Midrash sobre Números 25:4

"When a person incurs guilt accidentally by [transgressing one among] all of the commandments of YHVH": This is that of which the Bible says: "And indeed I have witnessed under the sun the place of judgment..." (Ecclesiastes 3:16). Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Joshua [in conversation]...

Rabbi Yitzḥak interpreted the verse regarding the Midianite war. “Your hair is like a flock of goats” (Song of Songs 4:1) – the flocks that went to the Midianite war went only due to the merit of Moses and Pinḥas.²⁹They were successful in the war against Midian only due to the merit of Moses and Pinḥas (Etz Yosef). That is what is written: “Moses and Elazar the priest took the gold from…” (Numbers 31:54).³⁰Some suggest that the text should read: That is what is written: “Moses sent them, a thousand of every tribe, to the war, them and Pinḥas” (Numbers 31:6). This verse may be understood as equating Pinḥas with the rest of those who went out to war (Matnot Kehuna). “That streams down [shegaleshu] from Mount Gilad” (Song of Songs 4:1) – the mountain from whose midst you took away [shegelashten], I rendered a memorial for the nations of the world. Which is this? This is the Midianite war. What is it that you took away from its midst? “Your teeth are like a flock of ordered ewes” (Song of Songs 4:2) – defined matters, twelve thousand volunteers and twelve thousand conscripts, as it is stated: “One thousand per tribe from the thousands of Israel were provided, [twelve thousand mobilized soldiers]” (Numbers 31:5). Rabbi Ḥananya bar Yitzḥak said: They went to the Midianite war with twelve thousand.
“That have come up from bathing” (Song of Songs 4:2) – Rabbi Huna said: Not one of them gave precedence to the head phylacteries before the arm phylacteries,³¹The arm phylacteries are supposed to be donned before the head phylacteries. as, had one of them given precedence to the head phylacteries before the arm phylacteries, Moses would not have praised them and they would not have ascended from there unharmed. That is to say that they were extremely righteous.
“That are all paired” (Song of Songs 4:2) – as when they would enter in pairs to the woman, one of them would blacken her face and one of them would remove her jewelry.³²The war against Midian was fought in the aftermath of the events in Shitim, where Moavite and Midianite women enticed Israelites to engage in sexual immorality and idolatry. As a result, twenty-four thousand Israelites died in a plague (see Numbers 25:1–9). When the Israelites defeated the Midianite army and entered the private dwellings where the women were located to take the spoils of war, they would enter two at a time and would cause the women to look less enticing, so as to ensure that they would not sin. [The women] would say to them: ‘Are we not creations of the Holy One blessed be He that you do this to us?’ The Israelites would say to them: ‘Is it not enough for you that our people received their punishment because of you?’ That is what is written: “The Lord said to Moses: Take all the leaders of the people, and hang them” (Numbers 25:4). “And there is none missing among them” (Song of Songs 4:2) – that not one of them was suspected of committing a transgression.
“Your lips are like a scarlet thread” (Song of Songs 4:3) – when they said to Moses: “Your servants took a census of the men of war under our command, and not a man is missing from among us” (Numbers 31:49), in lewdness and in sin.³³None of our men were killed, and none acted inappropriately with the captive women.
“Your speech is lovely” (Song of Songs 4:3) – as they said to him: “We brought the offering of the Lord” (Numbers 31:50). Moses said to them: ‘Your statements contradict each other. You said: “Not a man is missing from among us” (Numbers 31:49) – in lewdness and in sin. And you said: “We brought the offering of the Lord.” If you did not sin, what is the purpose of this offering?’ They said to him: Moses our master, we would enter to the woman in pairs, and one of us would blacken her face and one would remove her jewelry. Is it possible that the evil inclination was not moved at all? For that moving of the evil inclination we say to bring an offering.
At that moment, Moses began praising them: “Your temple [rakatekh] is like a pomegranate slice” (Song of Songs 4:3) – even the empty among you is packed with mitzvot like this pomegranate, for anyone who is confronted by the opportunity to commit a transgression and is spared from it and does not perform it has performed a great mitzva. It goes without saying: “Behind your braid [letzamatekh]” (Song of Songs 4:3) – regarding the modest and the fervent [metzumatin] among you.
