Schemuel II 21:15 Midrasch: Midrash Tanchuma Buber & Aggadat Bereshit

Another interpretation (of Gen. 28:10): BUT JACOB SET OUT. This is one of four children of Adam for whom the land (i.e., spatial distance) was contracted. They are the following: Abraham, Eleazer, Jacob, and Abishai.²³Cf. Sanh. 95 (bar.), which omits Abraham from the list. In the case of Abraham, where is it shown? < It was > when he went forth to pursue the kings < that > the land contracted before him. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 14:15): AND THE NIGHT WAS DIVIDED AGAINST THEM.²⁴I.e., Abraham only needed to pursue the kings until midnight because God had shortened the pursuit. So Gen. R. 43:3; Exod. R. 18:1; cf. Gen. R. 43:3. And in the case of Eleazer, where is it shown? < It was > when he went to bring a wife for Isaac < that > the land contracted before him.²⁵Sanh. 95a; PRE 16. What is written about him (in Gen. 24:42)? AND I CAME TODAY (i.e., in one day) TO THE SPRING. The day he set out was the very day on which he arrived. And in the case of Abishai, where is it shown? When he fought with Ishbi-benob the brother of Goliath.²⁶See also Gen. R. 59:11. What did he do? He went after David with his shield at the ready. In that hour the Holy One put the fear of David upon him, since he said: How swift this man is! Where are David and his mighty men? And where is it shown? Where it is so written (in II Sam. 21:15): AND DAVID WAS WEARY. At that time David had said: Oh, that someone would put one of my sister's sons here for me. Now Joab and Abishai were far away from him where they were fighting with the children of Ammon and with Aram (cf. I Chron. 19:10f.) However, when David prayed, the Holy One contracted the land before Abishai, as stated (in II Sam. 21:17): BUT ABISHAI BEN ZERUIAH CAME TO HIS AID. And our father Jacob was also one before whom the Holy One caused the land to contract.²⁷Sanh. 95b; Gen. R. 68:8. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 28:10; 29:1): AND JACOB SET OUT FROM BEERSHEBA AND WENT TO HARAN…. [THEN JACOB CONTINUED HIS JOURNEY (literally: RAISED HIS FEET)]. Our masters have said: In the case of all the children of Adam, their feet carry them; but in Jacob's case, he keeps his feet up. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 29:1): THEN JACOB RAISED HIS FEET.

[3] Another explanation: "And King David was old, advanced in years, and they covered him with clothes, but he could not get warm" (1 Kings 1:1). Regarding him, Solomon said, "I have seen under the sun that time and chance happen to them all" (Ecclesiastes 9:11) yesterday. And David hurried and ran to the battle, etc. (1 Samuel 17:48). And now he descends and is weary, as it says, "And David was faint" (2 Samuel 21:15). Yesterday they dressed him, and he said, "I cannot walk in these, for I have not tested them" (1 Samuel 17:39), because his body was shivering from the fear of the angel who deceived him, the Angel of Satan. And God counted it as a sin against Israel at that time, and sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, and when he destroyed it, God saw it and had compassion on the calamity (2 Samuel 24:15). What did the angel do? He said, "I know that the Holy One, blessed be He, is filled with wrath against them. If I go and kill them, He will support me. But now I will blemish them with my own hand, so that He will see and have mercy on them." And when he went and killed seventy thousand men from them, God saw it and had compassion on the calamity, etc. These are the words of Rabbi Judah, and Rabbi Nehemiah says, "What did He see? And God had compassion on the calamity." Rather, the angel went and sat on Mount Moriah and said before Him, "Master of the Universe, You made a covenant with their father Abraham, that You would conquer Your mercies to do Your will in this world. But did You not say before him, "So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. Adonai-yireh, (Genesis 22:14) And to this day it is said, 'On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.' Just as I had the opportunity to answer you and say, 'Yesterday you told me that through Isaac your offspring would be reckoned.' (Genesis 21:12) And now you say, 'Take your son.' (Genesis 22:2) I had the privilege to answer you and yet I said nothing. I made myself like a mute and did your will. So too, whenever sinners come before you and you have the right to punish them, may you suppress your anger and not punish them, but remember the binding of Isaac and have mercy on them." The angel said to God, "That was not the agreement that you had made with Abraham, and now you are killing them?" As it says, "Then the Lord saw it and was grieved by the evil." (1 Chronicles 21:15) What did God see? He saw the binding of Isaac and had mercy on them. Therefore, Solomon said, "A king's wrath is like the roar of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass." (Proverbs 19:12)