מדרש על בראשית 34:2

(Numb. 22:2:) “Now Balak ben Zippor saw.” What is the meaning of “Now he saw?” He saw retribution which would come against Israel in the future.³Numb. R. 20:2. And he hated them more than all their enemies, as all of the [others] came with wars and subjugation which they could withstand. But this one was like a man who could extract a word from his mouth to uproot an entire nation. (Numb. 22:2:) “Now Balak [ben Zippor] saw.” It would have been better for the wicked if they had been blind, for their eyes bring a curse to the world. With reference to the generation of the flood, [it is written] (in Gen. 6:2), “The sons of God saw [how beautiful the human daughters were and took whomever they chose as their wives].” [It is also written] (in Gen. 9:22), “Then Ham, the father of Canaan, saw [the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside].” It is also written (in Gen. 12:15), “So Pharaoh's courtiers saw her (i.e., Abram's wife Sarah) [and praised her to Pharaoh, and the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house].” It is also written (in Gen. 34:2), “Then Shechem ben Hamor saw [Dinah].” So also [here] (in Numb. 22:2), “Now Balak [ben Zippor] saw.” The matter is comparable to someone who appointed guards to guard from an invader; and he had confidence in them, because they were warriors. When the invader came over and killed them, he trembled with fear for himself. It was the same also with Balak. When he saw what happened with Sihon and Og to whom he had been sending payment to guard him, he was afraid for himself. And in addition to that, he had seen the miracles at the Wadis of Arnon.⁴According to Numb. 21:26-31, Sihon defeated the King of Moab and captured his territory as far at the Arnon. See above and Numb. R. 19:25, for a description of the miracles. See also below and Numb. R. 20:7, according to which Sihon’s victory resulted from a curse by Balaam. (Numb. 22:3:) “Wayyagor mo'av.”⁵A traditional translation of these words would be NOW MOAB WAS IN GREAT DREAD, or something similar. What is the meaning of “Wayyagor (rt.: ygr)?”⁶Numb. R. 20:3. When Israel appeared to the Ammonites, they appeared clothed for peace. But when they appeared to the Moabites they appeared armed [for battle]. Thus it is stated (in Deut. 2:19), “When you draw near the frontier of the Children of Ammon, do not trouble them.” It is written [to imply not to trouble them] with all kinds of trouble; (ibid., cont.) “and do not provoke (rt.: grh) them,” with any kind of provocation. In regard to Moab, however, He said (in Deut. 2:9), “Do not trouble Moab, and do not provoke (rt.: grh) them with war.” Do not make war with them, but whatever you can seize apart from [war], seize. For that reason they appeared armed, and [the Moabites] gathered themselves (rt.: 'gr) to their cities, as stated (in Numb. 22:3), “Now Moab yagor (i.e., gathered).” Wayyagor (rt.: ygr, here understood a form of 'gr) can only be a word for a gathering, just as it says (in Prov. 10:5), “A prudent child gathers (rt.: 'gr) in the summer.” Another interpretation (of Numb. 22:3), “wayyagor”: [It is] a word for fear, in that they were afraid, as they saw the whole land in the hands of Israel. As Sihon had come and taken [part of] the land of Moab, as stated (Numb. 21:26), “and he fought against the earlier king of Moab….” And Og had taken all of the land of the Children of Ammon, as stated (Deuteronomy 3:11), “Since only Og was left from the remnant of the Rephaim….” [And] Israel came and took it from both of them; theft that has no iniquity. And [so the Moabites] saw their land in the hand of Israel and they would say, “Did the Holy One, blessed be He, not say (in Deuteronomy 2:9), ‘As I will not give you from its land as an inheritance’; and behold our land is in front of them (already in their possession).” Therefore they were afraid. (Numb. 22:3, cont.:) “And Moab had a horror (rt.: qwts) [of the Children of Israel],” because they saw themselves as a [mere] thorn (qwts) over against them.

And Dinah, the daughter of Leah, went out to see (Gen. 34:1). Was she not also Jacob’s daughter? Indeed, but Scripture associates her name with that of her mother. Leah’s daughter (Dinah) loved to roam about just as her mother did. How do we know this about Leah? It is written: And Leah went out to meet him (Gen. 30:16). Ezekiel declared: Behold, everyone that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying: As the mother, so her daughter (Ezek. 16:44). To see should be read as “to be seen,” for though she went out to see, she was, in fact, seen, as it is said: And Shechem the son of Hamor … saw her (Gen. 34:2).

