Psalms 26:2 Midrash: Midrash Tanchuma, Midrash Tehillim & Bamidbar Rabbah

The Seers (i.e., the prophets) were the ones who said the doubled letters, mantzepakh (mem, nun, tzadi, peh, and kaf, which are the letters that have a different form when they appear at the end of a word). [The doubling of kaf that is found in Genesis 12:1,] "Lekh lekha (Go for yourself)," hints to Avraham that he will father Yitschak at one hundred years [of age] (as the numerical value of these two words is one hundred). [The doubling of mem that is found in Genesis 26:16,] "ki atsamta memenu (as you have become more powerful than us)" is a hint [to Yitschak] that hints that he and his seed will be powerful in both worlds. The doubling of nun [that is found in Genesis 32:12,] "Hatsileini na (Save me)" [is a hint to] Yaakov, [that] he will be saved in both worlds. The doubling of peh [that is found in Genesis 50:24,] "pakod yifkod (He will surely remember you)" [is a hint to] Yosef, [that] He will remember you in this world, and He will remember you in the world to come. The doubling of tzadi [that is found in Zachariah 6:12,] "hinei eesh, Tsemach shemo, ou'metachtav yitsmach (behold, a man called Branch shall branch out from the place where he is,)" is [referring to] the messiah. And so is it stated (Jermiah 23:5), "vahikimoti leDaveed tsemach tsadeek (and I will raise up a true branch of David)." ["The leader of fifty" (Isaiah 3:3)] ("Sixty were the queens" [Song of Songs 6:8]). Twenty-four books (of the Bible), and add to them eleven of the thirteen [books of the minor prophets] - besides Yonah which is by itself - and six orders of the Mishnah and nine chapters of Torat Kohanim, behold ["The leader of fifty"] ("Sixty were the queens"). "[Sixty were the queens] and eighty were the concubines" (Song of Songs 6:8). Sixty tractates and eighty study halls that were in Jerusalem corresponding to its gates. "And maidens without number" (Song of Songs 6:8). The study outside. "Behold the bed of Shlomo, sixty warriors" (Song of Songs 3:7). [This] corresponds to the [number of] letters of [the priestly blessing,) "May the Lord bless you and keep you, etc." (Numbers 6:24-26). The Satan (HaSatan) has the numerical equivalent of the count of the days of the solar year, as he rules over all the year to slander, except for Yom Kippur. Rabbi Ami bar Abba said, "Avraham was missing five organs before he was circumcised and [before he] fathered. The [letter] hay (with a numerical value of five) was added [to his name] and he became complete and fathered, and he was called Avraham [corresponding to the complete set of organs, two hundred and forty-eight], the numerical count of his letters." [Regarding] Sarai, two Amoraim (later rabbinic teachers) differed. One said, "The [letter] yod [with a numerical count of ten that was taken from her] was divided into two, [to give] a hay to Avaraham and a hay to Sarah." And [the other] said, "The yod that was taken from Sarah raised a protest until Yehshoua came and had a yod added, as it is stated (Numbers 13:16), "and Moshe called Hoshea [...], Yehoshua." And it saved him from the counsel of the [other] spies. [The significance of the letters in the name,] Yitschak [is as follows]: Yod [with a numerical count of ten] corresponds to the ten trials [of Avraham]. [The letter] tsadi [with a numerical count of ninety, as] Sarah was ninety when he was born. [The letter] chet [with a numerical count of eight, as] he was circumcised on the eighth day. And the letter kof [with a numerical count of one hundred, as] Avraham was a hundred years old when he was born. Yaakov was called according to [the significance of the letters of] his [own] name: Yod [corresponds to] the tenth of his offspring going backwards, Levi. Count from (the last son), Binaymin to Levi - there are ten sons, and Levi was the tenth. And he gave him as a tithe to the Omnipresent to fulfill [what he said] (Genesis 28:22), "all that You give to me, I will surely tithe it to You." [The letter] ayin [with a numerical count of seventy corresponds to the number of offspring he took to Egypt], "with seventy souls" (Deuteronomy 10:22). Kof corresponds to the [number of the] letters of the blessing [that he received], "And may He give you [etc.]" (Genesis 27:28). Take away the name [of God] from there, and one hundred [letters] remain. [The letter] bet [with a numerical count of two] corresponds to two angels [that he saw on the ladder in his dream] rising. Yehudah was called according to [the significance of the numerical count of the letters of] his [own] name: Thirty, corresponding to the thirty virtues of the monarchy. There were six hundred and thirteen letters on the tablets - from "I am" (Exodus 20:2) to "to your neighbor" (Exodus 20:14) - corresponding to the six hundred and thirteen commandments. And they were all given to Moshe at [Mount] Sinai; and in them are statutes and judgments, Torah and Mishnah, Talmud and aggadah. "The fear of the Lord is his treasure" (Isaiah 33:6). There is no greater characteristic