The Beginnings of Serach bat Asher

(25) They went up from Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. (26) And they told him, “Joseph is still alive; yes, he is ruler over the whole land of Egypt.” His heart went numb, for he did not believe them. (27) But when they recounted all that Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to transport him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. (28) “Enough!” said Israel. “My son Joseph is still alive! I must go and see him before I die.”

ויפג לבו, “"His [Jacob's] heart went numb" (as in Lamentations 2,18, "Give thyself no respite" פוגת לך): This is the language of resting/stopping, which is to say: his heart stopped, for he could not even react as he could not believe the brothers until he saw the carriages that Joseph had sent along.

Another interpretation: this is the language of movement and joy and being entranced. In the Talmud, Yoma 19, we see it used in this sense when it says אישי כהן גדול עמוד והפג אחת על הרצפה, “my lord the High Priest, arise and demonstrate joy,” In our case, Jacob considered the claims by his sons like a joke. The latter explanation is supported by Onkelos, who writes: פיגו.

"His heart went numb". Va-yafag (numb) comes from the same root as fugat in Give thyself no respite (Lam. 2:18). It means his heart stopped and was still. It was just like and his heart died within him (I Sam. 25:37), for he didn’t believe them. However, when he saw the wagons, his spirit revived. Do not be surprised at the term his heart went numb for it is the style of the prophets to speak in hyperbole. Compare, neither was there breath left in me (Dan. 10:17).

(1) When the plague was over, Adonai said to Moses and to Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, (2) “Take a census of the whole Israelite company from the age of twenty years up, by their ancestral houses, all Israelite males able to bear arms.” ...(46) The name of Asher’s daughter was Serah.— (47) These are the clans of Asher’s descendants; men enrolled: 53,400.

(9) And when Joseph had finished giving them his orders, he turned: and went back into Egypt, ‎and the sons of Jacob went to the land of Canaan, in joy and happiness to their father.

And ‎when they came to the boundaries of the land, they said to one another: What shall we do in ‎bringing this matter before our father? For if we impart it to him suddenly, and tell him all ‎about it, he will be greatly astounded at our words and he will refuse to listen to us.

And when ‎they went on until they approached their houses they met Serach coming towards them, and ‎the damsel was exceedingly beautiful and wise, and a skilled player on the harp; and they ‎called her and she came unto them and she kissed them.

And they took her and gave her a ‎harp saying unto her: Go, we pray thee, before our father and sit down before him and strike ‎this harp and speak unto him according to these words. And they instructed her concerning ‎what she had to say.

She took the harp and hastened unto Jacob and she sat down before him. And she sang ‎and she played beautifully upon the harp, and she sang in the sweetness of her voice: Joseph ‎my uncle is alive and he reigneth over all the land of Egypt; he is not dead.

She continually ‎repeated these words. And Jacob heard her words and it pleased him greatly, and when he ‎heard her sing a second and a third time, the heart of Jacob was possessed by joy, through the ‎sweetness of her voice, and the spirit of God came over him, and he knew that all her words ‎were true.

And Jacob blessed Serach for singing these words before him, and he said: My ‎daughter, may death never prevail against thee forever, for thou hast revived my spirit, only ‎repeat thou this song once more before me, for thou hast caused me gladness with thy words.

‎And she sang once more the same words and Jacob listened, and he was pleased and he ‎rejoiced, and the spirit of God came over him. And while he was yet speaking with her, his ‎sons came before him with horses and chariots and royal garments and servants running ‎before them. And Jacob arose and went to meet them, and he saw his sons dressed in royal ‎garments and all the good things that Joseph sent unto them.

And they said unto him: Be thou ‎informed that our brother Joseph lives, and that he rules over the whole land of Egypt, and ‎it is he who has spoken unto us all we have told you.

And Jacob heard all the words of ‎his sons and his heart went numb, for he believed them not, until he saw all that Joseph had given ‎unto them and all that Joseph had sent along with them, and all the signs he had spoken of ‎unto them. And they unpacked all the things before him, and they displayed all that Joseph ‎had sent, and they gave to every one of them what Joseph had sent him. And Jacob knew ‎that they have spoken the truth, and Jacob was greatly rejoiced on account of his son.

And he ‎said: It is enough, Joseph, my son, is yet alive. I will go and see him before I die. And his sons ‎told unto him all that had befallen them.

Jacob said: I will go down into Egypt, to see my ‎son and my children. And Jacob rose up and he put on the garments which Joseph had sent ‎unto him, and he put a turban upon his head which Joseph had sent him after having washed ‎and shaved himself. And all the men of the house of Jacob and their wives dressed ‎themselves with the things that Joseph had sent them. And they rejoiced greatly on account ‎of Joseph that he was still alive and that he was the ruler over Egypt.

And all the inhabitants of ‎Canaan heard the news, and they came and rejoiced with Jacob on account of Joseph that he ‎was still alive. And Jacob prepared for them a feast of three days, and all the kings of Canaan, ‎and all the great men of the land ate and drank and made merry in Jacob’s house.‎