“One who digs a pit will fall into it; and one who breaches a fence, a serpent will bite him” (Ecclesiastes 10:8).
“One who digs a pit will fall into it” – this is the wicked Pharaoh, who said: “Every son who is born [you shall cast him into the Nile]” (Exodus 1:22). “He will fall into it” – as it is stated: “He shook Pharaoh and his people in the Red Sea” (Psalms 136:15).
Another matter: “One who digs a pit” – this is Haman, as it is stated: “To destroy, to kill, and to eliminate” (Esther 3:13). “Will fall into it” – as it is stated: “His wicked intentions will return […upon his head, and he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows]” (Esther 9:25).
“One who breaches a fence, a serpent will bite him” – this is Dina. When her father and her brothers were sitting in the study hall, she went out “to see the daughters of the land” (Genesis 34:1). She brought upon herself that Shekhem ben Ḥamor the Hivite, who is called a serpent,³⁷Hivite is related to the Aramaic word ḥivya, which means serpent. consorted with her and bit her, as it is written: “Shekhem ben Ḥamor saw her…” (Genesis 34:2). “He took her” (Genesis 34:2) – he seduced her with words, as it is stated: “Take words with you” (Hosea 14:3). “He lay with her” (Genesis 34:2) – with natural intercourse; “and he raped her” (Genesis 34:2) – with unnatural intercourse.
Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai and Rabbi Elazar his son went into hiding in a cave in Pekiin for thirteen years during a period of religious persecution. They would eat carobs and dates. At the conclusion of thirteen years, Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai emerged and sat at the entrance to the cave. He saw a trapper placing his traps to trap birds. He heard a Divine Voice saying: ‘Success,’ and [a bird] was trapped. He heard a Divine Voice a second time, saying: ‘Failure,’ and [a bird] escaped. He said: Even a bird, without a divine decree, will not escape; all the more so the soul of a person.³⁸Rabbi Shimon was saying: Since it is in God’s hands whether or not we will be caught, we do not need to continue hiding in the cave (Etz Yosef).
[Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai said to his son:] ‘Let us descend and be healed in the water of the hot springs of Tiberias.’³⁹Apparently conditions in the cave led them to suffer from skin ailments, and they hoped the hot springs would heal their skin (Etz Yosef). They descended and were healed in the water of the hot springs of Tiberias. They said: We must do good, and benefit the residents of this place, just as Jacob our patriarch did, as it is stated: “He encamped [vayiḥan]⁴⁰This is expounded as a reference to both market [ḥanut] and favor [ḥanina]. before the city” (Genesis 33:18), [indicating] that he established a market and sold to them at low prices. They established a market and sold to them at low prices. He said: We must purify Tiberias.⁴¹During the Roman conquest there were many casualties who were buried in unmarked graves, causing Tiberias to lose its presumptive status of purity. What did he do? He took lupines and scattered them in the street, and any place that a corpse was buried, it rose.⁴²It became visible on the surface of the ground.
A certain Samaritan saw him. He said: Am I not able to ridicule this Jewish elder? What did he do? He took a corpse and buried it in a street that they had purified. Some say it was [in the market] of the barrel makers and some say in the market of the sack makers. He came and said to [Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai]: ‘Did you purify such and such street?’ He said to him: ‘Yes.’ He said to him: ‘And if I produce a corpse for you from it?’ He said: ‘Pull it out and show me.’ Immediately, Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai saw through divine inspiration that he had buried it there; he said: ‘I decree that the one who is lying shall stand and that the one standing will lie.’ Some say [that he said]: ‘I decree that the one above will descend and the one below will ascend.’ And so it occurred to him.
He departed and passed before that synagogue in Migdal and heard the voice of Nakai the scribe: ‘Did ben Yoḥai purify Tiberias?’⁴³He was mocking Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai because of the corpse found on the street he had already purified. [Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai] said: ‘ , let [such and such] come upon me if I do not have traditions as numerous as the hairs on my head that this [city of] Tiberias is destined to be purified and will be available to those who partake of teruma, with the exception of this and that.’⁴⁴Only these streets will remain impure. He did not believe him. [Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai] said to [Nakai]: ‘You have breached the fence of the Torah scholars, “and one who breaches a fence, a serpent will bite him,”’ and so it occurred to him.
Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai was passing by during the Sabbatical Year; he saw a certain person who was harvesting aftergrowths⁴⁵These are grain and vegetables that grow on their own without cultivation. of the Sabbatical Year. He said to him: ‘But is it not the Sabbatical Year?’ He said to him: ‘But is it not you who permits it? Did we not learn: [Rabbi Shimon says:] All aftergrowths are permitted except for the aftergrowths of cabbage, because there is nothing corresponding to them in the growths of the field?’⁴⁶Mishna Sheviit 9:1. Since cabbage does not grow wild in the field, one must assume that it was cultivated in violation of the laws of the Sabbatical Year. [Rabbi Shimon] said to him: ‘But do my colleagues not disagree with me?’⁴⁷The Sages in the Mishna prohibit consumption of even uncultivated annual crops that grow during the Sabbatical Year. He read in his regard: “And one who breaches a fence, a serpent will bite him,” and so it occurred to him.