than fear and humility, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 10:12), "And now Israel, what does the Lord, your God, ask of you [besides to fear Him]." "The fear of" (Yirat) has a numerical value of six hundred and eleven; along with Torah and circumcision, behold that is six hundred and thirteen. [The numerical value of] fringes (tsitsit) is six hundred. [Add] eight strings and five knots, behold that is six hundred and thirteen. "[The man (David)] raised on high" (II Samuel 23:1) - [high (al)] has a numerical value of one hundred, corresponding to one hundred blessings. As on every day, one hundred men of Israel were dying. [So] David and ordained [the daily saying of] one hundred blessings. "And now Israel, what (mah) does the Lord, your God, ask of you" - read it as one hundred (meah), these are the hundred blessings. Once he ordained it, the pestilence ceased. "This is the law of the burnt-offering (olah), it is the burnt-offering" (Leviticus 6:2), [meaning] the yoke (ulah) of Torah and the yoke of repentance. "Two anointed ones" (Zechariah 4:14). These are David and Aharon who were anointed with the anointing oil, such that their anointing was for [all] the generations. With Aharon, it is written (Numbers 25:13), "It shall be for him and his descendants after him, a pact of priesthood for all time." With David it is written (Ezekiel 37:25), "and My servant David as their prince for all time." "Forgive all guilt and take the good (tov)" (Hosea 14:3). Israel said, "Master of the world, at the time that the Temple existed, we would offer a sacrifice and be cleansed. But now all we have in our hand is prayer." The numerical value of tov is seventeen. Prayer [consists of] nineteen [blessings]. Take away from them the blessing for the malfeasers that was composed at Yavneh, and "Let the sprout of David blossom," which they ordained for the sake of "Probe me, Lord, and try me" (Psalms 26:2). Rabbi Simon says, "'Forgive all guilt and take the good (tov).' The numerical value of tov in at-bash (matching letters based on how close they are to the center of the alphabet) is [the same as] soul (nefesh). Israel said, 'Behold the fat from us, from our souls. May it be Your will that it be atonement for us and "that we pay with the words of our lips" (Hosea 14:3).'" "And the Lord gave her conception (herayon)" (Ruth 4:13). [Herayon] has a numerical value of the [number of the] days of the nine months of birthing (two hundred and seventy one). The name of the angel that is appointed for conception is night, as stated (Job 3:3), "and the night [that it was] said, 'A man was conceived." The measure of the water of a mikveh (ritual bath) is forty seah corresponding to the [forty mentions] of well, written in the Torah. And [the volume of] how many eggs is the measure of the mikveh? Five thousand seven hundred and sixty. And a seah is a hundred and forty-four eggs. Forty-three and a fifth eggs is the measure of [what is required for] hallah [tithe]. And from where [do we know] that a mikveh requires forty seah? As it is written (Isaiah 8:6), "Since this nation has rejected the waters of Shiloach that flow gently (le'at)." The numerical value of le'at is forty. Behold the measure of a seah is a tefach by a tefach with the height of [sixteen] tefach [and a fifth]. And one who separates the measure of the hallah [tithe] must separate [one part in forty three] and a fifth [from Torah writ like the numerical value of hallah]. Forty lashes (which are actually thirty-nine) is from Torah writ, as it is written (Exodus 35:1), "These (eleh) are the things which the Lord commanded." [The numerical count of] "eleh" is thirty-six; "things" (being plural) is two; "the things" [indicates an additional] one - behold, forty minus one (thirty-nine). "He shall strike him forty, he shall not add" (Deuteronomy 25:3), corresponds to the forty curses received by the snake, Chava, Adam and the ground, and the sages lessened one, because of "he shall not add." A Sanhedrin is twenty-three, so [that it is possible for] those advocating innocence to have one more (than twenty), and those advocating guilt to have two more. It is best for the two to come and push off one. The numerical value of anathmea (cherem) is two hundred and forty-eight. And Shmuel said, when it takes force it takes force on [all] two hundred and forty-eight organs, and when it leaves, it leaves from two hundred and forty-eight limbs, as it is written (Habakuk 3:2), "in anger, remember to have mercy (rachem, which is made up of the same letters as cherem)." It is written,"tirash," but we read it [as] tirosh. [If] he merits, he becomes a rosh (leader); [if] he does not merit, he becomes a rash (poor person). Our rabbis, may their memory be blessed said, "A man is recognized by three things: by his purse, by his glass and by his anger. Tavel is Ramaliah. Seshach is Bavel (Babylon) [according to] its numerical value of in at-bash. The numerical value of Gog and Magog is seventy, as they are the seventy nations [of the world].

