Midrash sur Les Nombres 21:21

27 (Numb. 21:21) “Then Israel sent messengers [to Sihon …]”: This text is related (to Ps. 37:3), “Trust in the Lord and do good, abide in the land and remain loyal.” And it states (in Ps. 34:15), “Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” The Torah did not command [them] to go in pursuit of the commandments. Rather [it states] (in Deut. 22:6), “When you come on a bird's nest”; (in Exod. 23:4) “When you encounter [the ox of one who hates you]”; (in Exod. 23:5) “When you see the donkey [of one who hates you]”; (in Deut. 24:20) “when you beat your olive tree”; (in Deut. 24:21), “When you gather the grapes of your vineyard”; and (in Deut. 23:25) “When you go into your neighbor's vineyard.” If [these situations] present themselves to you, you are given a command concerning them; but [you are] not to go in pursuit of them. In the case of peace, however, (according to Ps. 34:15), “seek peace,” wherever you are; “and pursue it,” wherever else it may be. And this is what Israel did. Although the Holy One, blessed be He, had said to them (in Deut. 2:24), “begin to take possession, and engage him in battle,” they went in pursuit of peace. So is it stated (in Numb. 21:21) “Then Israel sent messengers….”

28 (Numb. 21:21) “Then Israel sent messengers”: All the words of Torah are necessary to each other, for what one covers over the other opens up. It is stated here (in Numb. 21:21), “Then Israel sent [messengers],” while in another place [Scripture] ascribes the sending to Moses. [Thus] it is stated (in Deut. 2:26), “Then I sent messengers from the Desert of Kedemoth [unto King Sihon of Heshbon with words of peace].” It is written (in Jud. 11:17), “And Israel sent messengers to the King of Edom.” [Yet] it is written (in Numb. 20:14), “Moses sent from Kadesh messengers to the king of Edom […].” These verses require one another, as Moses is Israel and Israel is Moses. [This comes] to teach you that the head of a generation is surely equivalent to the whole generation.

(Numb. 21:21:) THEN ISRAEL SENT MESSENGERS <UNTO SIHON, KING OF THE AMORITES>. All the words of Torah are necessary to each other, for what one covers over the other opens up.²⁰¹Tanh., Numb. 6:23; Numb. R. 19:28. It is stated here (in Numb. 21:21): THEN ISRAEL SENT MESSENGERS, while in another place <Scripture> ascribes the sending to Moses. [Thus it is stated] (in Deut. 2:26): THEN I SENT MESSENGERS FROM THE DESERT OF KEDEMOTH <UNTO KING SIHON OF HESHBON WITH WORDS OF PEACE>. <Both verses are necessary> to teach you that the head of a generation is surely equivalent to the whole generation. (Numb. 20:17:) PLEASE LET US PASS THROUGH YOUR LAND.²⁰²As Buber suggests in note 370, the citation is probably a misreading for Numb. 20:22: LET ME PASS THROUGH YOUR LAND. This alternate reading better fits the context and also agrees with the parallel in Numb. R. 19:29; however, the parallel in Tanh., Numb. 6:23 agrees with the Buber text as written. As he had sent to inform the king of Edom <that he would do no damage, so did he send to this one>²⁰³The bracketed words come from the parallel in Numb. 19:19 and are necessary for the sense of the argument. (in Deut. 2:28): YOU SHALL SELL ME FOOD FOR MONEY…. It is customary for water to be given gratis, but I am giving payment for it. (Numb. 21:22:) WE WILL GO BY THE KING's HIGHWAY [UNTIL WE HAVE PASSED THROUGH YOUR TERRITORY]. In another place it is written (in Deut. 2:29): UNTIL HAVE CROSSED THE JORDAN. <The matter> is comparable to one guarding a vine or fig tree. When someone comes and says: Let me pass through here, so that I may gather grapes from the vineyard, he says to him: It is only because of you that I am sitting on guard. So would you come to gather the grapes? So it was with Sihon. He received wages from all the kings of Canaan; and they would bring taxes up to him, for he had made them kings. Moreover he and Og were considered the equivalent of them all, since it is stated (in Ps. 136:19–20): SIHON, KING OF THE AMORITES …; AND OG, KING OF BASHAN. Israel said to <Sihon>: Let us pass through your land²⁰⁴“Let us pass through your land” is similar but not quite equal to either Numb. 20:17 or Numb. 21:22. to conquer the kings. He said to them: I am sitting here to guard them from you. (Numb. 21:23:) SO SIHON DID NOT ALLOW ISRAEL TO CROSS ON HIS TERRITORY. INSTEAD SIHON GATHERED ALL HIS PEOPLE TOGETHER AND WENT OUT AGAINST ISRAEL. The Holy One acted with forethought to deliver him into their hand without trouble. It is written (in Numb. 21:34 = Deut. 3:2): TO KING SIHON OF THE AMORITES WHO DWELT IN HESHBON (i.e., WITH CALCULATION).²⁰⁵The stress on the Holy One acting with fore-thought was suggested by the words, IN HESHBON, which can also be translated WITH CALCULATION. If Heshbon had been full of mosquitos, no mortal could have prevailed against it; and it goes without saying that he was a warrior and dwelt in a fortified city. If he and his troops²⁰⁶Gk.: ochloi. had dwelt < scattered about> in his towns, Israel would have worn themselves out to prevail against him and conquer each and every town. Instead the Holy One gathered them together so as to deliver them into their hand without [trouble. And so it said (in Deut. 2:31): SEE I HAVE BEGUN TO GIVE SIHON <AND HIS LAND> OVER TO YOU. They killed all his warriors who had come out against them. Then they returned for the women and infants without] exertion. It is therefore written (in Numb. 21:23): INSTEAD SIHON GATHERED ALL HIS PEOPLE TOGETHER.