Midrasch zu Schemuel I 15:9

(Lev. 14:2:) “This shall be the law of the leper.” Let our master instruct us: How many people have no share in the world to come?¹Numb. R. 14:1; PR 6:4; ARN, A, 36; Midrash on Proverbs, 22. Thus have our masters taught (in Sanh. 10:1-2): These are they who have no share in the world to come…. Three kings and four commoners²Gk.: idiotes. have no share in the world to come. The three kings are Jeroboam, Ahab, and Manasseh.³See Sanh. 101b-104a. R. Judah ben Shallum said, “The sages of the Mishnah wanted to teach that there were four kings and reckon Solomon with them; however, a heavenly voice (bat qol) came forth and said (in the words of Ps. 105:15), ‘Touch not my anointed.’ Nevertheless they returned one day to teaching [as before]. Fire from the heavens came and destroyed their benches. [The heavenly voice] returned and said (according to Job 34:33), ‘Should He repay as you would, when you have refused?’” All the same, why did they so teach? Because it is written (in I Kings 11:1, 6), “Now King Solomon loved many foreign wives […]. And Solomon did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord.” (Sanh. 10:2, at the end:) The four commoners are Balaam, Doeg, Ahithophel and Gehazi. You find that these were condemned to Geihinnom on account of the words of their mouths. In the case of Balaam, he was driven into Geihinnom because of his speech, as stated (in Numb. 23:7), “From Aram has Balak brought me, the king of Moab,”⁴Numb. R. 20:19; also below, Numb. 7:17. [meaning] I was one of the exalted ones;⁵Heb.: MRMYM, which the midrash seems to understand as related to M’RMYM, i.e., “one of the Arameans.” I was one of the division of the patriarchs, [but] Balak brought me (yanheni) and cast me into Geihinnom.” Now brought me (yanheni, rt.: nhh) can only imply Geihinnom, since it is stated (in Ezek. 32:18), “Son of man, lament over (rt.: nhh)⁶The Buber text reads the middle letter in this root as a het in agreement with Numb. 23:7; but the parallels in Numb. R. 20:19, and the Masoretic Text all read the middle letter as a he, a reading which together with the preposition ‘al, requires the translation, LAMENT OVER. [the masses of Egypt and cast them down… unto the lowest part of the nether world].” So also was Doeg banished because of his speech. When? When David fled to Nob, the city of priests where Ahimelech received him, Saul noticed and gathered all his servants. He said to them, “A fine way you are treating me! For David does whatever he wishes, and not one of you has put a word in my ear.” It is so stated (in I Sam. 22:8), “Is that why all of you have conspired against me? For no one is putting a word in my ear when my son is making a deal with the son of Jesse….” Doeg began to utter evil speech, as stated (in vs. 9), “Then Doeg the Edomite, who was standing among the servants of Saul, answered and said, ‘I saw the son of Jesse come to Nob….’” It was also by his hand that eighty-five priests who wear the ephod and Ahimelech the High Priest were slain. “And he smote Nob the city of priests with the edge of the sword” (I Samuel 22:19). R. Eleazar said, “Anyone who becomes merciful upon the cruel one will end by being cruel to the merciful: It is written (I Samuel 15:9), ‘But Saul had pity upon Agag and upon the best of the sheep and the cattle’; and it is [also] written (I Samuel 22:19) about Nob the city of priest, ‘And he smote Nob the city of priests with the edge of the sword.’“ So also was Ahithophel banished because of his speech. Thus it is stated (in II Sam. 17:23), “So when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not heeded… and he set his house in order and hanged himself.” Gehazi also was banished on account of his speech. When Naaman became leprous and was healed at the hands of Elisha, Naaman began to give silver, gold and gifts⁷Gk.: dora. to Elisha, but he did not want to accept them. Now Gehazi was ministering to Elisha. He saw the silver, the gold, and the clothes; so he said (in II Kings 5:20), “My Lord has spared that Aramean Naaman without accepting what he brought; as the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him.” Certainly he took [something; he took] his deformity. Thus it is stated (in vs. 27), “And the leprosy of Naaman shall cleave to you and to your seed forever.” Why [did Elisha not want anything]? Because it is stated (in Deut. 13:18), “And let nothing cleave to your hand of that which is devoted.” Now Naaman and the king of Aram served idols; and it is written (in Deut. 7:26), “Do not bring an abomination unto your house.” R. Pedat said, “The Holy One, blessed be He, has made a covenant with the world that anyone who utters evil speech receives leprosy.” Where is it shown? From what is written on the matter (in Lev. 14:2), “This shall be the law of the leper (hametsora'),” [ i.e. ] the one who proclaims evil (hamotsi' ra').