Midrash for Numbers 20:22

And in the thirty-ninth year of the Israelites’ going out of Egypt, the Lord provoked the heart ‎of Sihon, king of the Amorites, to go forth and fight against the children of Moab. And Sihon ‎sent messengers to Beor the son of Janeus, the son of Balaam, counselor to the king of Egypt, ‎and unto Balaam his son, to curse Moab, that it might be delivered into the hands of Sihon. ‎And Beor and Balaam his son came, and they cursed Moab, and the Lord delivered the children ‎of Moab into the hands of Sihon; and Sihon slew the king of Moab, and he took all the cities of ‎Moab, including Heshbon which was one of the cities of Moab, and he placed his princes and ‎officers over Heshbon. Therefore they that spoke in proverbs, Beor and his son Balaam, speak ‎in these words, saying: Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and prepared. Woe to ‎thee, Moab, thou art undone, O people of Chemosh! Behold it is written in the book of the ‎law of God. And Sihon gave many presents unto Beor and his son Balaam, and they returned ‎to their home. And at that time all the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of ‎Moab, and they went around the wilderness of Edom, and they came into the wilderness of ‎Zin on the first month of the fortieth year after their going out of Egypt; and Israel abode there ‎in Kadesh, and there Miriam died, and she was buried in that place. Then Moses sent ‎messengers unto Hadad, king of Edom, saying: Let me pass, I pray thee, through thy country; ‎we will not pass through the fields or through the vine yards, neither will we drink of the ‎waters of the wells; we will go by the king's highway. And Edom said unto him: Thou shalt not ‎pass by me; and Edom went forth against Israel with a numerous host, but the children of ‎Israel removed from Edom without fighting with them.‎ And the children of Israel journeyed from Kadesh and they came to Mount Hor.

Then the Lord said unto Moses: Tell unto Aaron thy brother that he must die here, for he shall ‎not enter the land which I have sworn to give unto the children of Israel. And Aaron went up ‎the mountain of Hor according to the word of the Lord, in the fortieth year in the fifth month, ‎on the first day of the month, and Aaron was one hundred and twenty-three years of age ‎when he died on Mount Hor. And the children of Israel journeyed from Mount Hor and ‎encamped in Oboth, and they journeyed from Oboth and encamped in Ije-haabarim, on the ‎border of Moab. And Moses sent unto Moab, saying: Let us journey through thy land to our ‎place; but Moab would not suffer Israel to journey through his land, and the children of Israel ‎journeyed from the border of Moab, and they came to the other side of Arnon, the border of ‎Moab between Moab and the Amorites, and they encamped on the border of the Amorites in ‎the wilderness of Kidemoth. And the children of Israel sent messengers unto Sihon, king of ‎the Amorites, saying: Let us pass through thy land, we shall not turn into the fields and into the ‎vineyards, but we shall go over the king's high way. But Sihon would not suffer the children of ‎Israel to pass, and he assembled all the people of the Amorites, and he went forth to fight ‎against Israel. And the Lord delivered Sihon into the hands of the children of Israel, and they ‎smote Sihon and all his people at the edge of the sword.‎

(Numb. 16:15, cont.:) “And he said unto the Lord, ‘Pay no attention unto their meal offering.’” Do not accept them in repentance.³²Numb. R. 18:10, cont. Scripture should have said, “Pay no attention unto their service"? What is the meaning of “their meal offering?” This is what Moses said to the Holy One, blessed be He, “Master of the world, I know that these have a share in that meal offering that Israel offers every day. [But] in as much as these have withdrawn from Your children, do not pay attention to their portion. Let the fire leave it alone and not consume it.” (Numb. 16:15, cont.:) “I have not taken one donkey from them.” That which I had [a right] to take I did not take. By universal custom, one who works in the sanctuary receives wages from the sanctuary. [In my case, however,] when I went down from Midian to Egypt I had a right to take a donkey from them, since it was on behalf of their needs that I was going down [there]; but I did not take [one]. Similarly also did Samuel the righteous say (in I Sam. 12:3), “Here am I, testify against me before the Lord and before His anointed; whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken?” When I sacrificed an ox for their offerings to seek mercy for them and likewise for anointing a king over them, it belonged to me, as stated (in I Sam. 16:2), “Take a heifer with you […].” And similarly it says (in I Sam. 9:12), “because the people have a sacrifice today at the high place (bamah).” But I took nothing from what belonged to them. Also when I sought to handle their lawsuits and their [other] needs, and when I made the circuit of the cities, as stated (in I Sam. 7:16), “And he went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all those places;” [although] by universal custom litigants go to the judge, I went around from city to city and from place to place.³³The midrash is also making a point that he traveled on his own donkey. Now even Moses said to Israel (in Exod. 18:16), “When they have a matter, it comes unto me.” But I (Samuel) did not act in this way. Instead I took the trouble to go to them. (Numb. 16:15, cont.:) “’And I have not harmed a single one of them,’ in that I neither convicted the innocent nor acquitted the guilty.” When Moses saw that they continued in their pride and in their rebellious acts, then (according to Numb. 16:16-18) “Moses said unto Korah, ‘[Tomorrow] you and all your company [are to be present before the Lord: [you, they, and Aaron]; And let each one take his censer […].’ So each one took his censer.” Then Korah went about all that night and led Israel astray. Now he would say to them, “What do you suppose? That I am busy obtaining greatness for myself? I wish for greatness to go the rounds to all of us, while Moses has taken kingship for himself and has given the high priesthood to his brother Aaron as an eternal statute.” So did he go about seducing each and every tribe as it suited them, until they joined him. How is it shown that when they entered and approached, they were all speaking? It is so stated (Numb. 16:19), “And Korah gathered all the congregation against them.” When they entered and came with him, immediately (we read in Numb. 16:20–21), “Then the Lord spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, ‘Separate yourselves from the midst of this evil congregation, [so that I may consume them in a moment].’” (Numb. 16:22:) “But they fell on their faces and said, ‘O God, the God of all human spirits, [shall one person sin and You become angry with the whole congregation]?’” They said to him,³⁴Numb. R. 18:11. “Master of the world, in the case of a king, when a province rebels against him, when they persist in cursing the king or his deputies, ten or twenty of them, he sends out his legions³⁵Lat.: legiones. and carries out reprisals³⁶Gk.: androlempsia (=androlepsia). against it. So he kills the good with the evil, because he does not know who among them has rebelled and who has not rebelled, who has honored the king and who has cursed him. You, however, know the thoughts of every person, even what the hearts and the reins counsel. So You know who has sinned and who has not sinned, for You know the spirit of each and every person.” It is therefore stated (in Numb. 20:22), “O God, the God of all human spirits.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them, “You have spoken well. I am making the matter known, who has sinned and who has not sinned.”