Midras Yehezkiel 26:20: Midrash Tanchuma, Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition) & Aggadat Bereshit

Hiram constructed his palace between the Adriatic and the Mediterranean Sea with certain protective devices (but to no avail), as it is said: And they shall take up in lamentation for thee and say to thee: How art thou destroyed, that was peopled from the seas, the renowned city, that was strong in the sea (ibid. 26:17). Still, you claim: A god am I; in the dwelling-place of gods I sit, in the midst of the sea (ibid. 28:2). Whereupon the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: For thus saith the Lord God: And I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; and I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and the great waters shall cover thee (ibid. 26:19). (This will be your fate, and) you will descend to your comrades, as it is written: Then I will bring thee down with them that descend into the pit to the people of old times, and will make thee to dwell in the nether parts of the earth (ibid., v. 20). The nether parts of the earth refers to Gehenna. Hence we read in Scripture: Thou wast the far-covering cherub; and I set thee, so that thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou has walked up and down in the midst of stones of fire … and I have destroyed thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire (ibid. 28:14–16). Concerning Israel, however, Scripture states: When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, etc. (Isa. 43:2).

R. Juda said: "Whoever lives in Babylonia is considered as if he lives in the land of Israel, as it is said (Zach. 3, 11) Ho, Zion, escape, thou that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon." Said Abaye: "We have a tradition that those who live in Babylonia will never experience the troubles of the Messanic days."' This was explained to refer to the town Huzal, of Benjamin, and the place is called the corner of refuge. R. Elazar said: "The dead outside of the land of Israel will not survive; for it is said (Ez. 26, 20) But I will bestow glory in the land of life; i.e., the land in which my glory is bestowed shall cause to revive its dead, but the land in which my glory is not bestowed will not revive its dead." R. Abba b. Mammal raised the following objection: (Is. 26, 19) Thy dead shall live, my dead shall arise. Does not thy dead shall live, refer to the dead of the land of Israel, and my dead bodies shall arise, refer to the dead outside of the land of Israel? And as to the meaning of the above passage (Is. 25 20) But I will bestow glory in the land of life, we may say that it refers to Nebuchadnezzar, as the Torah means to say: "I will cause a king to rule upon them as lenient as a deer." Whereupon R. Elazar replied to R. Abba: "I have another passage from which I infer the above (Ib. 43, 5) He that giveth breath unto people upon it, and spirit to those that walk thereon." If so, then what of the above passage, But I will bestow glory in the land of life? We must therefore say that the first passage refers to miscarriage. But R. Abba b. Mammal, who infers it from the previous passage, what will he do with the last passage, He that giveth breath unto people upon it? He will explain it as R. Abahu did, for R. Abahu said: "Even a Shifcha Kna'anith living in the land of Israel is assured to be one who will inherit the future world, for it is written here, Unto people (L'am) upon it; and again it is written (Gen. 22, 5) Abide ye here with (im) the ass; which means a people [Am] who are like the ass." And spirit to those that walk thereon. R. Jeremiah b. Abba in the name of R. Jochanan said: "This means that whoever walks four cubits upon the soil of the land of Israel is assured that he will be one to inherit the future world." But is it indeed so according to the story of R. Elazar, that all the righteous who died outside of the land of Israel will not revive? Said R. Illai: "They will revive, but they will be subject to rolling under the ground for resurrection in the Holy land:" The senior R. Abba Salla raised the following objection: "Behold, such rolling will cause pain to the righteous." Said Abaye: "Underground passages will be made for them through which they will walk, [until they will reach the land of Israel]."

[2] Another interpretation: "And it came to pass at that time that Judah went down." (Hosea 12:1) This is referring to the tribe of Judah. "Ephraim surrounds me with falsehood." (Ibid.) This is in reference to what is written, "They have denied the Lord and said, 'He is not!'" (Jeremiah 5:12) "And with deceit, the House of Israel." (Hosea 12:1) The Holy One, blessed be He, said, "Even with their deceit, they call upon Me," as it is written, "Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit." (Jeremiah 9:4) Therefore, they are subject to descent. "Judah still goes down with them to battle against the enemy." (Hosea 12:2) Come and see how I cherish you, that even when you sin and are subject to descent, I am with you, as it is written, "Judah still goes down with them." This is like what I said to Jacob, "I will go down with you to Egypt and I will also surely bring you up." (Genesis 46:4) Similarly, in Babylon, I sent you into exile for your benefit, as it is written, "And when they ascend, so do I." (Isaiah 43:14) As it is written regarding Samuel, "And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him." (I Samuel 3:19) Similarly, regarding Solomon, "And the Lord magnified Solomon exceedingly on high." (I Chronicles 29:25) And regarding David, "David went and became great, and the Lord of Hosts was with him." (II Samuel 5:10) When you are in a state of descent, I am with you, as it is written, "Judah still goes down with them." In every place where these two tribes meet, they hate each other, and they are antagonistic to each other. Judah and Joseph are different from each other in this regard. And the children of Israel asked, "Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?" (Judges 1:1) And the Lord said, "Judah shall go up." (Judges 1:2) And what is written? "And the House of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them." (Judges 1:22) And it is written, Ephraim became a trained heifer, But preferred to thresh; [i *Lit. “passed over the comeliness of its neck.”placed a yoke Upon her sleek neck.-i] I will make Ephraim [*Taking rkb in the sense of the Arabic krb.do advance plowing;-j] Judah [*Emendation yields “Israel.”] shall do [main] plowing! Jacob shall do final plowing!(Hosea 10:11) You say that just as the Anointed One who will arise from Joseph and the Anointed One who will arise from Judah are not jealous of each other, as it is written: "Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not harass Ephraim" (Isaiah 11:13), so too will the antagonism between the sects come to an end in the future when they are united. However, in this world, since they are not connected to each other, they envy each other. As long as they are in this state of descent, they remain lowly. But in the future, when they are connected to each other, they will rise up, as it is written: "The children of Judah and the children of Israel will be gathered together" (Hosea 2:2), and at that time they will ascend from the earth (Hosea 2:2). God said, "Now that you are united, you have risen up, and I am also elevated with you," as David said: "The princes of the peoples gather together, even the people of the God of Abraham" (Psalm 47:10), for which reason it is said, "Judah will yet go up to God." When the nations rise up, Israel descends, and when Israel rises up, the nations descend. In the days of Rehoboam, when they sinned, they descended and the nations ascended, as it is written: "Now it came to pass in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem" (1 Kings 14:25). In the days of Hosea, when they sinned, they descended and the nations ascended, as it is written: "In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant" (2 Kings 24:1). In the days of Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, when they sinned, they descended and the nations ascended, as it is written: "Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it" (2 Kings 25:1). However, in the future, the opposite will happen. As it is written, "Son of man, wail over the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down" (Ezekiel 32:18), and "I will bring you down with those who descend into the Pit" (Ezekiel 26:20), and Israel will ascend, as it is written, "The children of Judah and the children of Israel will be gathered together" (Hosea 2:2), and the Holy One, blessed be He, will be with them, as it is written, "God is greatly exalted over all gods" (Psalm 97:9).