In the morning service for Yom Kippur, there is an allusion to the Scripture passage with which our quotation opens. It is said that Abraham in "his great joy perverted the usual order," which a footnote explains thus—"In the greatness of his joy, that he had thus an opportunity of showing his obedience to God, he set aside the usual order of things, which was that the servant should saddle the ass, and saddled the ass himself, as mentioned Gen. xxii. 3." The animal referred to in the above remarks is spoken of in Sanhedrin, fol. 98, col. 1, as being of a hundred colors.
When Joseph saw the signs of Judah's anger, he began to tremble, and said (to himself), "Woe is me, for he may kill me!" And what were these signs? Tears of blood rolling down from Judah's right eye, and the hair that grew on his chest rising and penetrating through the five garments that he wore. Joseph then kicked the marble seat on which he was sitting, so that it was instantly shattered into fragments. Upon this Judah observed, "He is a mighty man, like one of us."
Yalkut Vayegash.
Abraham married three wives—Sarah, a daughter of Shem; Keturah, a daughter of Japheth; and Hagar, a daughter of Ham.
Yalkut, Job, chap. 8.
Rashi supposes that Keturah was one and the same with Hagar—so the Midrash, the Targum Yerushalmi, and that of Jonathan. The latter says, "Keturah, she is Hagar, who had been bound to him from the beginning," but Aben Ezra and most of the commentators contend that Keturah and Hagar are two distinct persons, and the use of the plural concubines, in verse 6, bears them out in this assertion.
The Holy One—blessed be He!—daily proclaims a new law in the heavenly court, and even all these were known to Abraham.
Ibid., chap. 37.
A Gentile once asked Rabbi Yoshua ben Kapara, "Is it true that ye say your God sees the future?" "Yes," was the reply. "Then how is it that it is written (Gen. vi. 6), 'And it grieved Him at His heart'?" "Hast thou," replied the Rabbi, "ever had a boy born to thee?" "Yes," said the Gentile; "and I rejoiced and made others rejoice with me." "Didst thou not know that he would eventually die?" asked the Rabbi. "Yes," answered the other; "but at the time of joy is joy, and at the time of mourning, mourning." "So it is before the Holy One—blessed be He!—seven days He mourned before the deluge destroyed the world."
Bereshith Rabbah, chap. 27.