Midrasch zu Tehillim 16:6

One time I was walking on the way. A man found me, and went with me on the way of mitzvot, and he had mikra (ie: written law) but no mishnah (ie: oral law). And he said to me, "Rabbi, mikra was given to us from Mount Sinai. Mishnah was not given to us from Mount Sinai." And I said to him, "My son, mikra and mishnah were both of them said from the mouth of God." And what is the difference between mikra and mishnah? Rather he told him a parable: To what is this matter similar? To a human king (lit: a king of flesh and blood) who had two servants, and he loved them with a great love. And he gave to one a kab (a measure) of wheat and to the other kab of wheat. And he also gave to each one of them a bundle of flax. The wise one of them took the flax and wove a beautiful cloth, and took the wheat and made it into fine flour, and sifted it, and ground it, and kneaded it, and baked it, and set it on the table, and spread the beautiful cloth over it, and left it there until the king should come. And the fool of them did nothing. After some time the king came into his house, and said to them, to his two servants, "My sons, bring to me what I gave you." One of them brought out the bread of fine flour, on the table, with the beautiful cloth spread over it. And the other of them brought out the wheat in a pile and the bundle of flax upon it. Woe for that shame! Woe for that disgrace! Which one is more favored? You must admit it is the one who brought out the bread on the table with the beautiful cloth spread over it.

(Numb. 34:1–2:) “Then the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, ‘Command the Children of Israel [and say unto them], “When you come into the Land of Canaan, [this is the land]....”’” [“This is the land”]⁶These words occur also in Deut. 34:4 (cited below). The midrash, therefore, interprets the two passages together. What follows in Numb. 34:3ff. describes what Israel is about to receive, while Deut. 34:4 (cited below) speaks of the promise to Israel’s future seed and adds that Moses shall see it. teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, showed Moses all that had been and all that was going to be.⁷Numb. R. 23:5. He showed him Samson arising from Dan, and Barak [arising] from Naphtali. So also it was for every generation with its expounders, every generation with its leaders,⁸Gk.: pronoos. every generation with its sages, every generation with its wicked, every generation with its righteous, as stated (in Deut. 34:4,) “This is the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob....” [This] teaches that He showed him gehinnom. Moshe said in front of Him, “Master of the world, who is sentenced to it?” He said to him, “The wicked and those that rebel against Me, as stated (in Is. 66:24), “And they went out and saw the corpses of the people....” Moshe began to fear. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him (as in Deut. 34:4), “I have shown it to your eyes, but you will not pass there.” And what is the meaning of “This is the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying?” [The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses,] “The oath that I swore to them I have fulfilled for their children.” It is therefore stated (in Deut. 34:4), “saying.”⁹The Hebrew here can imply the giving of one’s solemn word. (Numbers 34:2:) “This is the land that shall fall to you as your portion.” And does the land fall? But is it not written (in Eccl. 1:4), “but the land stands forever?” It is simply that when the spies came and put out slander on the land and said (in Numb. 13:33), “And we saw the Nephilim there,” and they said (in Numb. 12:31), “it is stronger than us,” Moshe got angry. [Then] all of Israel said, “Moses, our teacher, if these spies were two [or] three, it would be correct for us to trust [them], as stated (Deut. 17:6), ‘By the testimony of two witnesses....’ And behold, they are ten, (as in Deut. 1:28), ‘To where shall we go up?’” As it were, [they were complaining that] the Master of the house is not able to remove his vessels (the inhabitants) from there. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He took the ministering angel of the land and bound him and put him down in front of them, as stated (Deut. 1:21), “See the Lord, your God, has placed in front of you....” And was [the land] in front of them? It is simply that He put down its ministering angel. And He said to them (in Deut. 1:21, cont.), “Go up and possess..., do not fear and do not tremble,” not from the Nephilim and not from the people that [you say] are bigger and more numerous than us. (Ezek. 45:1:) “When you allot the land as an inheritance....” This text is related (to Psalms 16:6), “Portions of land fell to me in pleasantness, even a beautiful inheritance for me.” “Portions of land fell to me.” These are the twelve tribes, since the land was divided to the twelve tribes, as stated (in Ezek. 47:13), “Thus said the Lord God, ‘These shall be the boundaries of the land that you shall allot to the twelve tribes of Israel.’” “In pleasantness,” in the merit of the Torah, about which it is stated (in Prov. 22:18), “As it is pleasant that you should store them in your belly....” “Even a beautiful inheritance for me.” There is a man who is handsome but his clothing is ugly, and one is ugly but his clothing handsome. But Israel is not like this. They are handsome and their clothing is handsome. They adorn the land and the Land of Israel adorns them. Hence it is stated (in Ps. 16:6), “Even a beautiful inheritance for me.” And so too is it stated (in Job 29:14), “I clothed myself in righteousness and it clothed me.”

(Ezek. 11, 16) Yet will I be to them as a minor sanctuary. R. Samuel b. Isaac said: "This refers to the houses of study that are in Babylon." R. Elazar said: "This refers to the house of our master who is in Babylon; i.e., Rab]." Raba lectured: What is the meaning of the passage (Ps. 90, 1) Lord, a place of refuge hast thou been unto us. That refers to the prayer- and learning-houses." Abayi said: "Formerly I used to learn at home, and pray at the house of Prayer; but since I heard what David said (Ps. 16, 6) Lord, I love the site of thy house, I began to study in the prayer-house also." In a Baraitha it was taught, R. Elazar ha-Kapar said: "The prayer - and learning - houses outside of the land of Israel will in the future be established in the land of Israel, as it is said (Jer. 46, 18) As Thabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel is by the sea, so shall He come, etc. Can this not be inferred through a fortiori conclusion? If Thabor and Carmel, at which only occasionally the Law was studied, are deemed within the land of Israel, how much more so will the prayer-houses and schools, at which the Law is studied, be established in the land of Israel?" Bar Kapara lectured: "What does this passage mean (Ps. 68, 17) Why watch ye enviously, ye many-peaked mountains? This means: A heavenly voice went forth and said to the mountains: 'Why should ye be jealous of Mount Sinai? Ye, all great mountains, are blemished in comparison with Sinai; for it is written Gabnunim in connection with mountains, and the same analogy of expression is used (Lev. 21, 20) A Giben (crook-backed) ." .From this," said Abaye, "we may infer that a man who is haughty is to be considered as blemished." (Fol. 31) R. Jochanan said: "Whenever you find in the Scripture a description of the greatness of the Holy One, praised be He! you find also a description of His modesty. This is written in the Pentateuch, repeated in the Prophets, and mentioned a third time in the Hagiographa. In the Pentateuch it is written (Deut. 10, 17) For the Lord your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of Lords; and immediately follows. Who executeth justice for the fatherless and the widow. It is repeated in the Prophets (Is. 57, 15) Thus hath said the High and Lofty One, who inhabiteth Eternity, whose name it Holy; and after this it is written: Yet also with the contrite and humble in spirit. The third time in Hagiographa (Ps. 68, 5) Extol him who rideth upon the heavens. The Everlasting is His name; and after this it is written: A father of the fatherless and the judge of the widows."