"I have examined my heart in the night." As David said (Psalms 26:2), "Examine me, O Lord, and test me." God said to him, "You cannot stand." David said, "But I can stand." Once he was tested and did not falter, he began to shout, "Support me, and I will be saved!" God said to him, "Did I not tell you that you could not [stand]? Therefore, I call upon you, answer me."

Mem, nun, tzadi, peh, kaf, the double letters,⁴⁵These letters are written differently when they appear as the last letter of a word. were stated by the prophets. Kaf kaf alludes to Abraham: “Lekh lekha” (Genesis 12:1) – he will beget a son at the age of one hundred.⁴⁶The letter kaf appears twice in lekh lekha. Lamed – 30 + kaf – 20 = 50 x 2 = 100. Mem mem is for Isaac: “For you have grown much mightier than we [mimenu]” (Genesis 26:16).⁴⁷The letter mem appears twice in mimenu. An alternative term meaning “than we” could have been employed, but wasn’t. He alluded to him that he and his descendants would be mighty in two worlds. Nun nun for Jacob: “Deliver me, please [hatzileni na]” (Genesis 32:12); deliver in two worlds. Peh peh to Israel, [when God said] to Moses: “I have remembered you [pakod pakadeti]” (Exodus 3:16). Tzadi tzadi – “Behold a man, Tzemaḥ is his name, [and he will sprout [yitzmaḥ…]” (Zechariah 6:12). And it says: “I will establish for David a righteous offshoot [tzemaḥ tzadik] and he will reign as king and succeed, and he will perform justice and righteousness in the land” (Jeremiah 23:5).
“A leader of fifty” (Isaiah 3:3) – twenty-four books; add to them eleven of the twelve minor prophets, excluding Jonah, which stands alone, six orders of Mishna, and nine chapters of Torat Kohanim⁴⁸The Torat Kohanim is a midrash halakha on Leviticus. At the time that this midrash was written, the Torat Kohanim was apparently divided into nine large chapters. – that is fifty.
“They are sixty queens” (Song of Songs 6:8) – sixty tractates; “and eighty concubines” (Song of Songs 6:8) – eighty study halls that were in Jerusalem, corresponding to its entrances; “and young women without number” (Song of Songs 6:8) – external Mishna.⁴⁹Tannaitic statements which were not incorporated into the Mishna.
“Behold the bed of Solomon: There are sixty valiant men around it” (Song of Songs 3:7) – sixty letters of the Priestly Benediction.⁵⁰Numbers 6:24–26. “Three hundred and eighteen” (Genesis 14:14) – it is Eliezer.⁵¹The number of members of his household whom Abraham took to recover Lot corresponds to the numerical value of Eliezer: alef – 1 + lamed – 30 + yod –10 + ayin – 70 + zayin – 7 + reish – 200 = 318.
“Because [ekev] Abraham heeded My voice, and kept My commission, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws” (Genesis 26:5) – at the age of three he recognized Him.⁵²Abraham heeded God’s voice for ‘ekev’ years: ayin – 70 + kof – 100 + beit – 2 = 172. He lived a total of one hundred and seventy-five years. He recognized God at age three.
