Midrasch zu Bereschit 12:8

Rabbi Menaḥem bar Avin interpreted the verse as referring to Moses. “And Yokim” (I Chronicles 4:22) – on the basis of: “Rise [kuma] Lord, and let Your enemies be scattered” (Numbers 10:35). “And the people of Kozeva” (I Chronicles 4:22) – as he rendered the word of the Holy One blessed be He like falsehoods [kazav], as it is stated: “Why, Lord, is Your wrath enflamed at Your people?” (Exodus 32:11).⁷⁵God had said that He would consume the Israelites (Exodus 32:10), but after Moses’ prayer, He relented and did not destroy them. “Yoash” (I Chronicles 4:22) – as he despaired [nitya’ash] of living,” as it is stated: “And if not, please expunge me” (Exodus 32:32). “And Saraf” (I Chronicles 4:22) - as he mentioned the act of those who were burned [serufim], “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants” (Exodus 32:13).⁷⁶See footnote 18. “Who had dominion [ba’alu] over Moav” (I Chronicles 4:22) – as his pleasant actions ascended [alu] and came before his Father [aviv] in Heaven. “And Yashuvi Laḥem” (I Chronicles 4:22) – as he ascended on high and captured the Torah, on the basis of what is stated: “You ascended on high and you took a captive [shevi]” (Psalms 68:19).
“And the matters are ancient [atikim]” (I Chronicles 4:22) – Rabbi Aivu and Rabbi Yehuda ben Simon, Rabbi Aivu said: Even items that were taken [nitatku] from them, [Moses] returned, as it is stated: “Hew for yourself [two tablets of stone like the first]” (Exodus 34:1). These matters⁷⁷On the tablets. were stated by He who will [ultimately] remove [ma’atik] the world, as it is said: “He removed from there” (Genesis 12:8).⁷⁸Thus, the term atikim in the verse in I Chronicles is interpreted to refer to the tablets broken by Moses and then replaced, which contained the word of God. Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon said: These matters are vague here, but explicit elsewhere. He restored [the tablets] to them, as it is stated: “The Lord said to Moses: ‘Write these matters for yourself, as on the basis of these matters [I have established a covenant with you and with Israel]’” (Exodus 34:27). “They are the yotzerim” (I Chronicles 4:23) – on the basis of: “The Lord God formed [vayitzer]” (Genesis 2:19).⁷⁹The midrash interprets the word yotzerim in the sense of yetzurim, creations. The subject is the words of Torah, because God’s intent in creating the world was in order to give the Torah (Etz Yosef).
Another matter, “they are the yotzerim” (I Chronicles 4:23) – these are the souls of the righteous with whom the Holy One blessed be He consulted when creating the world. “And the dwellers among the plants” (I Chronicles 4:23) – on the basis of: “And the Lord God planted” (Genesis 2:8). “And a fence” (I Chronicles 4:23) – on the basis of what is stated: “Who placed the sand for the bound of the sea” (Jeremiah 5:22). “With the king in his service” (I Chronicles 4:23) – the souls of the righteous sat there with the King who is the king of kings, the Holy One blessed be He, and He consulted them and created His world.

And the children of Israel lifted up their eyes … and they were sore afraid (Exod. 14:10). They resorted to the practices of their fathers. It is written of Abraham: And he called upon the name of the Lord (Gen. 12:8), of Isaac it is stated And Isaac went out to meditate in the field (ibid. 24:63), and of Jacob it is stated: And he lighted upon the place (ibid. 28:11). The expression lighted upon (vayifga) is employed with reference to prayer, as it is said: Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them; neither make intercession (tifga) to Me (Jer. 7:16).

[(Gen. 49:1:) THEN JACOB CALLED HIS SONS.] This text is related (to Job 12:20): HE DEPRIVES THE TRUSTWORTHY OF SPEECH AND TAKES AWAY THE REASON OF ELDERS.³²Tanh., Gen. 12:8; Gen. R. 96, New Version, on Gen. 49:1 (= pp. 1276—1277 in the Theodor-Albeck edition); also Gen. R. 99 (another version):5 (= pp. 1200—1202 in the Theodor-Albeck edition). This refers to Isaac and Jacob, in that both of them wanted to reveal a mysterion³³The Greek word means “secret thing” or “mystery.” of the Holy One (i.e., his secret). Isaac called for Esau. He wanted to reveal the end to him, but the Holy One concealed it from him, as stated (in Gen. 27:1): HE CALLED FOR HIS ELDER SON, ESAU; < AND HE SAID UNTO HIM: MY SON; AND HE SAID: HERE AM I >….³⁴Since both patriarchs used the same verb (CALLED) when death was near, the midrash assumes that the purpose for the calling is the same here as in Gen. 49:1. Isaac, however, got no further in his revelation than MY SON. Jacob also wanted to reveal the end to his sons,³⁵See above, 12:1; Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Gen. 49:1. as stated (in Gen. 49:1): < THEN JACOB CALLED HIS SONS AND SAID >: GATHER TOGETHER AND LET ME TELL YOU < WHAT SHALL HAPPEN TO YOU IN THE LATTER DAYS >. To what is the matter comparable? To a slave whom the king trusted with everything that he had.³⁶PR 21:13. When that slave came to die, he called for his sons in order to make them free and tell them where their manumission document³⁷Gk.: diatheke (“testament”). was. The king stood over him. When he saw him standing < there >, he discarded the thing which he had wanted to reveal to them. He began saying to them: Will you slaves of the king please honor him in the same way that I have honored him all my life? Similarly (according Gen. 49:1), Jacob called for his sons to inform them when the end would be. Immediately the Holy One was revealed over him. He said to him: You called for your sons but did not call for me. < It is so stated > (in Is. 43:22): BUT YOU HAVE NOT CALLED ME, O JACOB. When he saw the Holy One revealed over him, he immediately began saying to them: Will you please honor the Holy One just as my ancestors have honored him. It is so stated (in Gen. 48:15): THE GOD BEFORE WHOM MY ANCESTORS < ABRAHAM AND ISAAC > WALKED…. They said to him (the Shema' of Deut. 6:4): HEAR, O ISRAEL, THE LORD IS OUR GOD, THE LORD IS ONE.³⁸Deut. R. 2:6; cf. Sifre to Deut. 6:4 (31). Immediately (according to Gen. 47:31): ISRAEL BOWED DOWN UPON THE HEAD OF THE BED. He began to say in a whisper: Blessed be the name of his glorious kingdom forever and ever.³⁹These words follow the first line of the Shema‘ in the liturgy before “And you shall love….” According to yBer. 5:8 (or 9) (14c) (bar.), the words were used after benedictions instead of Amen in the Temple. See also Pes. 56a, where R. Judah maintains that the words used to be omitted. The Holy One said to him (in Prov. 35:2): IT IS THE GLORY OF GOD TO CONCEAL A MATTER.