⁸Below, 5:5; ySot. 2:1 (17d); ‘Arakh. 15b; Cf. Lev. R. 16:1. Our masters have said, “Plagues only affect a person on account of the evil speech which comes out of his mouth.” So the holy spirit cries out (in Eccl. 5:5), “Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin,” [ i.e. ] to afflict your body; (ibid., cont.) “and do not say before the angel that it was a mistake,” [ i.e. ] and do not say before the angel who is appointed over you, “By mistake I brought forth the word from my mouth.” For every word which issues from your mouth, whether good, evil, by mistake, or on purpose, is written in a book. Where is it shown that it is so? Where it is stated (in Mal. 3:16), “Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another; the Lord has hearkened and listened, and a book of remembrance has been written before Him […].” And so with the trait of calamity, David said (in Ps. 139:2), “You know when I sit down and when I stand up, You discern my thoughts from afar.” Job also said (in Job 14:16), “For You count my footsteps,” and (Job 13:27) “You look closely over the treading of my feet.” (Eccl. 5:5, cont.:) “Why should God be angry over your voice and destroy the work of your hands?” These are the hands and the body when they are afflicted by leprosy. Another interpretation (of Eccl. 5:5), “Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin”: The Torah has spoken to you euphemistically. If your wife has told you that she is menstruating (niddah), do not cause your body to sin by touching her. Do not say before the angel who is appointed over the formation of the fetus, “’I made a mistake and did not know.” (Ibid., cont.:) “Why should God be angry over your voice and destroy the work of your hands?” This refers to the children who are afflicted with leprosy. R. Aha said, “If a man has intercourse with his wife when she is menstruating, the children will be afflicted with leprosy. How? [If] he has intercourse on the first day of her menstruating, the child which is born shall be afflicted after ten years. [If] he has intercourse with her on the second day, it shall be afflicted after twenty years. On the third day it shall be afflicted after thirty years. On the fourth day it shall be afflicted after forty years. On the fifth day it shall be afflicted after fifty years. On the sixth day it shall be afflicted after sixty years. On the seventh day it shall be afflicted after seventy years, corresponding to the seven days of her menstruation. Moreover, he shall not depart from the world before he has seen his fruit spoiled. Now the days of a person's life are only seventy years, for so David says (in Ps. 90:10), ‘The days of our life comprise seventy years, and’ [only if] one merited, ‘eighty.’ Therefore if a man has intercourse with a menstruating woman on the seventh day, the fetus is afflicted at seventy years of age, so that he does not depart from the world until he has seen his fruit spoiled. This punishment, as it were, does not come from Me. I have already testified to you and told you (in Lev. 14:2,) ‘This shall be the law of the leper.’” Another interpretation (of Eccl. 5:5), “Do not let your mouth [cause your flesh to sin, and do not say before the angel (mal'akh) that it was a mistake]”: If you have acted with malice aforethought and led astray a high priest, who is called an angel (mal'akh), as stated (in Mal. 2:7), “For the lips of a priest preserve knowledge, and they should seek Torah from his mouth; for he is the messenger (mal'akh) of the Lord of hosts”; then do not say, “I sinned by mistake,” [ i.e. ] (in Eccl. 5:5), “ do not say before the angel (i.e., before the high priest) that it was a mistake.” Why? You are leading yourself astray. You are afflicting yourself. The voice which you send forth from your mouth will destroy the work of your hands. (Eccl. 5:5) “Why should God be angry over your voice [and destroy the work of your hands]?” This refers to the children who are afflicted with leprosy.

