Midrasch zu Jonah 4:11

(Deut. 31:14:) THEN THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES: BEHOLD THE DAYS ARE DRAWING NEAR FOR YOU TO DIE.²⁴This verse indicates that this paragraph and the two that follow properly belong to the third section of the missing midrash on Parashah IX.: This text is related (to Prov. 11:31): BEHOLD, SHALL A RIGHTEOUS ONE BE RECOMPENSED ON EARTH?²⁵Tanh., Deut. 11:6. The sense of the midrash requires these words to be read as a question. With reference to whom is this text spoken? It speaks of none other than Moses the Righteous, for there is no one like him, not among the prophets and not among the sages. So here is the Holy One testifying concerning him after his death (in Deut. 34:10): NEVER AGAIN DID THERE ARISE IN ISRAEL A PROPHET LIKE MOSES <WHOM THE LORD KNEW FACE TO FACE>; still, he did not have the power to save himself from death. David therefore said (in I Chron. 29:15): FOR WE ARE SOJOURNERS BEFORE YOU AND TRANSIENTS LIKE ALL OUR ANCESTORS; OUR DAYS ON THE EARTH ARE LIKE A SHADOW, AND THERE IS NO HOPE. But is it not written (in Ps. 37:34): HOPE IN THE LORD AND KEEP HIS WAY, AND HE WILL RAISE YOU UP TO INHERIT THE LAND? So why does the text say (in I Chron. 29:15): AND THERE IS NO HOPE? David said: Sovereign of the Universe, in all circumstances a person has hope. If one is poor, <there is hope> until he becomes rich. <If he is> feeble, <there is hope> until be becomes strong. If he is sick, <there is hope> until he is healed. If he is confined in prison, <there is hope> until they free him. On the day of death, however, he has no hope. So here the Holy One spoke with Moses face to face, but he was not able to save himself from death. And so Solomon has said (in Eccl. 9:2): SINCE EVERYTHING <HAPPENS> TO EVERYONE, THE SAME LOT <FALLS> TO THE RIGHTEOUS AND TO THE WICKED.²⁶Cf. PRK 26:1.: R. Hanina said: In the case of an intercessory spirit,²⁷Pisqonit. Cf. Sanh. 44b, where the Tosafot and the notes of Elijah Gaon of Vilna, citing Rashi, identify this spirit with Gabriel, who was surnamed Pisqon, because he argues against the Holy One. it has authority to speak before the Holy One. <Such a one is> like a senator²⁸Lat.: senator. before the King. So he says to <the Holy one>: Sovereign of the Universe, all flesh is <destined> for death. Abraham experienced death; the wicked Nimrod experienced death; Isaac experienced death; Abimelech experienced death; Moses experienced death; the wicked Pharaoh experienced death; for Solomon has stated (in Eccl. 3:20): EVERYONE IS GOING TO THE SAME PLACE. So from now on, what gain is there for the righteous to be engaged with the Torah and good works in this world? And what loss is there for the wicked to sin and cause <others> to sin in this world? Solomon has the explanation (in vs. 21): WHO KNOWS THE LIFEBREATH OF HUMANS THAT <RISE UPWARD AND THE LIFEBREATH OF THE BEAST THAT GOES DOWN INTO THE EARTH>? THE LIFEBREATH OF HUMANS: These are the spirits of the righteous, because they are put in storage and hidden under the Throne of Glory.²⁹Shab. 152b; Deut. R. 11:10; cf. Revelation 6:9, where the souls of the martyrs are under the heavenly altar. AND THE LIFEBREATH OF THE BEAST THAT GOES DOWN INTO THE EARTH: These are the spirits of the wicked, which go down to Gehinnom. And so it says (in Is. 14:15): YOU SHALL ALSO {GO DOWN} [BE BROUGHT DOWN] UNTO SHEOL, <UNTO THE UTTERMOST PARTS OF THE PIT>. But where is it shown that the righteous are called ADAM? Where Jonah says so (in Jonah 4:11): SO SHOULD I NOT TAKE PITY ON NINEVEH, <THAT GREAT CITY> IN WHICH THERE ARE OVER A HUNDRED AND TWENTY THOUSAND PERSONS (literally: ADAMS), AND <MANY> ANIMALS. ADAMS: These are the righteous; AND <MANY> ANIMALS: These are the wicked, in that their works are like the work of the wicked. It is therefore stated (in Prov. 11:31): BEHOLD, SHALL A RIGHTEOUS ONE BE RECOMPENSED ON EARTH?

