אֱלָהִ֞י שְׁלַ֣ח מַלְאֲכֵ֗הּ וּֽסֲגַ֛ר פֻּ֥ם אַרְיָוָתָ֖א וְלָ֣א חַבְּל֑וּנִי כָּל־קֳבֵ֗ל דִּ֤י קָֽדָמ֙וֹהִי֙ זָכוּ֙ הִשְׁתְּכַ֣חַת לִ֔י וְאַ֤ף קדמיך [קָֽדָמָךְ֙] מַלְכָּ֔א חֲבוּלָ֖ה לָ֥א עַבְדֵֽת׃
Allahku telah mengutus malaikat-Nya dan mengatupkan mulut singa-singa itu, sehingga mereka tidak mencederai aku, karena aku didapati tidak bersalah di hadapan-Nya; dan juga terhadap Tuanku, ya raja, aku tidak melakukan kejahatan.”
Shir HaShirim Rabbah
Another matter, “have you seen a man diligent in his labor,” this is Solomon son of David. “He will stand before kings,” as he was diligent in the construction of the Temple; that is what is written: “He built it in seven years” (I Kings 6:38), and another verse says: “Solomon built his palace in thirteen years” (I Kings 7:1). Is the result that the construction of Solomon’s palace was finer and more elaborate than the construction of the Temple? Rather, this is what they said: In the construction of his palace, he was indolent; in the construction of the Temple he was diligent and was not indolent. Huna [said] in the name of Rav Yosef: If everyone assists the king, all the more so that everyone assists for the honor of the King of kings, the Holy One blessed be He, even spirits, even demons, and even ministering angels.
Yitzḥak son of Rav Yehuda bar Yeḥezkel said: It is written: “I have built [bano baniti] an abode for You” (I Kings 8:13); I have built for you a built building.6The verse is quoting Solomon as saying that he put up a building, the Temple, that was actually built by itself. Rabbi Berekhya said: “The House that they were building,” is not written here, but rather: “The House, in its construction” (I Kings 6:7), [indicating that] it was built on its own, as it is stated: “It was built of whole stones that were transported” (I Kings 6:7). “Built” is not written here, but rather, “it was built [nivna].”7The midrash understands the term nivna as a reflexive term, indicating that it built itself. This teaches that the stone would lift itself and be placed on the row of stones. Rav said: Do not be astonished by this. What is written below? “One stone was brought and placed at the entrance to the den” (Daniel 6:18). Were there stones in Babylon?8Babylon has only lowlands and soft earth, and no mountains. Rather, it flew from the Land of Israel at that moment and came and settled at the entrance to the pit. Rav Huna said, in the name of Rav Yosef: An angel descended in the image of a stone lion and settled at the entrance of the pit. That is what in written: “My God sent His angel and closed the lions’ mouths” (Daniel 6:23). Do not be astonished; if in honor of that righteous one [Daniel], it is written: “One stone was brought,” in honor of the Holy One blessed be He9For the building of the Temple. all the more so.
“He will stand before kings”—he will stand before kings of the Torah. “He will not stand before dark ones,” this is the group of the wicked. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: When [the Sages] voted, and concluded that three kings and four commoners do not have a portion in the World to Come, they sought to add Solomon to them.10This was due to what is described in I Kings 11:1–10. A Divine Voice emerged and said: “Do not touch My anointed ones” (Psalms 105:15). Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon said: Moreover, he is listed as the head of a [royal] genealogical lineage, as it is stated: “Reḥavam the son of Solomon [reigned in Jerusalem]” (I Kings 14:21). Rabbi Yudan bar Simon said: Moreover, the Divine Spirit rested upon him and he composed these three books: Proverbs, Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes.
Yitzḥak son of Rav Yehuda bar Yeḥezkel said: It is written: “I have built [bano baniti] an abode for You” (I Kings 8:13); I have built for you a built building.6The verse is quoting Solomon as saying that he put up a building, the Temple, that was actually built by itself. Rabbi Berekhya said: “The House that they were building,” is not written here, but rather: “The House, in its construction” (I Kings 6:7), [indicating that] it was built on its own, as it is stated: “It was built of whole stones that were transported” (I Kings 6:7). “Built” is not written here, but rather, “it was built [nivna].”7The midrash understands the term nivna as a reflexive term, indicating that it built itself. This teaches that the stone would lift itself and be placed on the row of stones. Rav said: Do not be astonished by this. What is written below? “One stone was brought and placed at the entrance to the den” (Daniel 6:18). Were there stones in Babylon?8Babylon has only lowlands and soft earth, and no mountains. Rather, it flew from the Land of Israel at that moment and came and settled at the entrance to the pit. Rav Huna said, in the name of Rav Yosef: An angel descended in the image of a stone lion and settled at the entrance of the pit. That is what in written: “My God sent His angel and closed the lions’ mouths” (Daniel 6:23). Do not be astonished; if in honor of that righteous one [Daniel], it is written: “One stone was brought,” in honor of the Holy One blessed be He9For the building of the Temple. all the more so.
