Midrash sur Les Proverbes 21:22

Another interpretation (of Eccl. 9:14): THERE WAS A LITTLE CITY, i.e., the desert; WITH FEW PEOPLE IN IT, i.e., the generation of the desert; AND A GREAT KING CAME AGAINST IT, i.e., the Holy One; AND BUILT GREAT SIEGE WORKS AGAINST IT. When? When Israel made the calf. What is written (in Deut. 9:14)? LET ME ALONE, AND I WILL DESTROY THEM. (Eccl. 9:15:) NOW THERE WAS FOUND IN IT A PERSON WHO WAS POOR AND WISE, i.e., Moses the Righteous, as stated (in Prov. 21:22): A WISE ONE WENT UP TO A CITY OF WARRIORS. (Eccl. 9:15, cont.:) WHO DELIVERED⁵The verb is translated in the past tense here and in various English versions. For the translation (used earlier in this section) into the English potential mood, see the new JPSA translation. THE CITY BY HIS WISDOM. Thus it is stated (in Exod. 32:11): < BUT MOSES IMPLORED THE LORD HIS GOD AND SAID >: WHY DOES YOUR WRATH BURN AGAINST YOUR PEOPLE? (Eccl. 9:15, cont.:) BUT NO ONE THOUGHT ABOUT (ZKR) THAT POOR PERSON. The Holy One said: If no one has remembered (ZKR) him, I am remembering (rt.: ZKR) him, as stated (in Is. 63:11): THEN HE REMEMBERED (rt.: ZKR) THE DAYS OF OLD: < THOSE OF > MOSES, {HIS SERVANT} [< THOSE OF > HIS PEOPLE].

Another matter, “who is like the wise man” – this is Moses, in whose regard it is written: “A wise man ascended against the city of the mighty” (Proverbs 21:22).¹³This is an allusion to Moses ascending
heavenward to the stronghold of the angels to receive the Torah. “And who knows the meaning of a matter” – as he explained the Torah to Israel. Rabbi Mana of Shaab said in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: For each and every matter that the Holy One blessed be He would say to Moses, He would tell him its ritual impurity and purity.¹⁴For each form of ritual impurity He taught Moses, God would also teach him how to return to a state of ritual purity. When he reached the portion of: “Say to the priests” (Leviticus 21:1),¹⁵This is the prohibition against priests subjecting themselves to the impurity imparted by a corpse. [Moses] said before Him: ‘Master of the universe, but if they do become impure, in what manner is their purification?’ He did not respond to him. At that moment, Moses’s face changed. When they reached the portion of the red heifer,¹⁶Numbers chap. 19. Being sprinkled with the ashes of the red heifer in a specific ritual removes the ritual impurity imparted by a corpse. the Holy One blessed be He said to Moses: ‘That statement that I said to you: “Say to the priests,” and you said to Me: ‘In what manner is their purification,’ and I did not respond to you; this is their purification: “They shall take for the impure from the ashes of the burning of the purification” (Numbers 19:17).’ [Moses] said to Him: ‘Master of the universe, is that purification?’¹⁷How can sprinkling ashes remove impurity imparted by a corpse? The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘It is a statute, and I issued a decree, and no creature can comprehend My decree,’ as it is written: “This is the statute of the Torah” (Numbers 19:2).

Another interpretation [of] "I pleaded with the Lord" (Deuteronomy 3:23): This is [the meaning of] that which was stated by the verse (Ecclesiastes 9:11), "The race is not won by the swift, [nor the battle by the valiant; nor is bread won by the wise, nor wealth by the intelligent, nor favor by the learned; for the time of mischance comes to all]." "The race is not won by the swift," that is Asahel, as stated (II Samuel 2:18), "Asahel was swift of foot, like a gazelle in the open field." He was running after Avner, [and] Avner said to him (II Samuel 2:22), "Turn yourself away from behind me," but he was confident that he [could] flee (if necessary), as he was swift of foot. What is written? "And he refused to turn away, so Avner struck him in the belly with a backward thrust of his spear." "Nor the battle by the valiant," that is Avner. What is written when he went to David? "Yoav took him aside within the gate to talk to him privately; there he struck him in the belly" (II Samuel 3:27). Thus, "nor the battle by the valiant." "Nor is bread won by the wise," that is Shlomo, as it is stated (I Kings 5:11), "And he was wiser than all men." Yet the Holy One, blessed be He, brought him down from his thrown, and had an angel designated to bring him a loaf of bread and a plate of barley every day. Thus, "nor is bread won by the wise. "Nor wealth by the intelligent," that is Iyov; as it is stated (Job 19:21), " Pity me, pity me, you are my friends; for the hand of God has struck me." "Nor favor by the learned," that is Yehoshua. He said two things in front of his master (Moshe) and these were them: "And Yehoshua son of Nun, Moshe's attendant [from his youth, spoke up and said, 'My lord Moshe, restrain them']" (Numbers 11:28). [To this] Moshe said to him (Numbers 11:29), "Would that all the nation of the Lord be prophets!" And the [other time] was with the story of the [golden] calf, as it is stated (Exodus 32:17), "When Yehoshua heard the sound of the people in its boisterousness, he said to Moshe, 'There is a sound of war in the camp.'" [And to this] Moshe said to him, "Yehoshua, they are depending on you and trusting you to acquire the land and [yet] you do not know how to distinguish between one sound and another; 'It is not the sound of the tune of triumph...' (Exodus 32:18)." Thus, "nor favor by the learned." Another interpretation: "The race is not won by the swift," that is Moshe, as he leaped like a lion at the giving of the Torah. What is written over there? "And Moshe went up to God" (Exodus 19:3). [But then it is written (Exodus 19:25), "And Moshe went down to the people." "Nor the battle by the valiant," that is [also] Moshe. As he gored angels above, but when he saw Og, the king of Bashan, he was frightened. "Nor is bread won by the wise," that is [also] Moshe. As it is stated (Proverbs 21:22), "One wise man prevailed over a city of warriors." [Yet] it states (Exodus 34:28), "he did not eat bread." "Nor wealth by the intelligent," that is [also] Moshe, as it is stated about him (Exodus 34:9), "If I have found favor in Your eyes, may the Lord go among us." Rav Huna asked Shemuel, "What is [the meaning of] 'for the time of mischance (fega, which is a word also used for a prayer encounter) comes to all?'" He said to him, "It is in the future that a person will pray and be answered." He said, "Moshe seized prayer [but was not answered], as stated, 'I pleaded with the Lord....'"