Schemuel I 9:19 Midrasch: Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Sifrei Devarim & Aggadat Bereshit

[(Gen. 42:1:) THEN JACOB SAW THAT THERE WAS GRAIN IN EGYPT.] This text is related (to Job 9:7): THE ONE WHO TELLS THE SUN NOT TO SHINE < AND SEALS UP THE STARS >.¹⁹Gen. R. 91:1. {It simply tells about Jacob and his children, since they were likened to them. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 37:9): HERE WERE THE SUN, THE MOON, AND ELEVEN STARS BOWING DOWN TO ME.} Look at all Job's wisdom! Now who does not know that, if the Holy One tells the sun or the stars not to shine, they do not shine, as stated (in Job 9:7): THE ONE WHO TELLS THE SUN NOT TO SHINE … ? It simply tells about Jacob and his children, [since they were likened to them. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 37:9): HERE WERE THE SUN, THE MOON, AND ELEVEN STARS BOWING DOWN TO ME]. (Job 9:7:) THE ONE WHO TELLS THE SUN NOT TO SHINE. For the twenty-two years that Joseph stayed away from his brothers in Egypt, the Holy Spirit was hidden from Jacob and his children. He was no farther from them than a journey of four or five days; but they did not know that he was in Egypt. Now Jacob and his children had previously been great prophets. Do you want to understand? When Joseph had told them his dream, what did he say (in Gen. 37:10)? ARE WE TO COME, I AND YOUR MOTHER AND YOUR BROTHERS, AND BOW DOWN < TO THE GROUND FOR YOU > ? Then, when he had been sold, they did not know where he was. Ergo (in Job 9:7): THE ONE WHO TELLS THE SUN NOT TO SHINE. Why so? So that the prophets would not be boastful. The Holy One therefore made his power known to them to show them that they were nothing. And so you find with the greatest of the prophets (i.e., Moses). Because he had said (in Deut. 1:17): BUT THE CASE WHICH IS TOO HARD FOR YOU < YOU SHALL BRING UNTO ME >….²⁰Sifre to Deut. 1:17 (17); Sanh. 8a. The Holy One said to him: Are you able to interpret a difficult case? By your life, I am showing you! So, when the affair of the daughters of Zelophehad arrived, he began to have difficulties with it. When he did not know what to say, he brought their cause before the LORD, as stated (in Numb. 27:5): THEN MOSES BROUGHT THEIR CAUSE BEFORE THE LORD. The Holy One said to him: Was it not you who said (in Deut. 1:17): BUT THE CASE WHICH IS TOO HARD FOR YOU < YOU ARE TO BRING UNTO ME > … ? See, you do not know what the women know. (Numb. 27:7:) THE DAUGHTERS OF ZELOPHEHAD SPEAK WHAT IS RIGHT. These women have judged better than you. And so also in the case of Samuel, when he was measured against Moses and Aaron. Because he had said (in I Sam. 9:19): I AM THE SEER, the Holy One said to him: You have said: I AM THE SEER! By your life, tomorrow I am showing you whether you are a seer. Thus it is stated (in I Sam. 16:1): FILL YOUR HORN WITH OIL AND GO; {COME} [I AM SENDING YOU] UNTO JESSE THE BETHLEHEMITE BECAUSE I HAVE CHOSEN A KING FOR MYSELF AMONG HIS SONS. When he had gone, what is written (in I Sam. 16:6)? AND IT CAME TO PASS, WHEN HE HAD COME, THAT HE SAW ELIAB AND SAID: SURELY THE LORD'S ANOINTED IS STANDING BEFORE HIM. The Holy One said to him: Are you the one who said (in I Sam. 9:19): I AM THE SEER? (I Sam. 16:7:) DO NOT LOOK UPON HIS APPEARANCE…. And so also in the case of Jacob [and his children], they were prophets and sages, and nothing was hidden from them. When Joseph was sold, they did not know about him until the Holy One [wanted] < them to know >. Ergo (in Job 9:7): THE ONE WHO TELLS THE SUN NOT TO SHINE….