“Like the tower of [kemigdal] David” – regarding which [David] elevated [gidel] you in his book. Regarding what did David elevate you in his book? “Siḥon king of the Emorites.… and Og king of the Bashan.… and gave their land as an inheritance” (Psalms 136:19–21).³⁴These verses state that God gave the land of Siḥon to Israel as an inheritance. Included in this territory was the land of Midian. The fact that Israel merited to inherit the land of Midian speaks positively of them. “Built magnificently [letalpiyot]” – a book that was stated by many mouths [piyot].
“One thousand bucklers are hung upon it” – all those tens of thousands and those thousands who went to the Midianite war and I defended them. I defended them only because of the merit of what came after one thousand generations. Not only you alone relied upon it, but rather, “all the shields of the mighty” – everyone who arises and controls and overcomes his inclination, is called mighty, like Moses in his time, David in his time, Ezra in his time. Their entire generation depends upon them. By means of whom was the Midianite war waged? It was by means of “your two breasts” (Song of Songs 4:5) – these are Moses, the head of the Sanhedrin, and Pinḥas.

“Your teeth are like a flock of ewes that are ascending from being washed, that are all paired, and there is none missing among them” (Song of Songs 6:6).
“Your teeth are like a flock of ewes.” Just as the ewe is modest,²⁰This is because its tail covers its sexual organs. so too, Israel was modest and upright in the Midyanite war. Rabbi Huna said in the name of Rabbi Aḥa: That not one of them donned the phylacteries of the head before the phylacteries of the arm, as had one of them donned the phylacteries of the head before the phylacteries of the arm, Moses would not have praised them and they would not have ascended from there²¹The Midyanite war. in peace. You must say that they were extremely righteous.
“That are all paired,” as they would enter in pairs to the woman.²²The war against Midyan was undertaken in response to a plague that killed thousands of Israelites. The plague was a result of their sins with Moavite and Midyanite women (see Numbers chapter 25), who were sent to seduce them. Consequently, when the Israelite soldiers conquered the Midyanites, they would enter a tent in which there was a woman only in pairs, so that there would be no doubt that they would repeat the same sins which had brought about the plague in the first place. One of them would blacken her face and one of them would remove her jewelry. [The women] would say to them: ‘Are we not among the creations of the Holy One blessed be He, that you do this to us?’ The Israelites would say to them: ‘Is it not enough for you that our people received their punishment because of you?’ That is what is written: “The Lord said to Moses: Take all the leaders of the people, and hang them” (Numbers 25:4).²³This was one of the disastrous consequences of the Israelites’ sins with the Midyanite women. “And there is none missing among them,” that not one of them was suspected of committing a transgression.

Rabbi Yitzḥak interpreted the verse regarding the war with Midyan.²⁰⁶This war was conducted to avenge the fact that twenty-four thousand Israelites died in a plague as a result of idolatry they committed after being seduced by Moavite and Midyanite women. See Numbers chapter 25. You find that when Israel went out to the war with Midyan, they would enter in pairs to a woman, and one would blacken her face and one would remove her jewelry. She would say to them: ‘Are we not creations of the Holy One blessed be He, that you are doing this to us?’ The Israelites would say to them: ‘It it not enough for you that we received our punishment because of you?’ That is what is written: “The Lord said to Moses: Take all the leaders of the people, and hang them for the Lord opposite the sun, [and the enflamed wrath of the Lord will be withdrawn from Israel]” (Numbers 25:4). Rabbi Aivu said: What was the sin? “They cleaved to Baal Peor” (Psalms 106:28).
Rabbi Yitzḥak said: There was an incident involving a certain provincial woman, who had a Kushite maidservant who descended to draw water from the spring, she and her friend. She said to her friend: ‘My friend, tomorrow my master is going to divorce his wife and take me as a wife.’ [The friend] said to her: ‘Why?’ [The maidservant answered:] ‘Because he saw her hands blackened with coal.’ [The friend] said to her: ‘What a world-class fool, let your ears here what your mouth is saying. If his wife, who is exceedingly beloved to him, you say that he wishes to divorce her because he saw her hands blackened with coal, you who are completely black from your mother’s womb [and will be black] all your life, all the more so.’ So too, because the nations of the world taunt Israel and say: ‘This nation has exchanged their Glory,’ as it is stated: “They exchanged their glory [for the cast image of a grass-eating bull]” (Psalms 106:20), Israel says to them: ‘If we, who did so for a single moment, are liable in this manner, you, all the more so.’
