Midrash su Deuteronomio 1:35

“One generation passes, and one generation comes; and the earth abides forever. The sun rises and the sun sets, and hastens its place where it rises” (Ecclesiastes 1:4–5).
“One generation passes, and one generation comes” – Rabbi Yudan says in the name of Rabbi Levi: There is no day on which six hundred thousand are not born and on which six hundred thousand do not die. What is the reason? “One generation passes, and one generation comes…the sun rises and the sun sets.” Rabbi Berekhya, Rabbi Yaakov bar Avuna, and Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba [said] in the name of Rabbi Levi bar Sisi: From when the sun rises until the sun sets, one generation passes, and one generation comes. From where is it derived that a generation consists of six hundred thousand? It is as it is stated: “If any man among these people, this wicked generation” (Deuteronomy 1:35), and that generation consisted of six hundred thousand. Rabbi Berekhya said: [When a] potter places [vessels] into the furnace, what he places first [he removes] last. However here, one who passes first comes first, and one who passes last comes last.¹⁸The reference here is to death and the revival of the dead.

You find the Holy One, blessed be He, likewise said to Moses: Surely there shall not one of these men, even this evil generation, see the good land (Deut. 1:35). The word man alludes to Moses, as it is written: The man Moses was very meek (Num. 12:13). He was the man who was set apart from the other men (because he alone saw the Promised Land from afar). Similarly You said: And the man was an old man in the days of Saul, stricken in years among men (I Sam 17:12). And elsewhere it is stated: Now thou shalt see what I will do to Pharaoh (Exod. 6:1); that is, you will see the war that will be waged against Pharaoh, but you will not witness the wars against the thirty-one kings (after Israel enters the land). After Moses rebuked the people, saying: Hear now, ye rebels (Num. 20:10), the Holy One, blessed be He, informed him: Therefore ye shall not bring this assembly into the land (ibid., v. 12). Hence He acts circuitously in His doings toward the son of man (Ps. 66:5).

(Numb. 20:7-8:) “Then the Lord spoke unto Moses saying, ‘Take the rod... and you shall provide the congregation and their cattle with water.” From here it is shown that the Holy One, blessed be He, is concerned for Israel's wealth.⁹⁶Numb. R. 19:9. (Ibid., vs. 10:) “So Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation before the rock.” [This verse] teaches that each and every person sees himself as if he were standing at the rock. And similarly it says (in Lev. 8:3), “And assemble the whole congregation at the entrance of the tent of meeting.” And so too when they crossed the Jordan, all of Israel fit in between the two poles of the ark, as stated (in Josh. 3:9), “And Joshua said to the Children of Israel, ‘Come closer and listen to the words of the Lord your God.” And it is [also] written (in Josh. 8:33), “All Israel [...] stood on either side of the ark.” Here also all Israel was standing and seeing the miracles which happened at the rock [in front of them]. They began to say, “Moses knows the natural properties of rock. If he wants, he will bring forth water out of this [other] one.” Moses found himself confronted with a dilemma: If he would listen to them, he would disregard the words of the Omnipresent; and the Holy One, blessed be He, (according to Job 5:13) “Catches the wise in their own cunning.” As for the whole of these forty years Moses had been keeping himself from becoming angry with them, because he was afraid of the oath that the Holy One, blessed be He, had sworn (in Deut. 1:35), “Not one of these people from this evil generation shall see [the good land].” They said to him, “Here is a rock. Just as you wish to bring [water] from another rock, you should bring it from this one.” He gave a command to them (in Numb. 20:10), “Please listen, you rebels, shall we bring forth [water for you] from this rock.” What is the meaning of “hamorim (rebels)?” There are many understandings of it. Hamorim is rebels; hamorim is fools, as in the islands of the sea they call fools, morim. Some say hamorim are those that [inappropriately] instruct their teachers. Hamorim [can also be] arrows, as stated (in I Sam 31:3), “and some of the arrows (morim) struck him, men with bows.” (Numb. 20:11:) “Then Moses raised his hand and struck.” [When] he struck one time, the rock began dribbling a little water, as stated (in Ps. 78:20), “See, he struck a rock, and water trickled out (yazuvu),” like a person with a discharge (zav), in that it dribbles [in] drops. They said to him, “Son of Amram, is this water for nursing children or for babes weaned from milk?” Immediately, he became angry with them, struck it (according to Numb. 20:11) “twice [with his rod], and a lot of water came forth.” Yet for all that, Moses only made [water] from the rock that the Holy One, blessed be He, had told him. And how do we see that they also brought out water from the rock that Israel had said to him and every rock and stone that was in that place? It is so stated (in Ps. 78:15), “He split rocks in the desert.” Moshe already had his [sin] in his hand; because [the Children of Israel] were silent and did not sing praise, they were [also] caught.