וַיָּ֛שֶׁב אֶת־אֶֽלֶף־וּמֵאָ֥ה הַכֶּ֖סֶף לְאִמּ֑וֹ וַתֹּ֣אמֶר אִמּ֡וֹ הַקְדֵּ֣שׁ הִקְדַּ֣שְׁתִּי אֶת־הַכֶּסֶף֩ לַיהוָ֨ה מִיָּדִ֜י לִבְנִ֗י לַֽעֲשׂוֹת֙ פֶּ֣סֶל וּמַסֵּכָ֔ה וְעַתָּ֖ה אֲשִׁיבֶ֥נּוּ לָֽךְ׃
Lalu ia mengembalikan seribu seratus keping perak itu kepada ibunya. Kemudian ibunya berkata: “Aku sungguh telah menguduskan perak ini bagi Yang Mahakekal, dari tanganku kepada anakku, untuk menjadikan patung pahatan dan patung tuangan. Maka sekarang aku akan mengembalikannya kepadamu.”
Midrash Tanchuma Buber
(Numb. 14:27:) HOW LONG SHALL THIS EVIL CONGREGATION BE MURMURING AGAINST ME? <I HAVE HEARD THE MURMURINGS OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL>….. Let our master instruct us: When a baby has a stone in his hand on the Sabbath, is it permissible to pick him up on the Sabbath?19Numb. R. 16:26. Thus have our masters taught (in Shab. 21:1): A PERSON MAY PICK UP ONE'S CHILD, EVEN WITH A STONE IN HIS HAND, OR A BASKET (of fruit), EVEN WITH A STONE INSIDE IT. You have learned from the generation of the wilderness that the Holy One, as it were, carried them up in the wilderness. (Deut. 1:31:) AND IN THE WILDERNESS, WHERE YOU SAW HOW THE LORD YOUR GOD CARRIED YOU AS {THE PERSON} [ONE] CARRIES HIS CHILD. Yet there was an object of idolatry in their hand.20Corresponding to the stone in the hand of the child. Thus it is stated (in Neh. 9:18): EVEN THOUGH THEY HAD MADE THEMSELVES A MOLTEN CALF…. And so you find that, when they crossed in the sea, Micah's image (of Jud. 17:3–4) crossed with them, as stated (in Zech. 10:11): AND A RIVAL WIFE21Tsarah. The Midrash understands the word in this sense, although most translations follow the other meaning of tsarah, i.e., “affliction,” “distress,” or the like. So also below, Deut. 4:14. SHALL CROSS IN THE SEA.22Mekhilta deRabbi Ishmael, Pisha 14 on Exod. 12:41; Sanh. 103b; M. Pss. 101:2; Exod. R. 41:1; also Mekhilta deRabbi Ishmael, Wayassa‘ 1 on Exod. 15:22; ySuk. 4:3 (54c); see ARN, A, 34. Still with all this, the Holy One did not forsake them. He said to Moses: I have done a lot of good things with them; yet they are provoking me a lot. I parted the sea for them; they provoked me, as stated (in Pss. 106:7): THEY REBELLED AT THE SEA, [AT THE] REED [SEA]. I led them in the desert, but they provoked me there. And so it says (in Numb. 14:22): THEY HAVE TRIED ME THESE TEN TIMES AND NOT HEARKENED TO MY VOICE. Here also I told you to send them to explore the land, but they provoked me and brought a bad name upon it (i.e., upon the land). I am not able to endure. How long shall I endure them? Where is it shown? From what they read on the matter (in Numb. 14:27): HOW LONG SHALL THIS EVIL CONGREGATION <BE MURMURING AGAINST ME>?
Bamidbar Rabbah
“Until when, for this evil congregation that bring complaints against Me? I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel that they brought against Me” (Numbers 14:27).
“Until when…” – halakha: A baby who has a stone in his hand, is it permitted to move him on Shabbat? Our Rabbis taught: A person may take his son even though there is a stone in his hand, and a basket with a stone inside it. You learn it from the generation of the wilderness, as the Holy One blessed be He was, as it were, bearing them in the wilderness, “as a man would bear his son” (Deuteronomy 1:31), and there were idols in their possession, as it is stated: “They made themselves a cast figure of a calf” (Nehemiah 9:18). Likewise you find when they crossed in the sea, the image of Mikha crossed with them, as it is stated: “Trouble [tzara]28The word tzara can also mean another wife. Thus it is used as a reference to idol worship, in which "another entity" is being brought into the relationship with God. will pass through the sea” (Zechariah 10:11). Nevertheless, the Holy One blessed be He did not abandon them. He said to Moses: ‘I split the sea for them and they infuriated Me,’ as it is stated: “How much did they defy Him?” (Psalms 78:40). ‘Here, too, they disseminated slander regarding the Land, and I am unable to tolerate it. Until when need I be tolerant of them? “Until when, for this evil congregation?”’ (Numbers 14:27).
“Until when…” – halakha: A baby who has a stone in his hand, is it permitted to move him on Shabbat? Our Rabbis taught: A person may take his son even though there is a stone in his hand, and a basket with a stone inside it. You learn it from the generation of the wilderness, as the Holy One blessed be He was, as it were, bearing them in the wilderness, “as a man would bear his son” (Deuteronomy 1:31), and there were idols in their possession, as it is stated: “They made themselves a cast figure of a calf” (Nehemiah 9:18). Likewise you find when they crossed in the sea, the image of Mikha crossed with them, as it is stated: “Trouble [tzara]28The word tzara can also mean another wife. Thus it is used as a reference to idol worship, in which "another entity" is being brought into the relationship with God. will pass through the sea” (Zechariah 10:11). Nevertheless, the Holy One blessed be He did not abandon them. He said to Moses: ‘I split the sea for them and they infuriated Me,’ as it is stated: “How much did they defy Him?” (Psalms 78:40). ‘Here, too, they disseminated slander regarding the Land, and I am unable to tolerate it. Until when need I be tolerant of them? “Until when, for this evil congregation?”’ (Numbers 14:27).