Moreover, Israel says to the nations of the world: ‘We will tell you to what we are comparable; to the son of kings who went out to the wilderness outside the city and the sun beat down on his head and his face darkened. He entered the city, and with a little water and a little bathing from the bathhouse, his body whitened and he regained his previous beauty. So it is with us; [even] if the sun of idol worship has darkened us, you are darkened from your mother’s womb, for even when you were in your mother’s womb you worshipped idols. How so? When a pregnant woman enters her house of idol worship, she bows and prostrates herself to the idol, she and her son.’

Another explanation. They sinned at Shittim, they were smitten at Shittim, and they were healed by means of Shittim. They sinned at Shittim; as it is said: And Israel abode in Shittim (Num. 25:4); they were smitten at Shittim, as it is said: And those that died by the plague (ibid., v. 9); and they were healed by means of Shittim, as it is said: Boards of acacia (shittim) wood. You find that they did not leave that place until Phinehas arose and turned away His wrath, as it is said: Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned My wrath away from the children of Israel (ibid., v. 11). The Holy One, blessed be He, declared: In the world-to-come I will heal at Shittim, as it is said: And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim (Joel 4:18).

“Moreover, I have seen, under the sun, in the place of judgment there is wickedness, and in the place of justice there is wickedness” (Ecclesiastes 3:16).
“Moreover, I have seen, under the sun, in the place of judgment…” – Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi say: “In the place of judgment there is wickedness” – in the place where the Great Sanhedrin convenes and determine rulings for Israel, “there is wickedness,” as it is stated: “All the princes of the king of Babylon came and sat at the Middle Gate” (Jeremiah 39:3) – the place where the halakhot are determined.⁷⁰The word for Middle Gate [hatavekh] is similar to the term for determine [ḥotekh]. “There is wickedness,” there sat “Nergal Saretzer, Samgar Nevo, Sarsekhim the chief official; Nergal Saretzer the chief magician, and all the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon” (Jeremiah 39:3). The parable says: Where the master hung his weapon, the insolent shepherd hangs his jug.⁷¹The place formerly used for a glorious purpose has now been appropriated for an inglorious one. The Divine Spirit is screaming: “And in the place of justice, there is wickedness” – the place in whose regard it is stated: “Justice would lodge in it, but now murderers” (Isaiah 1:21), they commit murders. There they killed Zekharya and Uriya.⁷²Because Israel committed atrocities in the place that should have been set aside for justice, the members of the Great Sanhedrin were replaced in that location by conquering Babylonian officers.
Rabbi Yonatan raised a dilemma before Rabbi Aḥa: In which place did they kill Zekharya, in the Israelite courtyard or in the women’s courtyard? He said to him: Neither in the women’s courtyard nor in the Israelite courtyard, but rather in the priests’ courtyard. They did not treat his blood like the blood of a gazelle or like the blood of a deer. Regarding the blood of a deer and a gazelle it is written in the Torah: “He shall spill its blood and cover it with dirt” (Leviticus 17:13). But the righteous Zekharya, they did not treat his blood like the blood of a deer and a gazelle; rather they spilled it on the stones, as it is written: “For its blood was in its midst; it placed it upon a bare rock. [It did not pour it on the ground to cover it with dirt]” (Ezekiel 24:7). To what purpose? It was “to arouse fury to take vengeance, [I placed its blood upon the bare rock so it would not be covered]” (Ezekiel 24:8),⁷³God brought it about that Zekharya’s blood would not be covered in order to motivate the Babylonians to take vengeance upon the Israelites. and in that regard it is written: “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth” (Ecclesiastes 12:1).
