לֵֽךְ־אֶל־נְמָלָ֥ה עָצֵ֑ל רְאֵ֖ה דְרָכֶ֣יהָ וַחֲכָֽם׃
Va trouver la fourmi, paresseux, observe ses façons d’agir et deviens sage:
Sefer HaMiddot
1. Through zeal, one merits to be a faithful shepherd (leader of people). An indication of this matter: "Go to the ant (nemalla), lazy one (see its ways and wisen up -- Mishlei-- Proverbs 6:6)." and the verse: "From there, the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel (Bereshit 49:24)" (the last letters of this second verse spell out nemalla-- ant, thus showing that the function of Shepherd is built on this quality of zeal).
Sefer HaMiddot
4. Through zeal, one merits to be a faithful leader (lit. shepherd). A hint for this is in the passage, "Go to the ant, lazy one (Mishlei-Proverbs 6:6)", and it is also written "From there the shepherd of the stone of Israel (Bereshit 49:24)" (the end letters of the words in this passage spell "ant").
Kedushat Levi
Numbers 13,33 “we looked like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and so we looked in their eyes.” Rashi explains that they had heard the Canaanites say that their vineyards had been invaded by “ants.” On the face of it, this seems very difficult, seeing that according to our text they had referred to them as grasshoppers.
Apparently, we have to understand this as follows: when the Israelites perform the will of G’d this reflects favourably on their G’d and His kingdom. This is also what Calev referred to when the Torah quotes him (13,30) as ויהס כלב את העם עלה נעלה, usually translated as “Calev hushed the people, saying: “we will most certainly be able to ascend, etc.” He meant that if only they would acquire the necessary merits by remaining on the same “wavelength” as G’d they would overcome any apparent difficulties. Rashi had hinted that the “spies” had been guilty of throwing off the yoke of the Torah, and that is what he meant by his reference to “ants,” similar to what Solomon had to say about the ants in Proverbs 6,6 when he urged his people to learn a lesson from the ant which in spite of not even having a ruler who forces them to act diligently still do so due to their own intelligence. [grasshoppers are destructive, living for the immediate satisfaction of their desires without concern for the future, whereas the ants provide for the winter when the grasshoppers will not find anything fit to eat. Ed.]
Apparently, we have to understand this as follows: when the Israelites perform the will of G’d this reflects favourably on their G’d and His kingdom. This is also what Calev referred to when the Torah quotes him (13,30) as ויהס כלב את העם עלה נעלה, usually translated as “Calev hushed the people, saying: “we will most certainly be able to ascend, etc.” He meant that if only they would acquire the necessary merits by remaining on the same “wavelength” as G’d they would overcome any apparent difficulties. Rashi had hinted that the “spies” had been guilty of throwing off the yoke of the Torah, and that is what he meant by his reference to “ants,” similar to what Solomon had to say about the ants in Proverbs 6,6 when he urged his people to learn a lesson from the ant which in spite of not even having a ruler who forces them to act diligently still do so due to their own intelligence. [grasshoppers are destructive, living for the immediate satisfaction of their desires without concern for the future, whereas the ants provide for the winter when the grasshoppers will not find anything fit to eat. Ed.]