וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהוָה֮ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֣ה וְאֶֽל־אַהֲרֹן֒ יַ֚עַן לֹא־הֶאֱמַנְתֶּ֣ם בִּ֔י לְהַ֨קְדִּישֵׁ֔נִי לְעֵינֵ֖י בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל לָכֵ֗ן לֹ֤א תָבִ֙יאוּ֙ אֶת־הַקָּהָ֣ל הַזֶּ֔ה אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־נָתַ֥תִּי לָהֶֽם׃
Lalu Yang Mahakekal berfirman kepada Musa dan Harun, “Karena kalian tidak percaya kepada-Ku untuk menguduskan Aku di depan mata orang Israel, maka kalian tidak akan membawa jemaah ini masuk ke negeri yang telah Kuberikan kepada mereka.”
Midrash Tanchuma Buber
(Job 20:6:) EVEN THOUGH ONE'S HEIGHT ASCENDS TO THE HEAVENS. This refers to Moses, when he ascended unto the firmament and drew near unto the Araphel (the lower sky). Moreover, he was like the ministering angels in that he spoke with him (i.e., with the Holy One) face to face and received the Torah from the hand of the Holy One. But when he besought him that he not die, the Holy One said to him: (in Deut. 3:26): DO NOT <EVER> SPEAK <UNTO ME ON THIS MATTER> AGAIN. Why was the Holy One angry with Moses? Because he had rebuked Israel. A parable: To what is the matter comparable? To a king who had a son. He handed him over to a paidagogos.1This Greek word does not correspond to the English “pedagogue.” Rather it denotes a slave whose task was to accompany a child as a companion to steer him on the right ways of life. The paidagogos was more of a nanny than a teacher. See my chapter, “Ancient Education in the Time of the Early Roman Empire,” in The Catacombs and the Colosseum, edited by S. Benko and J. J. O’Rourke (Valley Forge: Judson, 1971), pp. 139–163, especially p. 144. <When> the paidagogos became angry with him and reprimanded him, the king heard <about the reprimand> and said: By the life of my kingdom, you are not entering my palace.2Palterin. Gk.: praitorion; Lat.: praetorium. Similarly when Moses said to Israel (in Numb. 20:10): LISTEN, YOU REBELS, the Holy One said to him (in Numb. 20:12): THEREFORE YOU SHALL NOT LEAD THIS CONGREGATION <INTO THE LAND THAT I HAVE GIVEN THEM>.
Midrash Tanchuma Buber
(Deut. 3:24:) YOU HAVE <ONLY> BEGUN <TO SHOW YOUR SERVANT YOUR GREATNESS AND YOUR MIGHT…. > He said to him: You are the one who opened a door for me to pray to you.3Sifre to Deut. 3:24 (27). When? When they did that deed.4I.e., when they made and worshiped the golden calf. See Deut. 9:7–12. The Holy One said to him (in Deut. 9:14): LET ME ALONE, AND I WILL DESTROY THEM AND BLOT OUT THEIR NAME FROM UNDER THE HEAVENS. Moses said: Who would seize hold of the Holy One? One only seeks to pray for one's children. What is written there (in Exod. 32:11)? AND MOSES IMPLORED THE LORD HIS GOD. Moses said: Once I prayed for the community and was answered, but the community prayed for me and was not answered. Why? Because you have issued a decree over me <for calling them rebels>! But you were the one who began by calling them <rebels> (in Numb. 17:25 [10]): <PUT BACK AARON'S ROD … > TO BE KEPT AS A SIGN FOR THE CHILDREN OF REBELLION. Then because I called them <rebels> (in Numb. 20:10): LISTEN, YOU REBELS, you said (in 20:12): THEREFORE YOU SHALL NOT LEAD THIS CONGREGATION <INTO THE LAND THAT I HAVE GIVEN THEM>.
Shemot Rabbah
“Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying: Every son that is born, you shall cast him into the Nile, and every daughter you shall keep alive” (Exodus 1:22).
“Pharaoh commanded all his people,” Rabbi Yosei ben Rabbi Ḥanina says: He issued the decree even against his own people. Why did he do so? It is because his astrologers said to him: ‘The redeemer of Israel has already been conceived by his mother, but we do not know whether he is Israelite or Egyptian.’ At that moment, Pharaoh gathered all the Egyptians and said to them: ‘Lend me your sons that will be born for [the next] nine months so I will cast them into the Nile.’45The belief was that the Nile River was a deity and would repay those who worshipped it. That is what is written: “Every son that is born, [you shall cast him] into the Nile.” “Every Israelite son” is not written but rather, “every son,” whether Israelite or Egyptian. But they [the Egyptians] did not want to accept it from him, as they said: ‘An Egyptian son will never redeem them, but rather, one from the Hebrew women.’
“Cast him into the Nile.” Why did they decree to cast them into the Nile? It is because the astrologers foresaw that the redeemer of Israel would be condemned by means of water, and they believed that he would drown in water. But it was, in fact, only by means of a well that the decree of death was issued against him, as it is stated: “Because you did not have faith in me…[therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them; these are the waters of dispute…]” (Numbers 20:12–13). The Rabbis say that they [the astrologers] devised [this] counsel so that the Holy One blessed be He would not take vengeance against them by means of water. Because they knew that the punishments of the Holy One blessed be He fit the crime, and they were certain that He would not bring a flood to the world; therefore, they commanded to drown them in water.
“And every daughter you shall keep alive.” Why did Pharaoh need to keep the females alive? Rather, this is what they would say: ‘We will kill the males and take the females as wives,’ because the Egyptians were engulfed with lewdness.
“Pharaoh commanded all his people,” Rabbi Yosei ben Rabbi Ḥanina says: He issued the decree even against his own people. Why did he do so? It is because his astrologers said to him: ‘The redeemer of Israel has already been conceived by his mother, but we do not know whether he is Israelite or Egyptian.’ At that moment, Pharaoh gathered all the Egyptians and said to them: ‘Lend me your sons that will be born for [the next] nine months so I will cast them into the Nile.’45The belief was that the Nile River was a deity and would repay those who worshipped it. That is what is written: “Every son that is born, [you shall cast him] into the Nile.” “Every Israelite son” is not written but rather, “every son,” whether Israelite or Egyptian. But they [the Egyptians] did not want to accept it from him, as they said: ‘An Egyptian son will never redeem them, but rather, one from the Hebrew women.’
“Cast him into the Nile.” Why did they decree to cast them into the Nile? It is because the astrologers foresaw that the redeemer of Israel would be condemned by means of water, and they believed that he would drown in water. But it was, in fact, only by means of a well that the decree of death was issued against him, as it is stated: “Because you did not have faith in me…[therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them; these are the waters of dispute…]” (Numbers 20:12–13). The Rabbis say that they [the astrologers] devised [this] counsel so that the Holy One blessed be He would not take vengeance against them by means of water. Because they knew that the punishments of the Holy One blessed be He fit the crime, and they were certain that He would not bring a flood to the world; therefore, they commanded to drown them in water.
“And every daughter you shall keep alive.” Why did Pharaoh need to keep the females alive? Rather, this is what they would say: ‘We will kill the males and take the females as wives,’ because the Egyptians were engulfed with lewdness.