You find that when Nevuzaradan ascended to destroy Jerusalem, the Holy One blessed be He had indicated to that blood that it should seethe and rise for two hundred and fifty-two years, from [the time of] Yoash to [the time of] Zedekiah. What did they do? They swept all possible dirt and formed every possible pile [upon it], but it would not rest; the blood was seething and boiling. The Holy One blessed be He said to the blood: ‘This is the time that you will collect your debt.’ When Nevuzaradan ascended and saw it, he said to them: ‘What is the nature of this blood that seethes in this way?’ They said to him: ‘It is the blood of bulls, rams, and sheep that they were slaughtering and sacrificing.’ He brought bulls, rams, and sheep and slaughtered them onto it, but it did not quiet, did not rest, and did not stop. He immediately took them and hanged them on a pole. He said to them: ‘Tell me what is the nature of this blood, and if not, I will comb you with a comb of iron.’ They said to him: ‘Since the Holy One blessed be He wishes to demand [vengeance for] His blood from us, we will reveal it to you.’ They said to him: ‘He was a priest, a prophet, and a judge, who would prophesy about us all these actions that you are performing against us. But we did not believe him and we rose against him and killed him for rebuking us.’
Immediately [Nevuzaradan] brought eighty thousand young priests and slaughtered them onto [the blood], but it did not rest. The blood emerged until it reached Zekharya’s grave. [Nevuzaradan] then brought the Great Sanhedrin and the lesser Sanhedrin and slaughtered them onto it, but it did not rest. At that moment, that wicked one [Nevuzaradan] came and shouted at the blood, and said to it: ‘What good are you, and in what way is your blood superior to the blood of these? Do you wish to eliminate your entire nation because of you?’ At that moment, the Holy One blessed be He became filled with mercy for them, and He said: ‘If this cruel wicked one, son of a wicked one, who ascended to destroy My house, became filled with mercy for them, I, of whom it is written: “The Lord, the Lord, God, merciful and gracious” (Exodus 34:6), and it is written in My regard: “The Lord is good to all, and His mercy is upon all His creations” (Psalms 145:9), all the more so.’ At that moment, the Holy One blessed be He intimated to that blood, and it was absorbed in its place.
Rabbi Yudan said: The Israelites performed seven transgressions at that moment:⁷⁴When they killed Zekharya. They killed a priest, a prophet, and a judge, they spilled innocent blood, they [brought] impurity to the [Temple] courtyard, and it was Shabbat and Yom Kippur.
Rabbi Yehoshua interpreted the verse regarding the sin of the Golden Calf. “In the place of judgment there is wickedness” – in the place where Moses implemented the attribute of justice, as it is stated: “Go to and fro from gate to gate in the camp [and each man kill his brother]” (Exodus 32:27). “There is wickedness,” as it is stated: “The Lord afflicted the people…” (Exodus 32:35). The Divine Spirit was shouting: “In the place of justice there is wickedness” – in the place where I treated them as righteous ones and called them divine, as it is stated: “I said: You are divine and all of you are sons of the celestial” (Psalms 82:6). “There is wickedness” – there they were corrupted and crafted the [Golden] Calf. As it is stated: “They prostrated themselves to it” (Exodus 32:8).
Rabbi Yuda interpreted the verse regarding Shitim. “In the place of judgment there is wickedness” – in the place where the attribute of justice acted in Shitim, as it is stated: “Take all the leaders of the people and hang them before the Lord against the sun” (Numbers 25:4). “There is wickedness,” as it stated: “The dead in the plague were twenty-four thousand” (Numbers 25:9). The Divine Spirit was shouting and saying: “And in the place of justice there is wickedness” – in the place where I treated them as righteous regarding the curses of Bilam, and I transformed them into blessings, as it is stated: “The Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you” (Deuteronomy 23:6), “there is wickedness,” there they corrupted and sinned, as it is stated: “Israel resided in Shitim [and the people began to engage in licentiousness]” (Numbers 25:1).
Rabbi Levi and Rabbi Yitzḥak, Rabbi Levi said two matters [are stated in verses] regarding the hand [of God], and two matters regarding the right hand [of God]. Two matters regarding the hand [of God], as it is written: “In whose hand is the life of every living being…” (Job 12:10), and it is written: “And My hand grasps judgment” (Deuteronomy 32:41). And two matters regarding the right hand [of God], as it is stated: “From His right hand, a fiery law to them” (Deuteronomy 33:2), and it is written: “Your right hand is filled with righteousness” (Psalms 48:11). Rabbi Yitzḥak said: The Holy One blessed be He said to the soul: Soul, I strengthened you very much and commanded you, and said: “Just be strong not to eat the blood [because the blood is the soul]” (Deuteronomy 12:23), and [nonetheless the soul] goes out, violently robs, sins, and subjects itself to the attribute of justice, and emerges from the attribute of justice and sins,⁷⁵It sins again after receiving punishment for its previous sins. as it is stated: “Speak to the children of Israel saying: ‘If a soul sins unwittingly…’” (Leviticus 4:2).⁷⁶The verse assigns responsibility for even unwitting sins to the soul (Midrash HaMevo’ar). Alternatively, the verse may also be understood as a rhetorical question, as though to say: After all this, can a soul yet sin, even unwittingly? (Etz Yosef).

