Midrasch zu Bereschit 34:6

And before his sons’ return, Jacob sent two maid-servants of his daughter to take care of ‎Dinah in Shechem’s house, and to remain with her. And Shechem the son of Hamor son of ‎Hidekem son of Pered spoke unto his father, saying: Get me this damsel to wife. And Hamor, ‎son of Hidekem the Hivite, went into the house of Shechem his son and he sat before him; ‎and Hamor said unto his son Shechem: Is there not a woman among the daughters of thy land ‎worthy to be thy wife, that thou goest to take a Hebrew woman, who is not of thy people? ‎And Shechem replied: She is the only one which thou must get for me, for she pleaseth me ‎best. And Hamor decided to do the will of his son, for he was dearly beloved by him. And ‎Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob, to commune with him concerning the ‎matter, but ere he had left the house of Shechem to go unto Jacob, the sons of Jacob had re ‎turned from the field for they were informed of what Shechem the son of Hamor had done. ‎And the men were greatly grieved concerning their sister, and all came home with a burning ‎wrath even before the time of gathering in their cattle. And they came and sat before their ‎father, with anger kindled, and they said: Verily this man deserveth death, for God the Lord of ‎the whole earth commanded unto Noah and his children that man should neither rob nor ‎commit adultery, and behold Shechem hath both robbed us of and defiled our sister, and not ‎one of all the people of the city spoke a word unto him. Verily thou knowest it well that death ‎is due to Shechem and his father and to the entire city, for what he hath done. And while they ‎were thus deliberating in the presence of their father, Hamor the father of Shechem entered ‎to commune with Jacob concerning the words of his son on account of Dinah, and he sat ‎before Jacob and his sons. And Hamor spoke unto them, saying: The soul of my son Shechem ‎longeth for your daughter. I pray ye give him her to wife, and make ye marriages with us and ‎give your daughters unto us and take our daughters unto you. And ye shall dwell with us in our ‎land, and we will be like one people in the land. Behold our land is very spacious, dwell and ‎trade ye therein and get you possessions therein, and do therein as it pleaseth unto you and ‎no one will say a word against it. And when Hamor had ceased speaking unto Jacob and his ‎sons, Shechem his son came after him and sat before them, and Shechem spoke unto Jacob ‎and his sons, saying: Let me find grace in your eyes to give me your daughter to wife and ‎whatsoever you will say unto me I shall do for her. Ask me never so much dowry and gift and I ‎will give accordingly as ye shall say unto me, and whosoever shall trespass the orders of your ‎mouth he shall die, but give me the damsel to wife.‎

(Numb. 21:17:) “Then Israel sang.” For what reason is Moses not mentioned there?¹³⁶Numb. R. 19:26. For the reason that he was being punished because of the waters; and no person praises¹³⁷Rt.: QLS. Cf.: Gk.: kalos. his executioner.¹³⁸Lat.: speculator (“examiner” or “overseer”). And why is the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, not mentioned there? The matter is comparable to a governor who made a banquet for the king. The king said, “Will my friend so-and-so be there?” They told him, “No.” He said, “[Then] I also am not going there.” Also here the Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Inasmuch as Moses is not mentioned, I also will not be mentioned there.” (Numb. 21:18:) “The well that the princes dug.” Was it dug there? It is simply that it was given through the merit of the ancestors who were called princes. Thus it is stated (in Ps. 105:41-42), “He opened a rock, and water gushed out […]. For he remembered His holy promise and His servant Abraham.” (Numb. 21:18, cont.:) “That the nobles of the people dug with the scepter, even with their own staffs.” The princes were standing by it, and each and every one drew [the water] with his own staff for his own tribe and for his own family. And the space between the [four] standards was filled with a [flow of] water that was gathering strength. A woman who had to go to her companion from one standard to [another] standard went by ship, as stated (in Ps. 105:41), “they traveled the river by tsiyyot.”