“He will stand before kings”—he will stand before kings of the Torah. “He will not stand before dark ones,” this is the group of the wicked. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: When [the Sages] voted, and concluded that three kings and four commoners do not have a portion in the World to Come, they sought to add Solomon to them.10This was due to what is described in I Kings 11:1–10. A Divine Voice emerged and said: “Do not touch My anointed ones” (Psalms 105:15). Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon said: Moreover, he is listed as the head of a [royal] genealogical lineage, as it is stated: “Reḥavam the son of Solomon [reigned in Jerusalem]” (I Kings 14:21). Rabbi Yudan bar Simon said: Moreover, the Divine Spirit rested upon him and he composed these three books: Proverbs, Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes.
Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael
(Exodus, Ibid.) "The desert has closed upon them": When Israel saw the sea raging, they turned their faces to the desert (to escape), and the Holy One Blessed be He confronted them with wild beasts, which did not let them pass, viz.: "He has closed 'sagar' the desert upon them," "sagar" alluding to wild beasts, as in (Daniel 6:23) "My G–d sent His messenger and closed the lions' mouth and they did not wound me."
Devarim Rabbah
What did Moses see that led him to devote himself to [designating] the cities of refuge? Rabbi Levi said: One who ate the dish knows its taste. How so? When Moses killed the Egyptian, he went out on the second day and found Datan and Aviram quarreling with one another, as it is stated: “He emerged on the second day, [and behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the wicked one: Why do you strike your neighbor?]” (Exodus 2:13). Rabbi Aivu said: This [wicked one] was Datan. [Datan] began demeaning him: “Do you propose to kill me?” (Exodus 2:14). When Pharaoh heard this, he said: ‘How many things have I heard and been silent. Now that he has arrived at bloodshed, apprehend him.’ How did he flee from Pharaoh, as it is written: “Moses fled from Pharaoh” (Exodus 2:15)? Rabbi Yannai said: The executioner came to place the sword on his neck; the sword was blunted on his neck, which turned into marble. Solomon lauded him: “Your neck is like an ivory tower” (Song of Songs 7:5). Rabbi Evyatar said: Moreover, the sword caromed off his neck and it turned onto the executioner. From where is this derived? As it is stated: “He delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh” (Exodus 18:4) – Moses said: The Holy One blessed be He delivered me but not the executioner. Bar Kappara said: An angel descended in Moses’s image and facilitated his flight. They thought the angel was Moses. Rabbi Yehoshua said: See the miracles that the Holy One blessed be He performed on behalf of Moses: All of Pharaoh’s scholars, some of them became mute, some of them became deaf, some of them became blind, and Moses fled and they did not see him. Know that when the Holy One blessed be He sought to send him on a mission, he began hesitating. The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Do you not recall what I did to Pharaoh’s scholars,’ as it is stated: “The Lord said to him: Who gives a mouth to a person, [or who renders one mute, or deaf, or sighted, or blind]” (Exodus 4:11)? ‘At that time I stood with you, and now, will I not stand with you?’
Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Come and see that the actions of the Holy One blessed be He are not like the actions of mortal man. The way of the world is that mortal man procures himself a patron who protects him. If he is apprehended and placed on trial, [his friends] go and find his patron and say to him: ‘A member of your household has been apprehended.’ He says to them: ‘I will protect him.’ But if he is taken out to be executed, where is he and where is his patron? But the Holy One blessed be He is not so. The ministering angels said to Him: ‘A member of your household, Moses, has been apprehended.’ He said to them: ‘I will protect him.’ They said to Him: ‘He is standing before Pharaoh; his sentence is being read; he is being taken out for execution.’ He said to them: ‘I will protect him.’ He was taken out for execution, and the Holy One blessed be He delivered him. From where is this derived? As it is stated: “He delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh” (Exodus 18:4).
Another matter: A person who has a patron and he is apprehended in his sin and cast to a place of beasts – where is he and where is his patron? Daniel was cast into the lions’ den, and the Holy One blessed be He delivered him. From where is this derived? As it is stated: “My God sent His angel, and he shut the lions’ mouths” (Daniel 6:23).
