Midrash sobre Números 14:12

[(Numb. 14:11:) HOW LONG WILL THIS PEOPLE SCORN ME?] Moses said to the Holy One: So what do you want? He said to him (in vs. 12): I WILL SMITE THEM WITH PESTILENCE AND DISPLACE THEM. THEN I WILL MAKE YOU INTO A NATION THAT IS GREATER AND MORE NUMEROUS THAN THEY. Moses said to him (in vss. 13–14, 16): WHEN THE EGYPTIANS HEAR <WHAT HAPPENED>, FOR YOU DID BRING THIS PEOPLE UP THROUGH YOUR POWER FROM THEIR MIDST, THEY WILL SAY UNTO THE INHABITANTS OF <THIS> LAND…. BECAUSE THE LORD WAS NOT ABLE TO BRING THIS PEOPLE <INTO THE LAND>…. So would not the nations of the world say: The gods of Canaan are stronger than the gods of Egypt?¹³Numb. R. 16:25; cf. above, Numb. 4:24 and the note there; below, Numb. 4a:19. Why? The gods of Egypt are of irrigated land, but those of Canaan are of <land> watered by rain (i.e., of Ba'al). (Numb. 14:14, 16:) THEY WILL SAY UNTO THE INHABITANTS OF THIS LAND….. BECAUSE THE LORD WAS NOT ABLE TO BRING <THIS PEOPLE INTO THE LAND>…. (Numb. 14:16:) BECAUSE HE WAS NOT ABLE (yekholet), <i.e.,> because he did not have the means to supply enough food, he brought them out to have them die in the desert. Now the word, yekholet can only refer to food, since it is stated (in I Kings 5:25 [11]): AND SOLOMON GAVE HIRAM TWENTY THOUSAND MEASURES OF WHEAT AS FOOD (makkolet) FOR HIS HOUSEHOLD.

[Another interpretation (of Numb. 14:27): HOW LONG SHALL <THIS> EVIL CONGREGATION <BE MURMURING AGAINST ME>?] The Holy One said to Moses: I am exterminating them from before me, for so it says (in Numb. 14:12): I WILL SMITE THEM WITH PESTILENCE AND DISPLACE THEM.²⁷See above, Numb. 4:24. Immediately Moses stood up to him by asking for mercy from the Holy One. How? When Israel made the calf, Moses stood up to him. At that time he made a plea on their behalf. He said to him: Please, make known to me by what principle you run your world. Thus it says this (in Exod. 33:13): PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAYS KNOWN TO ME THAT I MAY KNOW YOU…. The Holy One said to him: It is by the principle of mercy that I run my world, as stated (in Exod. 34:6): AND THE LORD PASSED BY BEFORE HIM, AND PROCLAIMED: THE LORD, THE LORD IS A MERCIFUL AND GRACIOUS GOD, SLOW TO ANGER AND ABOUNDING IN KINDNESS AND TRUTH. When Moses saw that the Holy One had said to him; SLOW TO ANGER, he began saying to the Holy One: Sovereign of the Universe, this is what you have said: SLOW TO ANGER. Is this <the way> you are slowing your passion? The Holy One said to him: Even so, I am going to punish them. <Moses> did nothing, but when the Holy One wanted to destroy them here, where it is stated (in Numb. 14:12): I WILL SMITE THEM WITH PESTILENCE AND DISPLACE THEM, Moses stood up and asked for mercy before the Holy One, as he said to him: Please, are these the stipulations which you prescribed when you said: SLOW TO ANGER? Fulfill your word here (in Numb. 14:17): AND NOW, PLEASE LET THE POWER OF THE LORD INCREASE, EVEN AS YOU HAVE SPOKEN, SAYING. Then what did <the Holy One> say (in vs. 18)? THE LORD IS SLOW TO ANGER AND OF GREAT KINDNESS…. Moses said to the Holy One: Sovereign of the Universe, in the case of a servant, if his deeds are good so that his master looks at him with a friendly face, one does not give his master any credit.²⁸Numb. R. 16:28. So when would they give him credit? When the servant's conduct is evil with his deeds being evil, and then his master looks at him with a friendly face. So also in your case, O Sovereign of the Universe, pay no attention to their stiff neck. Thus it is stated (in Deut. 9:27): PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE STUBBORNNESS OF THIS PEOPLE NOR ITS WICKEDNESS NOR ITS SIN. So the Holy One said to him: See, because of you I am forgiving them. It is so stated (in Numb. 14:20): I HAVE PARDONED THEM AS YOU ASKED.