"And the thing that is too difficult for you, you shall bring near to me and I shall hear it": The Holy One Blessed be He said to Moses: You (say that) you are judging a difficult case? By your life, I shall apprise you that you are not judging a difficult case. For I will bring upon you a case that the women can hear (i.e., resolve), which you cannot hear. Which is that? The case of the daughters of Tzelafchad. And thus is it written (Bamidbar 27:5) "And Moses brought forth their judgment before the L-rd." Similarly (I Samuel 9:18-19) "And Saul approached Samuel within the gate and said to him: Tell me now, which is the house of the seer. And Samuel answered Saul, saying: I am the seer" — whereupon the Holy One Blessed be He said to him: You are the seer? By your life, I shall apprise you that you are not the seer. And when did He apprise him? When He said to him (16:1) "Fill your horn with oil and go and I will send you to Yishai of Bethlehem. For I have seen among his sons a king for Me." What is stated thereafter? (Ibid. 6) "And it was when they came that he (Samuel) saw Eliav and he said: Surely, before the L-rd is His anointed one." And the Holy One Blessed be He said to him: Did you not say "I am the seer"? (Ibid. 7) "Do not look at his appearance and at his tall stature, for I have rejected him. For it is not as a man sees. For a man sees to the (beauty of) the eyes, but the L-rd sees to the heart."

[3] Another interpretation: "And Jacob saw" Like it is said in scriptures: that he said "Who commands the sun not to shine" and to consume (Job 9:7).Indeed, all of Job's wisdom - does he not know that if the Holy One, blessed be He, were to command the sun, moon, and stars not to shine, they would not shine, except for Jacob and his sons who are compared to the sun, moon, and stars, as it is said, "And behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were prostrating themselves to me" (Genesis 37:9). Joseph was separated from his father for twenty-two years, and the Divine spirit was withdrawn from Jacob and his sons, and he was not far from them except for three days, and they did not know that he was in Egypt. Before that, great prophets were Jacob and his sons. If you wish to know, when Joseph related his dreams to them, what did they say to him? "Are you really going to be a king and rule over us?" (Genesis 37:8). And when he was sold, they did not know where he was. Why did the Holy One, blessed be He, say this and why did He do it? In order that the prophets should not become haughty, He weakened their power and showed them that they were nothing. This is also the way Moses, the greatest of the prophets, was tested, as it is said, "The matter that is too difficult for you, you shall bring to me" (Deuteronomy 1:17). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "You can solve a difficult problem? I will test you." When the case of the daughters of Zelophehad came before him, he began to falter, not knowing what to say. He only said, "And Moses brought their case before the Lord" (Numbers 27:5). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "Moses, did you not say, 'The matter that is too difficult for you'? Behold, the women know something that you do not know, as it is said, 'So are the daughters of Zelophehad speaking'" (Numbers 27:7). The women argued more eloquently than you did. Even though Samuel was as respected as Moses, when he said to Saul "I am the one who sees" (1 Samuel 9:19), the Lord said to him, "Tomorrow I will show you if you really see, as it is written, 'Fill your horn with oil' (1 Samuel 16:1)." As soon as he went and saw Eliab, the Lord said to him, "You are the one who said 'I see,' but you did not see, as it is written, 'Do not look at his appearance' (1 Samuel 16:7). Why does one who chips away at a stone finish it? (Job 9:7). Even Elisha, a great man, accomplished double the miracles that Elijah did, as it is written, "Please let there be a double portion of your spirit upon me" (2 Kings 2:9). And there came a moment when he knew nothing, when he saw the Shunammite woman coming to him, he said to Gehazi, "Please run to meet her and ask her, 'Are you well? Is your husband well? Is your child well?'" (2 Kings 4:26). He did not know that the child had died. Eventually, he felt something and said to Gehazi, "Let her be, for her soul is bitter within her, and the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me" (2 Kings 4:27). Thus, you have learned that everything is from the Almighty - if He wants people to see, they will see, and if He wants them to hear, they will hear, as it is written, "The ear that hears and the eye that sees - the Lord has made them both" (Proverbs 20:12). Therefore, it is said, "He who says to the deaf, etc." (Proverbs 27:14).