23 (Numb. 25:1) “The people began to go whoring unto the daughters of Moab.” Come and see what is written in their leaving from Egypt: (In Ex. 14:2,) “Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp before Pi-Hahiroth (which sounds like liberty, heiruth).” What is the meaning of Pi-Hahiroth? It was a place that was fixed for unchastity. And because they sheltered themselves [from it] in their leaving, it was called Pi-Hahiroth. But these [Moabite women] because they made themselves available to the people, it is written, (in Numb. 25:1), “the people began to go whoring [unto the daughters of Moab].” (Numb. 25:1) “The people began”: Every place that “the people” is mentioned, it is an expression of shame; but every place that “Israel” is mentioned, it is an expression of commendation: (In Numb. 11:1,) “Now the people were as murmurers [speaking evil in the ears of the Lord]”; (in Numb. 21:5,) “So the people spoke against God and against Moses”; (in Numb. 14:1,) “and the people wept on that night”; (in Numb. 14:11), “Until when will the people anger Me”; (in Exod. 32:25,) “And Moses saw that the people were wild”; (in Exod. 32:1,) “and the people gathered together against Aaron”; and similarly in all of them. (Numb. 25:1) “The people began to go whoring.” Throw a stick into the air,⁶⁸Gk.: aer. [and] it falls to its place of origin (i.e., its root).⁶⁹For this proverb in other contexts, see Gen. R. 53:15; 86:6. The one who had begun with the whoredom at first, finished with it in the end. Their matriarchs (i.e., the matriarchs of Ammon and Moab) began with whoredom (according to Gen. 19:31-34), “And the first-born said to the younger, ‘Let us give our father to drink […].’ So it came to pass on the next day that the first-born said unto the younger […].” She (the first-born) had instructed her in whoredom, and for that reason the Holy One, blessed be He, had pity on the younger and did not expose her. Rather (according to vs. 35), “and she slept with him”; but with reference to the elder, it is written (in vs. 33), “and slept with her father.”⁷⁰Thus in the case of the elder, her incest was specifically mentioned. In the case of the one who began in whoredom at first, her daughters (i.e., the daughters of Moab) went after her to finish [it, as stated (in Numb. 25:1), “the people began] to go whoring unto the daughters of Moab.” (Numb. 25:2) “And they invited the people to the sacrifices for their gods”: Thus they (i.e., daughters of Moab) were going by the counsel of Balaam, as stated (in Numb. 31:16), “Here these women at the bidding of Balaam made the Children of Israel.”⁷¹ySanh. 10:2 (28cd); Sanh. 106a; PRE 47. They made themselves curtained stalls and installed harlots in them with every object of delight in their hands. Now a girl would have an old woman as an agent, for an old woman would be in front of the shop. During the time that Israel was passing by on the way to the marketplace, the woman would say to him, “Young man, surely you want objects of linen which have come from Beth-Shean!” Then she would show them to him and say to him, “Come inside and you will see fine things”; and when the old woman would tell him a high price, the girl would [give him] a lower one. From then on the girl would tell him, “You are like one of the family. Sit down and choose for yourself.” Now a jug of wine was placed by her, since the wine of gentiles had not yet been forbidden. Then out comes the girl, perfumed and adorned, and seduces him and says to him, “Why do you hate us, when we love you? Take for yourself this article gratis. We all are children of a single man, children of Terah, the father of Abraham. So do you not want to eat from our sacrifices and from our cooking? Here are calves and cocks for you; slaughter them according to your own precepts, and eat.” Immediately she has him drink the wine, and then the Satan burned within him, so that he became a fool for her, as stated (in Hos. 4:11), “Harlotry, wine and young wine sway the heart.” There are also those who say [that] Balaam commanded them not to have them drink the wine, so that they would not be judged as those who are drunk, but as willful sinners. When he sought her out, she said to him, “I am not