Rabbi Levi began: “But if you will not dispossess the inhabitants of the land from before you, those who you leave will be like thorns in your eyes, and like stones in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land you inhabit” (Numbers 33:55). [This verse] refers to Saul. When Samuel said to him: “Now go and smite Amalek” (I Samuel 15:3), he said to him: You went innocent and you returned guilty and spared him, as it is stated: “Saul and the people spared Agag” (I Samuel 15:9). A scion will remain from him, who will perform harsh actions against you; “will be like thorns in your eyes, and like stones in your sides.” And who is that? It is Haman, who said: “To destroy, to kill, and to eliminate” (Esther 3:13). When everyone saw that it was so, they began screaming: ‘Woe [vai];’ “it was [vayhi] during the days of Aḥashverosh” (Esther 1:1).

(Numb. 4:18) “Do not cut off.” This text is related (to Nahum 1:7), “The Lord is good, a shelter in the day of trouble; He knows those who trust in Him.” The nature of the Holy One, blessed be He, is unlike the nature of flesh and blood.¹³¹Numb. R. 5:3. In the case of a king of flesh and blood, when a province rebels against him, he acts against it with an indiscriminate punishment¹³²Gk.: androlempsia or androlepsia (“seizure of foreigners” in reprisal for murder committed abroad). and kills the good along with the bad. Now the Holy One, blessed be He, is not like that. Rather, when a generation provokes Him, He saves the righteous and destroys the wicked. The generation of Enosh sinned. He destroyed them but rescued Enoch, as stated (in Gen. 5:24), “And Enoch walked with God.” Why? (Nahum 1:7:) “[The Lord is good, a shelter] in the day of trouble; He knows those who trust in Him.” The generation of the flood provoked Him. So He destroyed them, as stated (in Gen. 7:23), “And He blotted out all existence”; but He rescued Noah, as stated (in Gen. 6:8), “And Noah found favor [in the eyes of the Lord].” And similarly with the Sodomites, He destroyed them, as stated (in Gen. 19:24), “Then the Lord rained down upon Sodom”; but He rescued Lot, as stated (in vs. 29), “and sent Lot away.” He brought darkness upon the Egyptians, but (according to Exod. 10:23) “all the Children of Israel had light in their dwellings.” Why? (Nahum 1:7:) “[The Lord is good, a shelter] in the day of trouble; He knows those who trust in Him.” They went forth from Egypt and came to the desert. [There] they committed that deed (i.e., the incident of the golden calf), [all] except for the tribe of Levi. Thus it is stated (in Exod. 32:26), “[So Moses stood up in the gate of the camp and said,] ‘Whoever is for the Lord, to me!’ And all of the sons of Levi gathered to him.” [What is the meaning of “Whoever is for the Lord?”] Whoever (in Exod. 32:3) has not given a ring for the calf, let him come unto me. [To him] the Holy One, blessed be He, said (in Nahum 1:7), “[The Lord is good, a shelter] in the day of trouble; He knows those who trust in Him.” Moshe immediately arose and killed the sinners, as stated (Exodus 32:28), “And the Children of Levi did like the word of Moses.” With reference to the tribe of Levi, however, which gave their lives for the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, He thus said to Moses and Aaron (in Numb. 4:18), “Do not cut off….” And so He says in another place (i.e., in Numb. 3:15), “Enroll the Children of Levi.” But He has also said (in Numb. 1:49), “However, you shall not enroll the tribe of Levi.” Why? In order to exclude them from the decree. As the Holy One, blessed be He, foresaw that Israel was going to provoke Him and said to them (in Numb. 14:29), “In this desert shall your carcasses drop.” Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, said, “The Children of Levi shall not be [part of] this decree, as stated (in Numb. 1:49, cont.), ‘nor shall you take a census of them as part of the Children of Israel.’ Why? Because they are Mine, as stated (Numb. 3:12), ‘and the Levites shall be mine.’” Thus when anyone offers (rt.: qrb) a little of himself, they advance (rt.: qrb) him a lot. Now they had offered (rt.: qrb) themselves, when Moses said (in Exod. 32:26), “Whoever is for the Lord, to me!” And not only that, but the Holy One, blessed be He, said (according to Numb. 1:50) “You shall enroll the Levites to be over the tabernacle of the testimony.” Thus when someone is tested in [one] area and found trustworthy, the Holy One, blessed be He, trusts him forever; for so you find in the case of Joshua.¹³³Numb. R. 1:12. When he was tested with Amalek, he prevailed against him according to the law and according to the commandment. It is so stated (in Exod. 17:13), “And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people….” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “From your tribe (Ephraim) I am raising up one to exact punishment from Amalek, as stated (in Jud. 5:14), “Out of Ephraim came those whose root is in Amalek….” What is the meaning of out of (mny) Ephraim? He appointed (mnh) Ephraim alone to destroy the seed of Amalek. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him (ibid., cont.), “’After you, Benjamin with your peoples,’ [i.e.,] leave him for Saul ben Kish, the Benjamite; he will uproot him.” Another interpretation (of Jud. 5:14), “Out of Ephraim.” Saul was tested and found untrustworthy in his commission. Rather (according to I Sam. 15:9), “But Saul and the people spared Agag.” He put him back after him (i.e., behind Ephraim, the tribe of Joshua and Samuel) and the kingdom was taken from him, as stated (in Jud. 5:14), “after you (i.e., Ephraim), Benjamin with your peoples.” And I have also tested this tribe (of Levi), and they have been found to be preserving My honor; for they have given their life for the sanctification of My name (in Exod. 32:27-28), “Let each one put his sword on his thigh [….] So the Children of Levi acted according to the word of Moses,” and they did not show favoritism. Therefore, Moses blesses them and says to them (in Deut. 33:9), “Who says of his father and mother, ‘I do not consider them […].’” And [so] I am also advancing him and making him My imperial agent.¹³⁴Lat.: frumentarius (“grain dealer”). and I am entrusting him with My house and My sanctity, as stated (in Numb. 1:50), “But you shall enroll the Levites to be over the tabernacle of the testimony….” And what was it that I told you (in vs. 49)? “However, you shall not enroll the tribe of Levi.” [This prohibition] was to exempt them from the decree which I was going to pronounce over Israel. It is simply that I am allotting them great honor. When you number them, [number them] by themselves through the Divine utterance (in Numb. 3:15), “Enroll the Children of Levi.” Now if I have honored the Levites, who bear the tabernacle, how much the more so in the case of the Children of Kohath, who bear the ark, [as stated] (in Numb. 3:31), “And their duties included the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, [….]” He therefore said to them (in Numb. 4:18), “Do not cut off [the tribe of the Kohathite families from the Levites].” The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “And if because the Children of Kohath have feared Me, I have allotted glory to them and to their children; then [I will honor] whoever stands in awe of Me and not cut off his name from the world.”¹³⁵Numb. R. 5:9. From whom do you learn this? From the children of Jonadab ben Rechab. Since they did his will, what is stated about them? (Jer. 35:19), “Someone belonging to Jonadab ben Rechab shall not be cut off from standing before Me forever.” And if in the case of those who are proselytes, because they have done My will, I have done likewise for them (i.e., what they want); in the case of Israel, when they are doing My will, how much the more shall they neither be cut off nor have their name be erased from before Me? Rather, they shall live and abide forever and ever and ever, as stated (in Deut. 4:4), “But you who clung to the Lord your God are all alive today.”