(Deut. 31:14:) “Then the Lord said unto Moses, ‘Behold the days are drawing near for you to die.”²²This verse indicates that this paragraph and the two that follow properly belong to the third section of the missing midrash later on. This text is related (to Prov. 11:31), “Behold, shall a righteous one be recompensed on earth?”²³The sense of the midrash requires these words to be read as a question. With reference to whom is this text spoken? It speaks of none other than Moses the righteous, for there is no one like him, not among the prophets and not among the sages. So here is the Holy One, blessed be He, testifying concerning him after his death (in Deut. 34:10), “Never again did there arise in Israel a prophet like Moses.” Still, he did not have the power to save himself from death, all the more so other people. And David therefore said (in I Chron. 29:15), “For we are sojourners before You and transients like all our ancestors; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope.” But is it not written (in Ps. 37:34), “Hope in the Lord and keep His way, [and He will raise you up to inherit the land?” So why does the text say (in I Chron. 29:15), “and there is no hope?” David said, “Master of the world, in all circumstances a person has hope. If one is poor, he hopes until he becomes rich. If he is feeble, he hopes until be becomes strong. [If] he is sick, he hopes until he is healed. If he is confined in prison, he hopes until they free him. On the day of death, however, he has no hope.” As see here that the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke with Moses face to face, but he was [still] not able to save himself from death. And so Solomon has said (in Eccl. 9:2), “Since everything [happens] to everyone, [the same lot to the righteous and to the wicked].²⁴Cf. PRK 26:1. R. Hanina said, “In the case of an intercessory spirit,²⁵Pisqonit. Cf. Sanh. 44b, where the Tosafot and the notes of Elijah Gaon of Vilna, citing Rashi, identify this spirit with Gabriel, who was surnamed Pisqon, because he argues against the Holy One. it has authority to speak before the Holy One, blessed be He. [Such a one is] like a senator²⁶Lat.: senator. before the king. So he says to [the Holy One, blessed be He], ‘Master of the world, all flesh is [destined] for death. Abraham experienced death, Nimrod experienced death; Isaac experienced death, Abimelech experienced death; Moses experienced death, Pharaoh experienced death; for Solomon has stated (in Eccl. 3:20), “Everyone is going to the same place.” So from now on, what gain is there for the righteous to be engaged with the Torah and good works in this world? And what loss is there for the wicked to sin and cause [others] to sin in this world?’ Solomon has the explanation (in vs. 21), ‘Who knows the lifebreath (spirit) of humans (literally, the Children of Adam) that rise upward [and the lifebreath (spirit) of the beast that goes down into the earth]?’ ‘The spirit of humans,’ these are the spirits of the righteous, because they are put in storage and hidden under the throne of glory;²⁷Shab. 152b; Deut. R. 11:10. ‘and the spirit of the beast that goes down into the earth,’ these are the spirits of the wicked, which go down to Gehinnom. And so it says (in Is. 14:15), ‘You shall also be brought down unto Sheol, [unto the uttermost parts of the pit].’” But where is it shown that the righteous are called Adam? Where Jonah says so (in Jon. 4:11), “So should I not take pity on Nineveh, [that great city] in which there are over a hundred and twenty thousand persons (literally, Adams), [who do not know their right hand from their left, and many animals].” “Adams,” these are the righteous; “who do not know their right hand from their left, and many animals,” these are the wicked, in that their actions are like the actions of the animals. It is therefore stated (in Prov. 11:31), “Behold, shall a righteous one be recompensed on earth?”

6) "good by bad or bad by good": Whole animals by blemished ones, or blemished ones by whole ones. Whence is it derived that "bad" signifies "blemished"? From (Devarim 17:1) "You shall not sacrifice to the L–rd your G d an ox or a sheep in which there is a blemish, any bad thing." "and if he substitutes substitutes": to include women (in the laws of substitution). "and if he substitutes, substitutes": to include the heir. "beast for beast": one (non-sacred beast) for two (sacred ones), or two (non-sacred ones) for one (sacred one), one for a hundred or a hundred for one. R. Shimon says: (One) beast for (one) beast, and not (one) beast for (many) beasts. They said to him: (One) beast is called a beast, and many beasts are called a beast, as it is written (Yonah 4:11) "and many beast."