HaSatan – three hundred and sixty-four,⁵³Heh – 5 + sin – 300 + tet – 9 + nun – 50 = 364. the number of days in the solar year that he [the Satan] has license to inform on all of them, excepting Yom Kippur.
Rav Ami said in the school of Rabbi Abba: Abraham, as long as he was not circumcised and had not begot a son, was lacking a heh. The heh was added, he became whole, and he begot a son at the sum of his letters.⁵⁴Alef – 1 + beit – 2 + reish – 200 + heh – 5 + mem – 40 = 248, the number of limbs in a person’s body.
“A woman of valor is the crown of her husband” (Proverbs 12:4) – this is Sarah. Sarai was her name; two amora’im have a dispute regarding this: One said: The yod was split in two, heh for Abraham and heh for Sarah.⁵⁵Yod is ten and heh is five. And one said: The yod that was taken from Sarah objected, until Joshua [Yehoshua] came and Moses added a yod⁵⁶Yehoshua's name, originally, was Hoshea. – may the Lord rescue you [Ya yoshiakha] from the counsel of the spies.⁵⁷Yehoshua is a portmanteau of ya yoshiakha.
The yod of Isaac [Yitzḥak] corresponds to the ten ordeals; tzadi,to the ninety years of age that Sarah was when he was born; ḥet, to the eight days [of age] at which he was circumcised; kof, Abraham was one hundred years of age.⁵⁸When Isaac was born.
Jacob [Yaakov] was named for himself. Yod corresponds to the tenth. Calculate from Benjamin until Levi;⁵⁹Counting backwards from Benjamin, Levi is the tenth. he is the tenth. Ayin – “with seventy people” (Deuteronomy 10:22);⁶⁰This is the number of people with whom Jacob descended to Egypt. kof – corresponding to the letters in the blessing of: “May God give you” (Genesis 27:28). Beit remains. It is corresponding to the two angels that ascended.⁶¹When Jacob left Canaan to go to Aram.
The tablets contained six hundred and thirteen mizvot, corresponding to the letters from “I am” (Exodus 20:2) until “that is your neighbor’s” (Exodus 20:14), no more and no fewer. All of them were given to Moses at Sinai, among them statutes, ordinances, Torah, Mishna, Talmud, and aggada.
“Fear of the Lord, that is his treasure” (Isaiah 33:6). Among all the attributes, there are none greater than fear and humility⁶²Since humility is not mentioned elsewhere in this portion of the midrash, Matnot Kehuna and Etz Yosef write that it should be erased. – “Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 10:12). The numerical value of yirat is six hundred and eleven,⁶³Yod – 10 + reish – 200 + alef – 1 + tav – 400 = 611. and of Torah is six hundred and eleven.⁶⁴Tav – 400 + vav – 6 + reish – 200 + heh – 5 = 611. Add fear and Torah to them;⁶⁵When a gematria is used, sometimes the word or words being discussed are used to add 1 to the gematria. Thus, 611 + Torah + yirat = 613. the result is six hundred and thirteen.
Tzitzit – the Rabbis taught: Eight strings that are drawn and five knots, two above⁶⁶Adjacent to the corner of the garment. and three below, that is six hundred and thirteen.⁶⁷Tzadi – 90 + yod – 10 + tzadi – 90 + yod – 10 + tav – 400 = 600 + 8 strings + 5 knots = 613.
The days of Abraham were one hundred and seventy-five years; Isaac, one hundred and eighty years; Jacob, one hundred and forty-seven years. When you add them together, the result is five hundred and two years. That is, likewise, the distance between the heavens and earth: “Like the days of the heavens over the earth” (Deuteronomy 11:21).⁶⁸The preceding phrase is: “regarding which the Lord has taken an oath to your forefathers.” And "the days of the heavens over the earth" is interpreted as the time that it would take to walk from the earth to the heavens.
“[These are David’s last words: The utterance of David son of Yishai, and the utterance of the man] raised on high [al]” (II Samuel 23:1) – this corresponds to one hundred blessings.⁶⁹The numerical value of al is 100: Ayin – 70 + lamed – 30 = 100. Each day one hundred men of Israel would die. David came and instituted for them one hundred blessings. Once he instituted them, the plague was halted. Al – the yoke [ol]⁷⁰Both al and ol are written with an ayin and lamed. of Torah and the yoke of suffering.