¹³⁹A more traditional translation would be: IT FLOWED THROUGH THE WILDERNESS LIKE A RIVER. Now tsiyyot (here understood as the plural of tsi) can only denote a ship, since it is stated (in Is. 33:21), “nor shall a stately ship (tsi) pass by.” Now the waters flowed outside the camp and embraced a great strip of land. Thus it is stated (in Ps. 23:3) “He leads me in paths (literally, circles) of righteousness.” In addition, [the encircling waters] would cause endless varieties of green herbage and trees to grow, as stated (in Ps. 23:2), “[He makes me lie down] in green pastures; [He leads me beside still waters].” All those the days that Israel was in the desert they used it (i.e., the well). Therefore, they rendered praise for it [with the song ending] (in Numb. 21:18), “the well that the princes dug.” (Numb. 21:18, cont.:) “From Midbar (literally, desert) to Mattanah,” [so stated] because in the desert [the well] was given (nittenah) them to use as a gift (mattanah). Another interpretation: Why was [the well] given in the desert? Because if it had been given to them in the land, the tribe in whose border it was given would have argued and said, “I have a prior claim to it.” For that reason it was given in the desert where all would have an equal claim to it. And for what other reason was it given in the desert? Just as a desert is neither sown nor cultivated, so is the one who receives the words of Torah. They remove from him the yoke of the government and the yoke of earning a living. Just as a desert does not grow arnona;¹⁴⁰The Latin word generally denotes, as it probably does here, a tax on farm goods paid in kind; but the word also occurs in a broader sense denoting agricultural products generally. so are children of Torah (i.e., Torah scholars) free [from it] in this world.¹⁴¹I.e., by accepting the yoke of Torah, such scholars are exempt from government taxes and the need to earn a living. See Numb. R. 19:26. Another interpretation [of why it was given] in the desert: Who is the one who fulfills the Torah? One who uses himself like the desert, [i.e.,] whoever makes himself like a desert and removes himself from everything [that might distract him]. (Numb. 21:19:) “From Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth.” These three places correspond to the three courts in Jerusalem that would explicate the Torah to all of Israel: (Ibid.) “From Mattanah to Nahaliel,” these refer to the Sanhedrin on the Temple Mount; (ibid., cont.) “from Nahaliel to Bamoth,” these refer to the Sanhedrin¹⁴²Gk.: synhedrion. in the [Temple] court beside the altar; (Numb. 21:20) “From Bamoth to the valley that is in the Plain of Moab.” These refer to the Sanhedrin, when it was in the chamber of hewn stones, which was in the region of that woman who came from the Plain of Moab (i.e., Ruth), of whom it is stated (in Ruth 2:6), “She is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the Plains of Moab.” (Numb. 21:20, cont.:) “[At the Summit of Pisgah,] which is visible on the surface of wilderness (yeshimon);”¹⁴³Yeshimon may be a place name, Jeshimon. for from there (she’misham) Torah goes forth into the world. Another interpretation (of these verses, centering on Numb. 21:19) “From Mattanah to Nahaliel”: Moses said, “Master of the world, after all of the miracles that You did for them, I am to die from them? He gave them the Torah from the desert (midbar), [as stated] (in Numb. 21:18), ‘From Midbar to Mattanah (literally, gift).’ And through me, they inherited (nahalu) it, as stated (in Numb. 21:19) ‘From Mattanah to Nahaliel.’ And from when they inherited it, You decreed death upon me [since] (Numb. 21:19, cont.), ‘from Nahaliel to Bamoth,’ [meaning] death came (ba mavet).” (Numb. 21:20) “From Bamoth to the valley that is in the Plain of Moab…,” that is burial, as stated (in Deut. 34:6), “He buried him in the valley in the Land of Moab.” This is related to what Job said (to Job 34:19), “He is not partial to princes; the noble are not preferred to the wretched; for all of them are the work of His hands.”(Numb. 21:20, cont.:) “[At the Summit of Pisgah,] which is visible on the surface of wilderness (yeshimon).” This is in reference to the well which accompanied them until it was hidden in the Sea of Tiberias.¹⁴⁴See above, Lev. 7:7; Numb. 1:2; 6:35, 47-49; and the notes there; also yKil. 2:4 or 3 (32cd); yKet. 12:3 (35b); Lev. R. 22:4; Eccl. R. 5:8-9:5; cf. Shab. 35b, according to which the well is visible from Mount Carmel; similarly M. Ps. 24:6, according to which the well is visible from Mount Nebo. And one standing on the surface of the wilderness sees something in the midst of the sea about the size of the mouth of an oven; and that is the well, which is visible on the surface of the wilderness.