“I said in my heart: It is by the speech of the sons of man that God has differentiated them, and that they may see that they themselves are but as animals” (Ecclesiastes 3:18).
“I said in my heart: It is by the speech of the sons of man” – by the matters of which the wicked speak in this world, for they curse and blaspheme in this world, and the Holy One blessed be He bestows tranquility upon them. To what purpose? “That God has differentiated [levaram] them,” to designate [levarer] the attribute of justice for the wicked.⁷⁹In the World to Come. “And that they may see that they themselves are but as animals,” to see and to show the world that the wicked are likened to animals, just as the animal is condemned to be killed and does not come to life in the World to Come, so too, the wicked, like the animals, are condemned to be killed and do not come to life in the World to Come.
Another matter, “it is by the speech of the sons of man” – by the matters of which the righteous speak in this world regarding asceticism, fasts, and suffering. To what purpose? “That God has differentiated [levaram] them,” to designate [levarer] for them [reward for] the measure of their righteousness. “And that they may see that they themselves are but as animals,” to see and to show the world how Israel is drawn after Him like animals, as it is stated: “Now, you are My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, you are Man” (Ezekiel 34:31). And just as this animal extends its neck for slaughter, so, too, the righteous, as it is stated: “For we are killed all day long for You…” (Psalms 44:23). Let this tradition be in your hand, anyone who performs a mitzva just before his death, it is as though his measure of righteousness was lacking only that mitzva, and he completed it. And one who performs a transgression just before his death, it is as though his measure of wickedness was lacking only that transgression, and he completed it. Both these and those go whole; these whole in the measure of their righteousness and those whole in the measure of their wickedness.
Rabbi Bon and Rabbi Yitzḥak, Rabbi Bon said: Is it not, just as I established prophets from Israel who are called man, as it is stated: “You are Man” (Ezekiel 34:31), did I not establish prophets for the idolaters who are called animals, as it is stated: “[Should I not have pity on Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than one hundred and twenty thousand people…] and many animals” (Jonah 4:11).⁸⁰The midrash assumes that the term people in this verse refers to those who were not overly wicked, and the term animals refers to the wicked people of Nineveh. Rabbi Yitzḥak said:⁸¹Rabbi Yitzḥak’s statement opens the next section.

Rabbi Nechunia, son of Haḳḳanah, said: Know thou the power of repentance. Come and see from Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who rebelled most grievously against the Rock, the Most High, as it is said, "Who is the Lord, that I should hearken unto his voice?" (Ex. 5:2). In the same terms of speech in which he sinned, he repented, as it is said "Who is like thee, O Lord, among the mighty?" (Ex. 15:11). The Holy One, blessed be He, delivered him from amongst the dead. Whence (do we know) that he died? Because it is said, "For now I had put forth my hand, and smitten thee" (Ex. 9:15). He went and ruled in Nineveh. The men of Nineveh were writing fraudulent deeds, and everyone robbed his neighbour, and they committed sodomy, and such-like wicked actions. When the Holy One, blessed be He, sent for Jonah, to prophesy against (the city) its destruction, Pharaoh hearkened and arose from his throne, rent his garments and clothed himself in sackcloth and ashes, and had a proclamation made to all his people, that all the people should fast for two days, || and all who did these (wicked) things should be burnt by fire. What did they do? The men were on one side, and the women on the other, and their children were by themselves; all the clean animals were on one side, and their offspring were by themselves. The infants saw the breasts of their mothers, (and they wished) to have suck, and they wept. The mothers saw their children, (and they wished) to give them suck. By the merit of 4123 children more than twelve hundred thousand men (were saved), as it is said, "And should not I have pity on Nineveh, that great city; wherein are more than six score thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?" (Jonah 4:11); "And the Lord repented of the evil, which he said he would do unto them" (Jonah 3:10). For forty years was the Holy One, blessed be He, slow to anger with them, corresponding to the forty days during which He had sent Jonah. After forty years they returned to their many evil deeds, more so than their former ones, and they were swallowed up like the dead, in the lowest Sheol, as it is said, "Out of the city of the dead they groan" (Job 24:12).