Eclesiastés 6:10 Midrash: Midrash Tanchuma & Shemot Rabbah

The Holy One, blessed be He, would summon the angel in charge of souls¹⁰See Ginzberg, Legends, 1:56. and say to him: Bring Me a certain soul which is in the Garden of Eden, whose name is so-and-so, and whose form is such-and-such. All the souls that would exist in the future were fashioned with the first man, and they will exist to the end of the world. All of them were created on the sixth day of creation. They were designated to be the descendants of Adam, as it is said: Whatsoever cometh into being, the name thereof was given long ago (Eccles. 6:10). Then the angel departed to bring the soul to the Holy One, blessed be He. When the soul was brought in, it prostrated itself before the King of Kings, the Holy One, blessed be He. At that time the Holy One, blessed be He, says to the soul: Enter the semen that is in this one’s hand. The soul opens its mouth and cries out: “Master of the Universe, I have always been satisfied with the place in which I dwelt from the day you created me, why do You desire that I enter this putrid drop? Now I am holy and pure, but then I will be cut off from the place of Thy glory.” Thereupon the Holy One, blessed be He, replied: The place which you are to enter is better for you than where you have dwelt. From the moment I created you it was only for this drop of semen. Then the Holy One, blessed be He, forced him to enter there though against his will. After that the angel turned around and placed the soul in the womb of his mother, and two angels were assigned to guard it lest it go out and fall. He placed a lighted candle at his head, as it is said: Oh, that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me; when His light shined over my head (Job 29:2).

And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying: “See, I have called by name Bezalel” (Exod. 31:1). Solomon said: Whatsoever cometh into being, the name thereof was given long ago, and it is foreknown what man is (Eccles. 6:10). Scripture also says elsewhere in reference to this: Who hath wrought and done it? He that called the generations from the beginning (Isa. 41:4). The Holy One, blessed be He, declared: When I determined at the very beginning of time to build the Sanctuary, I already announced his name, and made his name known. And it is foreknown what man is. Even when the first man was a lifeless mass, the Holy One, blessed be He, showed him all the righteous men who would descend from him. Some hung from his head, others were suspended from his hair, and still others from his neck, his two eyes, his nose, his mouth, his ears, and his arms. Proof of this is in the fact that when Job complained against his Creator, saying: O that I knew where I might find Him, that I might come even unto His seat! I would order my cause before Him, and fill my mouth with arguments. I would know the words which He would answer me, and understand what He would say unto me (Job 23:3–5). The Holy One, blessed be He, replied to him: Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? (ibid. 38:4). R. Simeon the son of Lakish maintained: Where wast thou is written because the Holy One, blessed be He, was in fact asking Job: Where were you suspended from the first man? Was it from his head, his hair, his neck, his eyes, or from one of his limbs?

Another matter, “see, I have called by name Betzalel,” that is what is written: “What was, its name has already been called” (Ecclesiastes 6:10). The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘The one whom I appointed at the outset so that he would craft the Tabernacle, I have already called him by name.’ What is, “it is known that he is a man”? (Ecclesiastes 6:10). While Adam the first man was still a shapeless mass, the Holy One blessed be He showed him each and every righteous person that was destined to emerge from him. Some were suspended on Adam’s head, some were suspended on his hair, some were suspended on his forehead, some on his eyes, some on his nose, some on his mouth, some on his ear, and some on his earlobes.⁵The correlation between a particular person and the location on Adam from which he was suspended depends upon the person’s character and tendencies (see Yefei To’ar). Know that when Job sought to argue with the Holy One blessed be He, and said: “If only I could know and find Him…I would organize my case before Him” (Job 23:3–4), the Holy One blessed be He responded to him: ‘Do You seek to argue with Me? “Where [eifo] were you when I founded the earth?”’ (Job 38:4). What is eifo? Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Job, tell me the origins of your soul [haeifa]. From which place was [your soul] suspended, from [Adam’s] head, from his forehead, or from which of his [other] limbs? If you know at what place were the origins of your soul, you may argue with Me.’ That is, “where [eifo] were you…?”
The Holy One blessed be He showed [Adam] Abraham. Because he said one matter,⁶Abraham said: “My Lord God, how shall I know that I shall inherit it” (Genesis 15:8), questioning whether God would fulfill His promise to give him the land. his descendants descended to Egypt and were enslaved in Egypt. He showed him Moses arising and redeeming them. He showed him Joseph supporting the tribes. He showed him Moses anointing prophets. He showed him Samuel anointing kings; Joshua taking Israel into the Land; David laying the foundation for the Temple; Solomon building it; Atalya mother of Ahaziah and her sons detaching the golden nails from the Temple; Yehoyada repairing it; Amon engaging in idol worship; Yoshiya eliminating it; Nebuchadnezzar destroying the Temple; Darius building it; and He showed him Betzalel building the Tabernacle. That is, “see, I have called by name Betzalel.”