Midrash for Exodus 1:14

[(Numb. 14:11:) HOW LONG WILL THIS PEOPLE SCORN ME?: This text is related (to Is. 5:4): WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO DO FOR MY VINEYARD THAT I HAVE NOT DONE FOR IT? WHEN I HOPED FOR IT TO PRODUCE GRAPES, WHY DID IT PRODUCE SOUR GRAPES?⁸The beginning of this section is not found in Numb. R. The Holy One said: <Consider> what good things I have created within my world! Did I not make them for you? Yet with the very good that I made for you, you provoked me. I brought you out of Egypt. Then when I came to the sea, I made it as if it were full of clay.⁹Exod. R. 24:1; cf. Tanh., Numb. 4:13. Thus it is stated (in Hab. 3:15): YOU TROD THE SEA WITH YOUR HORSES, THE MORTAR OF MANY WATERS. They walked in it and talked to each other. A certain Reubenite said: Where are we? Do you not know that he has brought us away from clay and bricks and returned us to clay? Thus it is stated (in Exod. 1:14): AND THEY MADE THEIR LIVES BITTER WITH HARD LABOR AT MORTAR AND BRICKS. So similarly (in Hab. 3:15): YOU TROD THE SEA WITH YOUR HORSES, THE MORTAR OF MANY WATERS. The Holy One said to them: Yet with the good that I brought upon you, you provoked me. When they came to the desert, I brought the manna down to you for forty years.¹⁰With this sentence, the text again parallels Numb. R. 16:24. Moreover, none of them had to ease nature for those forty years. Rather when they ate the manna, it <simply> became flesh for them, as stated (in Ps. 78:25, 27) EACH ONE ATE THE BREAD OF THE MIGHTY (rt.: 'BR); [….AND HE RAINED DOWN MEAT UPON THEM LIKE DUST….] When <the manna> became body members (rt.: 'BR) and flesh,¹¹Numb. R. 7:4; Mekhilta deRabbi Ishmael, Wayassa‘ 4 (on Exod. 16:15); Sifre to Numb. 11:4 (88); Yoma 74b. they provoked him with it. Seeing for themselves that they did not have to go out <to ease nature> like <other> humans, they began saying to each other: Do you not know that we have had twenty days, even thirty [days], without easing nature? What is this? When a person does not ease nature for four or five days, does he not die or burst open? Now as for us, (according to Numb. 21:5), OUR SOUL LOATHES THIS MISERABLE FOOD. Why was it said to be MISERABLE (rt.: QLL)? Because it was light (rt.: QLL) within their bowels.

Alternatively, "when [the Lord] enlarges [your territory]" (Deuteronomy 20:12). "Let me exult and rejoice in Your loving-kindness when You notice my affliction, are mindful of my deep distress, and do not hand me over to my enemy, but grant me relief" (Psalms 31:8-9). The Rabbis say, this verse refers to Joseph. Joseph said, "Master of the universe, let me exult and rejoice in your loving-kindness that you have done for me. Had you [only] called Potiphar's wife to account for me, but not given me the powers of a sovereign, I would have been joyful and happy, now that you've also given me the powers of a sovereign, I will exult and rejoice in your loving-kindness." "When you notice my affliction", this [too] refers to Joseph, about whom it is written, "His feet were afflicted in fetters; an iron collar was put on his neck" (psalms 105:18). "and did not hand me over to my enemy" - this is Potiphar [who sought to imprison Joseph for life]. "but grant me relief", since he caused me to rule over the entire land of Egypt. From where is this derived? From the verse: "Now Joseph was the vizier of the land; it was he who dispensed rations to all the people of the land..." (Genesis 42:6). Alternatively "Let me exult and rejoice" is speaking about [the Children of] Israel. The Children of Israel said, "Master of the universe, let me exult and rejoice in your loving-kindness that you have done unto us, for had you [only] freed us from the Egyptians and not given us their money, we would have be gladdened, [but] what joy and happiness we have [now] that you have given us [also] their wealth. "when you notice my affliction" this refers to the Israelites about him it was written: "The Egyptians dealt harshly with us and oppressed us; they imposed heavy labor upon us. We cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our plea and saw our affliction, our misery, and our oppression" (Deuteronomy 26:6-7). "are mindful of my deep distress" this refers to the Israelites, about whom it is written "they made life bitter for them" (Exodus 1:14). "and do not hand me over to my enemy" - this refers to the evil Pharaoh, as it is written "The foe said, “I will pursue"" (Exodus 15:9). "But grant me relief", that you widened our borders, as it says, "when [the Lord] enlarges [your territory]" (Deuteronomy 20:12).

(Deut. 25:17:) “Remember what Amalek did to you.” R. Tanhum bar Hanila'i opened [his discourse] (with Job 13:12), “Your remembrances are proverbs of ashes; your responses are responses of clay”:²⁴3:2; cf. 12:4; PR 12:2. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel, “These two remembrances are what I have mentioned to you in the Torah, you are to be mindful of them. (Deut. 25:19:) ‘You shall blot out the remembrance of Amalek.’ [And (Deut. 25:17), ‘Remember what Amalek did to you.’” (Job 13:12:) “Proverbs of ashes,” [meaning] those compared to ashes. If you are worthy, you shall be children of Abraham who compared himself to ashes, where it is written (in Gen. 18:27), “for I am dust and ashes.” But if [you are] not [worthy], (according to Job 13:12), “your responses are responses of clay.” [Then] prepare yourselves for enslavement in Egypt, as stated (in Exod. 1:14), “And they made their lives bitter with hard labor [at clay and bricks].” (A different version: [Then prepare yourselves] for the subjugation of the kingdoms, as stated (Ps. 129:3), “Plowmen plowed across my back.”) Another interpretation (of Job 13:12), “Your remembrances are proverbs of ashes”: Why are you misleading the creatures that see you and think about you that you are righteous like Avraham, as is stated about him (in Gen. 18:27), “for I am dust and ashes.” But you, “your responses are responses of clay,” like the generation of [the Tower of Babel], about whom it is written (in Gen. 11:3), “and the clay was mortar for them.”