22 (Numb. 14:11) “Then the Lord said unto Moses, ‘How long ('ad-'anah) will this people scorn Me, and how long ('ad-'anah) will they have no faith in Me?’”: The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “I have uttered two cries (of 'ad-'anah) because of you. Your end shall be to cry out in the subjection of the four empires: (Ps. 13:2-3,) ‘How long ('ad-'anah), O Lord, will you forget me forever; how long ('ad'-'anah) will you hide Your face from me? How long ('ad-'anah) shall I take counsel in my soul with grief in my heart [all day]; how long ('ad-'anah) will my enemy be exalted over me?’ I cried out (in Numb. 14:27), ‘How long ('Ad-matay) shall this evil congregation [be murmuring against me]?’ Your end shall be to cry out (in Ps. 6:4), ‘My soul also is greatly dismayed; [and You, O Lord, how long ('ad-matay)]?’” (Numb. 14:12) “I will strike them with pestilence”: Moses said, “Master of the world, look at the covenant with their ancestors, to whom You swore that You would raise up from them kings, prophets, and priests!” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “But are you not one of their children?” (Ibid., cont.) “Then I will make you into a nation that is greater [and more numerous than they]!’” When Moses saw [how things were], he took a different course (in Numb. 14:13-14): “But Moses said unto the Lord, ‘When the Egyptians hear [what happened]…, they will say unto the inhabitants of this land.’” They will say, “He had no power to sustain them.” He said to him, “But have they not seen the miracles and the mighty deeds which I did for them in Egypt and by the sea?” They will say, “He was able to stand against us, [but] He was not able to stand against thirty one kings.³³See Josh. 12:9-14. Master of the universe, act on Your behalf. (Numb. 14:17) “So now please let the power of the Lord increase,” and let the principle of mercy overcome the principle of justice. (Ibid., cont.) “As you have promised, saying”: I said to You, “With what principle do You judge Your world,” as stated (in Exod. 33:13) “Please make Your ways known to me.” So you removed (rt.: 'br) [the principle of justice] from me (according to Exod. 34:6), “And the Lord passed by (rt.: 'br) [before] him, and proclaimed.” Fulfill that principle of which You told me; (according to Exod. 34:6) “The Lord, the Lord is of long patience, of great kindness…” (Numb. 14:19) “Please pardon [the sin of this people].” The Holy One, blessed be He, accepted his words and conceded to him, [as stated] (Numb. 14:20), “Then the Lord said, ‘I have pardoned like your words.’” As truly in the future, Egypt will say like your words.