listening to you until you slaughter it [as a sacrifice] to Peor and bow down to it.” But he would say, “I am not bowing down to idolatry.” And she would say to him, “You only need to reveal yourself to it.” And [since] he had become a fool for her, he would do so. This is what the masters said, “One who reveals himself (to defecate) to Baal Peor – this is its worship” (Sanh. 64a). It is so stated (Numb. 25:2), “and they bowed down to their gods.” (Numb. 25:3) “Thus Israel was joined (rt.: tsmd) to Baal Peor”: At the beginning, they went in chastely, but at the end they went as many teams of pairs, like a pair (tsemed) of oxen. Another explanation: Like a man tied to his work; joined (rt.: tsmd) [to Baal Peor] like bracelets (rt.: tsmd). R. Levi said, “This was more serious than the [sin of the golden] calf, for while in reference to the calf, it is written (in Exod. 32:2), ‘Take off the gold rings,’ here [it is written] (in Numb. 25:3), ‘was joined (rt.: tsmd) [to Baal Peor,]’ like bracelets (rt.: tsmd)]. Because of the calf about three thousand fell, but here (according to Numb. 25:9) [the number fallen is] twenty-four thousand.” (Numb. 25:4) “[…] Take all the heads of the people, and impale them [before the Lord in the sun].” R. Judan said, “He hanged the heads of the people, because they had not protested about the people.” R. Nehemiah said, “He did not hang them. Rather the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, ‘Appoint Sanhedrin⁷²Sanhedraot. Gk. plural: synhedria. heads for them, and let them judge whoever went to Peor.’ He said to him, ‘But who will make such a one known?’ The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, ‘I will expose them. In the case of whoever has gone astray, the cloud shall be peeled back from upon him, and the sun shall shine upon him in the midst of the congregation. Then they will know anyone who has gone astray and hang him.’” You know for yourself that it is so, as stated (in Numb. 25:5), “So Moses said unto the judges of Israel, ‘Each of you kill [those of] his own people [who have been joined to Baal Peor].’”

(Numb. 25:4:) TAKE ALL THE HEADS OF THE PEOPLE, AND IMPALE THEM <BEFORE THE LORD IN THE SUN>. R. Judan said: He hanged the heads of the people, because they had not protested about the people who stood out among them like the Sun.¹¹⁸Tanh., Numb. 7:19. R. Nehemiah said: He did not hang them. Rather the Holy One said to Moses: Appoint Sanhedrin¹¹⁹Sanhedra’ot. Gk. plural: synhedria. heads for them, and let them judge whoever went to Peor. He said to him: But who will make such a one¹²⁰Beginning here and throughout the rest of the paragraph, the Buber text refers to these culprits by the singular, “him.” Cf. the parallels in Tanh., 7:19, and in Numb. R. 7:23, which continue to refer to the culprits in the plural. known? The Holy One said to him: I will expose such a one. In the case of whoever has gone astray, the cloud shall be peeled back from upon him, and the sun shall shine upon him in the midst of the congregation. Then they will know anyone who has gone astray and hang him. You know for yourself that it is so. (Numb. 25:5:) SO MOSES SAID UNTO THE JUDGES OF ISRAEL: EACH OF YOU KILL <THOSE OF> HIS OWN PEOPLE <WHO HAVE BEEN JOINED TO BAAL PEOR>.

Another explanation. “I held him and would not let him go…” R’ Yitzchak said: until the Tabernacle was erected prophecy was found among the idol worshipers. Once the Tabernacle was erected it was removed from them, as it says “I held him and would not let him go…” and it is written “Then I and Your people will be distinguished…” (Exodus 33:16) They said to him: but Balaam had prophecy? He replied: Not for his benefit! “Who counted the dust of Jacob…” (Bamidbar 23:10) “He does not look at evil in Jacob…” (Bamidbar 23:21) “How goodly are your tents, O Jacob…” (Bamidbar 25:4) “A star has gone forth from Jacob…” (Bamidbar 24:17) “A ruler shall come out of Jacob…” (Bamidbar 24:19) Another explanation. “On my bed at night…” (Song of Songs 3:1) Because I rested from Torah and commandments, night was joined to night for me. In the past it illuminated for me between night and night, between the night of Egypt and the night of Bavel, but now night is joined to night.