Les Proverbes 14:30 Midrash : Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition) & Bereshit Rabbah

R. Mari said: "In the future, the bodies of the righteous will turn to dust, for it is written (Ib.) Where the dust will return to the earth as it was." There were grave-diggers who dug in the earth belonging to R. Nachman and were rebuked by R. Achai b. Yashia [whose grave the diggers molested.] They came and said to R. Nachman: "We were rebuked by a man." R. Nachman went there and asked him: "Who are you, master?" He responded: "I am Achai b. Yashia." "Has not R. Mari said that, "In the future, the bodies of the righteous will return unto dust?'" said R. Nachman [and why therefore, is your body preserved]. "Who is Mari? I know him not," said the dead one. "But," again said R. Nachman, "this is the passage, When the dust will return to the earth as it was." The dead responded: "He who read with thee Ecclesiastes did not, however, read with thee Proverbs, where it is written (14, 30.) But jealousy is the rotlenness of the bones, which means that [only] he who has jealousy in his heart, his bones shall rot after death." Thereupon R. Nachman tried to feel [the substance of the dead body] and he found it to be a real substance. R. Nachman then said to him: "Let the master arise and go to his home." The dead responded, saying: "Thou showest that thou hast not even read the Prophets, for it is written (Ez. 37, 13.) And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and when I cause you to come up out of your graves, O my people," "But," said R. Nachman, "it is written (Gen. 3, 19.) For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Whereupon the dead explained to him, saying: "This is meant for one hour before the arrival of the final resurrection of the dead [that all dead will return to clay]."

“The angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from the heavens” (Genesis 22:15).
“He said: I swear by Myself, the utterance of the Lord, that because you have done this matter, and did not withhold your son, your only one” (Genesis 22:16).
“The angel of the Lord called…a second time…He said: I swear by Myself” – what need was there for this oath? He [Abraham] said to Him: ‘Take an oath to me that you will not test me again from now on, nor Isaac my son.’ This is analogous to one who jumped from the bank of a stream, over the current, and took his son along with him as he jumped.
Another interpretation, what need was there for this oath? Rabbi Ḥama ben Rabbi Ḥanina: He said to Him: ‘Take an oath to me that You will not test me again from now on.’ This is analogous to a king who was married to a noblewoman. She bore for him a first son, and he divorced her. [He remarried her and she bore him] a second son, and he divorced her, a third son, and he divorced her. When she bore a tenth son for him, all of them gathered together and said to him: ‘Take an oath to us that you will not divorce our mother from now on.’ So, too, when Abraham our patriarch was tested with the tenth ordeal,⁵²The binding of Isaac was the tenth and last of Abraham’s tests (see Mishna Avot 5:3). he said to Him: ‘Take an oath to me that You will not test me again from now on.’
Rabbi Ḥanin said: “That because you have done this matter” – this was the tenth test, and yet you say [when reading the verse]: “That because you have done this matter”? The explanation is that this final ordeal is equal in importance to all the others combined, as had he not accepted it upon himself, he would have lost everything <variant reading:="" everything="" that="" he="" had="" done.="">
“For that I will bless you and multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand that is upon the seashore, and your descendants will inherit the gate of their enemies” (Genesis 22:17).
“For that I will bless you [varekh avarekhekha]…” – [the doubling of the verb indicates] a blessing for the father, a blessing for the son. “And multiply [veharba arbeh]” – multiplication for the father, multiplication for the son.
“And your descendants will inherit the gate of their enemies” – this refers to Tarmod.⁵³The people of Tarmod were implacable enemies of the Jews. Fortunate are all those who will witness the downfall of Tarmod, as it was a partner to the two destructions [of the Temples]. Rabbi Yudan and Rabbi Ḥanina, one of them said: In the destruction of the First Temple, they provided eighty thousand archers <variant reading:="" shooters="">, and in the destruction of the Second Temple, it provided eight thousand archers.
“Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba and Abraham lived in Beersheba” (Genesis 22:18).
“Abraham returned to his young men” – and where was Isaac? Rabbi Berekhya in the name of the Rabbis from over there:⁵⁴Babylon. He sent him away to Shem to learn Torah from him. This is analogous to a woman who became wealthy from plying her spindle. She said: ‘Since it was from this spindle that I became wealthy, it will never depart from my possession’. So, Abraham said: ‘Everything that has come into my possession is only because I engaged in Torah and mitzvot. That is why I do not want it to depart from my children forever.’
Rabbi Ḥanina said: He sent him at night⁵⁵Abraham did not bring Isaac back with him, but told him to travel later on, at night. due to the evil eye.⁵⁶He did this so that the evil eye would not affect Isaac in the wake of the miracle that was performed on his behalf. [Similarly, we find] that from the moment that Ḥananya, Mishael, and Azarya emerged from the fiery furnace, their names are not mentioned again. Where did they go? Rabbi Elazar said: They died because of the spittle.⁵⁷After they survived, all the gentiles mocked Israel and spat at them, saying: ‘You have a God capable of such miracles, and yet you worship idols?’ God took the lives of Ḥananya, Mishael, and Azarya so that Israel would no longer be mocked by the gentiles. Rabbi Yosei said: They died from the [evil] eye. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: They relocated and went to Yehoshua ben Yehotzadak to learn Torah from him. That is what is written: “Hear now, Yehoshua the High Priest, you and your colleagues who sit before you, [for they are men of wonders]” (Zechariah 3:8). Rabbi Ḥanina said: It is was with that understanding that Ḥananya, Mishael, and Azarya descended into the fiery furnace – in order that a sign would be performed through them.⁵⁸If they would be saved, it would be a sign of God’s greatness. If they would not be saved, it would be a sign of loyalty to God even at the cost of one’s life.

“It was after these matters, that it was told to Abraham, saying: Behold, Milka, she too has borne children to your brother Naḥor” (Genesis 22:20).
“It was after these matters, it was told to Abraham, saying: Behold, Milka…has borne children.” It is written: “The life of good tidings heals the heart, and envy is the rot of bones” (Proverbs 14:30) – while he [Abraham] was still at Mount Moriah¹Where he had come so close to losing Isaac. he received tidings that the [future] spouse of his son was born, as it is stated: “Behold, Milka, too, has borne … .”²One of Milka’s descendants was Rebecca.
“It will be healing for your navel, and an elixir for your bones” (Proverbs 3:8) – while he was still at Mount Moriah he received tidings that the [future] spouse of his son was born,³The navel is symbolic of the connection from one generation to the next. as it is stated: “Behold, Milka, she too has borne children.”