Midrasch zu Schemot 6:1

(Exod. 21:1:) AND THESE ARE THE ORDINANCES (mishpatim)…. This text is related (to Ps. 99:4): AND A MIGHTY KING LOVES JUSTICE (mishpat).¹Tanh., Exod. 6:1; M. Pss. 99:2; Exod. R. 30:1. All strength, might, and glory belong to the Holy One. David said (in I Chron. 29:10): TO YOU, O LORD, BELONG THE GREATNESS AND THE MIGHT…. <Such> strength belongs to the Supreme King of Kings, the Holy One. You find that whoever is in a position of power does not accomplish his ends with justice (mishpat) but <instead> subverts justice. The Holy One, however, is in a position of power and <still> loves justice (mishpat). (Ps. 99:4, cont.:) YOU HAVE ESTABLISHED UPRIGHTNESS. R. Alexandri said: Two donkey drivers who hated each other were going along the road.²M.Pss.99:3. When the donkey belonging to one of them lay down, his companion saw it and passed by. After he had passed by, he thought: It is written in the Torah (in Exod. 23:5): WHEN YOU SEE THE DONKEY OF ONE WHO HATES YOU <LYING DOWN UNDER ITS BURDEN>…, [YOU MUST SURELY ASSIST HIM.]³Cf. ARN, A 23; Matthew 5:43–48; //Luke 6:27–28, 32–36; Romans 12:20. He immediately returned and shared the load with him. He began to consider <the matter > in his heart. He thought: So-and-so actually loves me,⁴The Buber text reads, “him.” and I did not know it! They entered an inn,⁵Gk.: pandokeion. to eat and drink. Who caused them to make peace? <It happened> because this person considered the Torah. (Ps. 99:4, cont.:) YOU HAVE ESTABLISHED UPRIGHTNESS…. What is this? This is justice (mishpat).

However, on the very first mission I assigned to you, you asked Me, “What is your name?” and now you say: For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Thy name, He hath dealt ill, etc. Therefore, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh (Exod. 6:1). That is, you will participate in the struggle with Pharaoh, but you will not witness the war against the thirty-one kings, that Joshua, your disciple, will wage in vengeance against them.³Since the wars would be fought in the land of Israel, Moses would not participate in them. From this verse you may learn that Moses was punished by being forbidden to enter the land. Hence it is written: And God said unto Moses that He would requite him with Divine Justice. But He said unto him: “I am the Lord” (ibid., v. 2), thereby indicating that Divine Mercy demands that I redeem the Israelites and bring them into the land. Hence it is written: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob as God Almighty (ibid., v. 3).

You find the Holy One, blessed be He, likewise said to Moses: Surely there shall not one of these men, even this evil generation, see the good land (Deut. 1:35). The word man alludes to Moses, as it is written: The man Moses was very meek (Num. 12:13). He was the man who was set apart from the other men (because he alone saw the Promised Land from afar). Similarly You said: And the man was an old man in the days of Saul, stricken in years among men (I Sam 17:12). And elsewhere it is stated: Now thou shalt see what I will do to Pharaoh (Exod. 6:1); that is, you will see the war that will be waged against Pharaoh, but you will not witness the wars against the thirty-one kings (after Israel enters the land). After Moses rebuked the people, saying: Hear now, ye rebels (Num. 20:10), the Holy One, blessed be He, informed him: Therefore ye shall not bring this assembly into the land (ibid., v. 12). Hence He acts circuitously in His doings toward the son of man (Ps. 66:5).