25 Moses said to Him (in vss. 14, 15), “Now they have heard that You, O Lord, are in the midst of this people. If then You slay this people like one man.” So the nations of the world would not say, “The gods of Canaan are stronger than the gods of Egypt; the gods of Egypt are false, but those of Canaan are of land watered by rain (i.e., of Ba'al).” (Numb. 14:14, 16) “They will say unto the inhabitants of this land […] Because he was not able (yekholet),” i.e., because He did not have the means to supply enough food, He brought them out to have them die in the desert. Now the word, yekholet can only refer to food, since it is stated (in I Kings 5:25 [11]), “and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat as food (makkolet) for his household.” Another interpretation: Lest the nations of the world think of You as cruel. That is to say: When the generation of the flood came, He destroyed them. And similarly, when the generation of the dispersion came, and when the Sodomites came, and when the Egyptians came, He destroyed them And also in the case of these whom He has called (in Exod. 4:22), “My first-born son,” He is destroying (mekhalleh) them! He is like that Lilith (keLilit). When she does not find anything else, she turns on children. So (in Numb. 14:16), “Because the Lord was not able.” Moses said, “Sovereign of the world, (according to vs. 14) ‘[that…] You […], o Lord, are seen face to face (literally: eye to eye).’” What is the meaning of “[that...] are seen eye to eye ('YN B'YN)?”⁴⁵Similarly Deut. R. 5:13. R. [Simeon ben] Laqish said, “See, the scales are balanced (rt.: 'YN).” “You say (in Numb. 14:12), “’I will smite them with pestilence’; but I am saying (in vs. 19), ‘Please pardon.’ We shall see whose utterance will stand.” It is so stated (in Numb. 14:20), “Then the Lord said, ‘I have pardoned them as you asked.’” But nevertheless, the decree of the Holy One which he had uttered to Moses (in Numb. 14:12), “then I will make you into a nation that is greater,” that decree was not repealed. He raised up from him sixty myriads, as stated (in I Chron. 23:17), “but the sons of Rehabiah were very numerous.” And in the world to come the Holy One shall gather them. Thus it is stated (in Is. 49:12), “Look! These are coming from afar. And look! These are from the north and from the sea (i.e., from the west), and these from the land of Sinim.” Moreover, the exiles shall come with them, also the tribes who are located beyond the River Sambatyon⁴⁶Gk.: Sabbatikos (“Sabbatical”). See Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Exod. 34:10; ySanh. 10:6 or 5 (29c); Gen. R. 73:6; Lam. R. 2:5 (9); PR 31:10; above, Gen. 10:17, it was beyond, or on an island in, this legendary river that at least some of the ten tribes were exiled. See also Tanh., Exod. 9:33; Gen. R. 11:5, PR 23:8; according to which the river carried stones in its current during the whole week but rested on the Sabbath. See also Pliny, HN 31:18 (24); Sanh. 65b. Cf. Josephus, BJ 7:5:1 (96–99), according to whom the Sabbath was the only day on which the river flowed. and beyond the hills of darkness.⁴⁷Cf. Ezek. 34:12. They shall be gathered and come to Jerusalem. Isaiah said (in Is. 49:9), “Saying to the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’” i.e., to those who are located beyond the Sambatyon. (Ibid., cont.,) “To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves,’”⁴⁸higgalu. the verb can also mean “be exiled. these are those who are located beyond the cloud of darkness. (Ibid., cont.,) “They shall pasture along the roads, and in all the heights shall be their pasture,” these are those who are located in Daphne of Antioch.⁴⁹According to ySanh. 10:6 or 5 (29c) the exiles were divided into three parts: one beyond the Sambatyon River, one to Daphne at Antioch, and one into a cloud cover. At that time they shall be redeemed and come to Zion with gladness, as stated (in Is. 51:11), “So let those ransomed by the Lord return [and come to Zion with exaltation, with joy everlasting upon their heads. Let them attain joy and gladness; may sorrow and sighing flee].”

(Numb. 14:12:) I WILL SMITE THEM WITH PESTILENCE AND DISPLACE THEM …. Moses said: Sovereign of the World, look at the covenant with their ancestors, to whom you swore that you would raise up from them kings, prophets, and priests!⁵⁶Tanh., Numb. 4:13; Numb. R. 16:22, cont.; see below, Numb. 4a:14. The Holy One said to him: But are you not one of their children? (Ibid., cont.:) THEN I WILL MAKE YOU INTO A NATION THAT IS GREATER [AND MORE NUMEROUS THAN THEY]. When Moses saw <how things were>, he took a different course (in Numb. 14:13–14). BUT MOSES SAID UNTO THE LORD: WHEN THE EGYPTIANS HEAR <WHAT HAPPENED> …, THEY WILL SAY UNTO THE INHABITANTS OF <THIS> LAND. They will say: He had no power to sustain them.⁵⁷Cf. below, Numb. 4a:5. He said to him: But have they not seen the miracles and the mighty deeds which I did for them by the sea? So how will they say (in Numb. 14:16): <IT MUST BE BECAUSE> THE LORD WAS NOT ABLE <TO BRING THIS PEOPLE INTO THE LAND>? They will say: He was able to stand against Pharaoh, <but> he was not able to stand against thirty one kings.⁵⁸See Josh. 12:9-14. [Sovereign of the whole universe, act on your own behalf.] (Numb. 14:17:) SO NOW PLEASE LET THE POWER OF THE LORD INCREASE, and let the principle of mercy overcome the principle of justice, (ibid., cont:) AS YOU HAVE PROMISED, SAYING. I said to you: With what principle do you judge your world? (Exod. 33:13:) PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAYS KNOWN TO ME. So you removed (rt.: 'BR) [the principle of justice] from me (according to Exod. 34:6): AND THE LORD PASSED BY (rt.: 'BR) [BEFORE] HIM, <AND PROCLAIMED: THE LORD, THE LORD IS A MERCIFUL AND GRACIOUS GOD>…. That principle of which you told me <still> exists, (according to Numb. 14:17): PLEASE LET THE POWER OF THE LORD INCREASE…. The Holy One accepted his words and thanked him. (Numb. 14:20:) THEN THE LORD SAID: I HAVE PARDONED THEM AS YOU ASKED.