Another interpretation (of Jud. 5:14): OUT OF EPHRAIM. Saul was tested and found untrustworthy in his commission. Rather (according to I Sam. 15:9): BUT SAUL AND THE PEOPLE SPARED AGAG. He put him back after him (i.e., behind Ephraim, the tribe of Joshua and Samuel) and the kingdom was taken from him, as stated (in Jud. 5:14): AFTER YOU (i.e., Ephraim), BENJAMIN WITH YOUR PEOPLES. And I have also tested this tribe (of Levi), and they have been found to be preserving my honor; for they have given their life for the sanctification of my name (in Exod. 32:27-28): LET EACH ONE PUT HIS SWORD ON HIS THIGH <….> SO THE CHILDREN OF LEVI ACTED ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF MOSES, and they did not show mercy to them. Therefore, Moses blesses them and says to them (in Deut. 33:9): WHO SAYS OF HIS FATHER AND MOTHER: I DO NOT CONSIDER THEM [….] And I am also advancing him and making him my imperial agent.¹⁶²Lat.: frumentarius (“grain dealer”). And I am entrusting him with my house and my sanctity, as stated (in Numb. 1:50): BUT YOU SHALL ENROLL THE LEVITES <TO BE OVER THE TABERNACLE OF THE TESTIMONY>…. And what was it that I told you (in vs. 49)? HOWEVER, YOU SHALL NOT ENROLL THE TRIBE OF LEVI. <This prohibition> was to exempt them from the decree which I was going to pronounce over Israel. It is simply that I am allotting them great honor. When you number them, <number them> by themselves through the divine utterance (in Numb. 3:15): ENROLL THE CHILDREN OF LEVI. Now if I have honored the Levites, who bear the Tabernacle, how much the more so in the case of the children of Kohath, who bear the ark, [as stated (in Numb. 3:31): AND THEIR DUTIES INCLUDED THE ARK, THE TABLE, THE LAMPSTAND, THE ALTARS, AND THE SACRED UTENSILS….] He therefore said to them (in Numb. 4:18): DO NOT CUT OFF <THE TRIBE OF THE KOHATHITE FAMILIES FROM THE LEVITES>. The Holy One said: [If] because [the children of Kohath] have feared me, I have allotted glory to them [and to their children]; then [I will honor] whoever stands in awe of me and not cut off his name from the world.¹⁶³Numb. R. 5:9. From whom do you learn this? From the Jonadab ben Rechab, as stated (in Jer. 35:19): SOMEONE BELONGING TO JONADAB BEN RECHAB SHALL NOT BE CUT OFF <FROM STANDING BEFORE ME FOREVER>. And if in the case of those who are proselytes, because they have done my will, I have done likewise for them (i.e., what they want); in the case of Israel, when they are doing my will, how much the more shall they neither be cut off nor have their name be erased from before me? Rather, they shall live and abide forever and ever and ever, as stated (in Deut. 4:4): BUT YOU WHO CLUNG TO THE LORD YOUR GOD ARE ALL ALIVE TODAY.

THE SEED OF AMALEK
|| RABBI SIMEON, son of Jochai, said: The Holy One, blessed be He, wished to destroy and to cut off all the seed of Amalek. He sent to Saul, the son of Kish, to destroy and to cut off all the seed of Amalek. Saul and the people heard, and did not spare any vile man except Agag, as it is said, "But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen" (1 Sam. 15:9). Samuel heard (thereof), and he went to meet them, and he said to them: Ye have spared Amalek, and ye have left over a remnant of him. They said to him: The sheep and the oxen are for sacrifices unto thy God. (Samuel) said to (Saul): The Omnipresent hath no delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, but only in obeying His voice and in doing His will, as it is said, "And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams" (1 Sam. 15:22).