attained authority and presented with the opportunity to avenge his brothers' ill-treatment of him, Joseph nonetheless bore what happened with self-restraint and governed himself. Genesis chapter 47 Philo read Jacob's words in , "The days of the years of my life which I spend here as a sojourner have been few and evil; they have not come up to the days of my fathers which they spent as Sojourners," to support the general proposition that the Torah represents the wise people whom it mentions as sojourners whose souls are sent down from heaven to earth as to a foreign land. Philo taught that wise people see themselves as sojourners in a foreign land—the body perceptible by the senses—and view the virtues appreciable by the intellect as their native land. In classical rabbinic interpretation The parashah is discussed in these rabbinic sources from the era of the Mishnah and the Talmud: Genesis chapter 44 Rabbi Judah ben Ilai taught that Scripture speaks in praise of Judah. Rabbi Judah noted that on three occasions, Scripture records that Judah spoke before his brethren, and they made him king over them (bowing to his authority): (1) in , which reports, "Judah said to his brethren: ‘What profit is it if we slay our brother'"; (2) in , which reports, "Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house"; and (3) in , which reports, "Then Judah came near" to Joseph to argue for Benjamin. A Midrash taught that, as reported in the words "Judah came near to him" in , Judah did not cease from answering Joseph word for word until he penetrated to his very heart. Rabbi Judah taught that in the words of , "Judah came near" for battle, as in 2 Samuel , where it says: "So Joab and the people that were with him drew near to battle." Rabbi Neḥemiah said that "Judah came near" for conciliation, as in , where it says that "the children of Judah drew near to Joshua" to conciliate him. The Rabbis said that coming near implies prayer, as in 1 Kings , where it says that "Elijah the prophet came near" to pray to God. Rabbi Leazar combined all these views, teaching that "Judah came near to him" ready for battle, conciliation, or prayer. Rabbi Jeremiah ben Shemaiah taught that Judah exclaimed that he would only need to utter one word (dabar) and bring a