“Forgive all iniquity, and accept good [tov], and instead of bulls we will pay the offering of our lips” (Hosea 14:3). Israel said: ‘Master of the universe, when the Temple was extant, we would sacrifice an offering and gain atonement; now, we have nothing in our hand other than prayer.’ The numerical value of tov is seventeen; prayer contains nineteen blessings?⁷¹The Amida. Exclude from there the blessing of the heretics,⁷²This refers to the twelfth blessing in the Amida. that they instituted it in Yavne, and “the offshoot of David”⁷³This refers to the fifteenth blessing of the Amida. that they instituted after him because of: “Examine me, Lord, and test me” (Psalms 26:2).⁷⁴See Sanhedrin 107a, where David fails the test of Bathsheba. Rabbi Simon says: On the basis of a numerical cypher, “and accept good [tov]” equals the value of nefesh [person].⁷⁵With the atbash cypher, the distance of a letter from the beginning of the alphabet is measured, and it is replaced bythe letter that is the same distance from the end of the alphabet. Tet – nun; vav – peh; beit – shin: tov becomes nefesh. Israel said: ‘When the Temple was extant, we would burn fats and the other portions on the altar and gain atonement. Now, here are our fats, our blood, and our souls. May it be Your will that they will serve as atonement on our behalf’ – “instead of bulls we will pay the offering of our lips.”
“The Lord granted her pregnancy [herayon]” (Ruth 4:13). Its numerical value is two hundred and seventy-one.⁷⁶This is the number of days in nine full months, plus the first day of the tenth month.
The measure of water in a ritual bath is forty se’a, which corresponds to the number of times that the water of a well [be’er] is written in the Torah. How many egg bulks are in a ritual bath? There are five thousand seven hundred and sixty. Each and every se’a is one hundred and forty-four egg-bulks. Ḥalla is forty-three and one-fifth egg-bulks.
From where is it derived that one requires forty se’a for a ritual bath? “The water of Shilo’aḥ that flows slowly [le’at]” (Isaiah 8:6), whose numerical value is forty.
One who is separating ḥalla must, by Torah law, separate one from forty-three and one-fifth [egg-bulks], in accordance with the numerical value of ḥalla.⁷⁷Ḥet – 8 + lamed – 30 + heh – 5 = 43.
The primary categories of labor are forty less one, as it is written: “These are the matters [eleh hadevarim]…” (Exodus 35:1).⁷⁸The following verse begins: “Six days labor shall be performed…” Eleh – thirty-six,⁷⁹Alef – 1 + lamed – 30 + heh – 5 = 36. devarim – two,⁸⁰Devarim (matters) is written in the plural. The minimum plural possible is two. hadevarim –three;⁸¹Deriving an additional one from the heh prefix. that is forty less one.
“Forty he shall flog him, he shall not add” (Deuteronomy 25:3), corresponding to the forty curses that the serpent, Eve, Adam, and the ground were cursed. The Sages deducted one due to “he shall not add.”
Those who recommended acquittal would have a majority of one, and thus the iniquities are fewer.⁸²Iniquities can refers to people who the court puts to death by mistake. According to that explanation, the midrash here explains that in order to prevent the iniquity of mistakenly killing somebody, for acquittal a majority of one is sufficient, but a majority of two is required for a guilty verdict. It is preferable when convicting that at least a majority of two will prevail, rather than one.
“Sheshakh” (Jeremiah 25:26, 51:41) is Babylon [Bavel] in the atbash cypher. “[Son of] Tave’al” (Isaiah 7:6) according to the albam⁸³Alef becomes lamed. The alphabet is divided in two in the middle, with eleven letters in each group. The first letter in the first group – aleph – is replaced by the first letter in the second group – lamed. The second letter – bet – is replaced by mem, etc. cypher is Remala.⁸⁴The son of Tave’al, mentioned in the verse, is a reference to Pekaḥ ben Remalyahu, king of Israel.
“With this [bezot] shall Aaron enter the Sanctum: with a young bull as a sin offering, and a ram as a burnt offering” (Leviticus 16:3), bezot is an allusion to the first Temple, that would stand four hundred and ten years.⁸⁵Beit – 2 + zayin – 7 + alef – 1 + tav – 400 = 410.