She sat down before Jacob, and, with an agreeable melody,
she sang the following words, accompanying herself upon
the harp: "Joseph, my uncle, liveth, he ruleth over the
whole of Egypt, he is not dead!" She repeated these words
several times, and Jacob grew more and more pleasurably
excited. His joy awakened the holy spirit in him, and he
knew that she spoke the truth.[293] The spirit of prophecy
never visits a seer when he is in a state of lassitude or in a
state of grief; it comes only together with joy. All the
years of Joseph's separation from him Jacob had had no
prophetic visions, because he was always sad, and only when
Serah's words reawakened the feeling of happiness in his
heart, the prophetic spirit again took possession of him.[294]
Jacob rewarded her therefor with the words, "My daughter,
may death never have power over thee, for thou didst revive