished from it. The Mishnah pointed to God's announcement to Abram in that his descendants would return from Egyptian slavery to support the proposition that the merits of the father bring about benefits for future generations. A Midrash taught that and call the Euphrates "the Great River" because it encompasses the Land of Israel. The Midrash noted that at the creation of the world, the Euphrates was not designated "great." But it is called "great" because it encompasses the Land of Israel, which calls a "great nation." As a popular saying said, the king's servant is a king, and thus Scripture calls the Euphrates great because of its association with the great nation of Israel. Rabbi Simeon bar Yohai deduced from the words, "and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar," in that Hagar was Pharaoh's daughter. Rabbi Simeon taught that when Pharaoh saw what God did on Sarah's behalf, Pharaoh gave his daughter to Sarai, reasoning that it would be better for his daughter to be a handmaid in Sarai's house than a mistress in another house. Rabbi Simeon read the name "Hagar" in to mean "reward" ("agar"), imagining Pharaoh to say, "Here is your reward ("agar")." A Midrash deduced from Sarai's words in "Behold now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing; go into my handmaid; it may be that I shall be built up through her," that one who is childless is as one who is demolished. The Rabbi of the Midrash reasoned that only that which is demolished must be "built up." Rabbi Simeon wept that Hagar, the handmaid of Rabbi Simeon's ancestor Abraham's house, was found worthy of meeting an angel on three occasions (including in ), while Rabbi Simeon did not meet an angel even once. A Midrash found in support for the proverb that if a person tells you that you have a donkey's ears, do not believe it, but if two tell it to you, order a halter. For Abraham called Hagar Sarai's servant the first time in saying, "Behold, your maid is in your hand." And then the angel called Hagar Sarai's servant the second time in saying, "Hagar, Sarai's handmaid."