Another matter: If a person procures himself a patron and performs a sin, and the judge decrees upon him that he is to be burned, where is he and where is his patron? But the Holy One blessed be He is not so. The ministering angels said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘A member of Your household, Abraham, was apprehended.’ He said to them: ‘I will protect him.’ They said to Him: ‘He is standing before Amrafel, his sentence is being read, and he is about to be burned.’ He said to them: ‘I will protect him.’ [Abraham] was cast into the fiery furnace, and the Holy One blessed be He descended and delivered him. From where is this derived? As it is stated: “He said to him: I am the Lord, who took you out of Ur of the Chaldeans” (Genesis 15:7).63The word Ur can also be translated “fire,” as in Isaiah 47:14.
Another matter: If a person procures himself a patron and he is apprehended in his sin, and the judge decrees upon him that he is to be cast into the sea, where is he and where is his patron? But the Holy One blessed be He is not so. Jonah was cast into the sea, and the Holy One blessed be He delivered him. From where is this derived? As it is stated: “The Lord spoke to the fish, and it spewed Jonah [upon the dry land]” (Jonah 2:11).
Another matter: “Then Moses designated” – Rabbi Aivu said: When Moses fled, he began to sing a song [of praise], as it is stated: “And he settled in the land of Midian, and he sat at the well” (Exodus 2:15). Just as Israel sang a song at the well,64See Numbers 21:17. so Moses sang a song at the well. Rabbi Levi said: [He sang] because the portion of the murderer in the city of refuge took effect through him.65The portion begins: “Then [az] Moses designated,” indicating that he sang, just as the song at the sea begins: “Then [az] Moses and the children of Israel sang” (Exodus 15:1). The reason he sang is that he himself had been rescued after having killed someone.
Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Come and see that the actions of the Holy One blessed be He are not like the actions of mortal man. The way of the world is that mortal man procures himself a patron who protects him. If he is apprehended and placed on trial, [his friends] go and find his patron and say to him: ‘A member of your household has been apprehended.’ He says to them: ‘I will protect him.’ But if he is taken out to be executed, where is he and where is his patron? But the Holy One blessed be He is not so. The ministering angels said to Him: ‘A member of your household, Moses, has been apprehended.’ He said to them: ‘I will protect him.’ They said to Him: ‘He is standing before Pharaoh; his sentence is being read; he is being taken out for execution.’ He said to them: ‘I will protect him.’ He was taken out for execution, and the Holy One blessed be He delivered him. From where is this derived? As it is stated: “He delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh” (Exodus 18:4).
Another matter: A person who has a patron and he is apprehended in his sin and cast to a place of beasts – where is he and where is his patron? Daniel was cast into the lions’ den, and the Holy One blessed be He delivered him. From where is this derived? As it is stated: “My God sent His angel, and he shut the lions’ mouths” (Daniel 6:23).
Another matter: If a person procures himself a patron and performs a sin, and the judge decrees upon him that he is to be burned, where is he and where is his patron? But the Holy One blessed be He is not so. The ministering angels said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘A member of Your household, Abraham, was apprehended.’ He said to them: ‘I will protect him.’ They said to Him: ‘He is standing before Amrafel, his sentence is being read, and he is about to be burned.’ He said to them: ‘I will protect him.’ [Abraham] was cast into the fiery furnace, and the Holy One blessed be He descended and delivered him. From where is this derived? As it is stated: “He said to him: I am the Lord, who took you out of Ur of the Chaldeans” (Genesis 15:7).63The word Ur can also be translated “fire,” as in Isaiah 47:14.
Another matter: If a person procures himself a patron and he is apprehended in his sin, and the judge decrees upon him that he is to be cast into the sea, where is he and where is his patron? But the Holy One blessed be He is not so. Jonah was cast into the sea, and the Holy One blessed be He delivered him. From where is this derived? As it is stated: “The Lord spoke to the fish, and it spewed Jonah [upon the dry land]” (Jonah 2:11).
Another matter: “Then Moses designated” – Rabbi Aivu said: When Moses fled, he began to sing a song [of praise], as it is stated: “And he settled in the land of Midian, and he sat at the well” (Exodus 2:15). Just as Israel sang a song at the well,64See Numbers 21:17. so Moses sang a song at the well. Rabbi Levi said: [He sang] because the portion of the murderer in the city of refuge took effect through him.65The portion begins: “Then [az] Moses designated,” indicating that he sang, just as the song at the sea begins: “Then [az] Moses and the children of Israel sang” (Exodus 15:1). The reason he sang is that he himself had been rescued after having killed someone.