Midrash su Ecclesiaste 1:4

(Numb. 34:1–2:) “Then the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, ‘Command the Children of Israel [and say unto them], “When you come into the Land of Canaan, [this is the land]....”’” [“This is the land”]⁶These words occur also in Deut. 34:4 (cited below). The midrash, therefore, interprets the two passages together. What follows in Numb. 34:3ff. describes what Israel is about to receive, while Deut. 34:4 (cited below) speaks of the promise to Israel’s future seed and adds that Moses shall see it. teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, showed Moses all that had been and all that was going to be.⁷Numb. R. 23:5. He showed him Samson arising from Dan, and Barak [arising] from Naphtali. So also it was for every generation with its expounders, every generation with its leaders,⁸Gk.: pronoos. every generation with its sages, every generation with its wicked, every generation with its righteous, as stated (in Deut. 34:4,) “This is the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob....” [This] teaches that He showed him gehinnom. Moshe said in front of Him, “Master of the world, who is sentenced to it?” He said to him, “The wicked and those that rebel against Me, as stated (in Is. 66:24), “And they went out and saw the corpses of the people....” Moshe began to fear. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him (as in Deut. 34:4), “I have shown it to your eyes, but you will not pass there.” And what is the meaning of “This is the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying?” [The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses,] “The oath that I swore to them I have fulfilled for their children.” It is therefore stated (in Deut. 34:4), “saying.”⁹The Hebrew here can imply the giving of one’s solemn word. (Numbers 34:2:) “This is the land that shall fall to you as your portion.” And does the land fall? But is it not written (in Eccl. 1:4), “but the land stands forever?” It is simply that when the spies came and put out slander on the land and said (in Numb. 13:33), “And we saw the Nephilim there,” and they said (in Numb. 12:31), “it is stronger than us,” Moshe got angry. [Then] all of Israel said, “Moses, our teacher, if these spies were two [or] three, it would be correct for us to trust [them], as stated (Deut. 17:6), ‘By the testimony of two witnesses....’ And behold, they are ten, (as in Deut. 1:28), ‘To where shall we go up?’” As it were, [they were complaining that] the Master of the house is not able to remove his vessels (the inhabitants) from there. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He took the ministering angel of the land and bound him and put him down in front of them, as stated (Deut. 1:21), “See the Lord, your God, has placed in front of you....” And was [the land] in front of them? It is simply that He put down its ministering angel. And He said to them (in Deut. 1:21, cont.), “Go up and possess..., do not fear and do not tremble,” not from the Nephilim and not from the people that [you say] are bigger and more numerous than us. (Ezek. 45:1:) “When you allot the land as an inheritance....” This text is related (to Psalms 16:6), “Portions of land fell to me in pleasantness, even a beautiful inheritance for me.” “Portions of land fell to me.” These are the twelve tribes, since the land was divided to the twelve tribes, as stated (in Ezek. 47:13), “Thus said the Lord God, ‘These shall be the boundaries of the land that you shall allot to the twelve tribes of Israel.’” “In pleasantness,” in the merit of the Torah, about which it is stated (in Prov. 22:18), “As it is pleasant that you should store them in your belly....” “Even a beautiful inheritance for me.” There is a man who is handsome but his clothing is ugly, and one is ugly but his clothing handsome. But Israel is not like this. They are handsome and their clothing is handsome. They adorn the land and the Land of Israel adorns them. Hence it is stated (in Ps. 16:6), “Even a beautiful inheritance for me.” And so too is it stated (in Job 29:14), “I clothed myself in righteousness and it clothed me.”

6 (Numb. 34:2) “This is the land that shall fall to you as your portion”: And does the land fall? But is it not written (in Eccl. 1:4), “but the land stands forever?” It is simply that when the spies came and put out slander on the land, Moses got angry. [Then] all of Israel said, “Moses, our teacher, if these spies were two [or] three, it would be correct for us to trust [them], as stated (Deut. 17:6), ‘By the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ And behold, they are ten, (as in Deut. 1:28), ‘To where shall we go up; our kinsmen have taken the heart out of us, saying, “We saw there a people stronger and taller than we.”’” As it were, [they were complaining that] the Master of the house is not able to remove his vessels (the inhabitants) from there. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He took the ministering angel of the land and bound him and put him down in front of them, as stated (Deut. 1:21), “See the Lord, your God, has placed in front of you....” And was [the land] in front of them? It is simply that He put down its ministering angel. And He said to them (in Deut. 1:21, cont.), “Go up and possess..., do not fear and do not tremble,” not from the Nephilim and not from the numerous people. (Ezek. 45:1) “When you allot the land as an inheritance....”: This text is related (to Ps. 16:6), “Portions of land fell to me in pleasantness, even a beautiful inheritance for me.” “Portions of land fell to me”: These are the twelve tribes, since the land was divided to the twelve tribes, as stated (in Ezek. 47:13), “Thus said the Lord God, ‘These shall be the boundaries of the land that you shall allot to the twelve tribes of Israel.’” “In pleasantness,” in the merit of the Torah, about which it is stated (in Prov. 22:18), “As it is pleasant that you should store them in your belly [...].” There is a man who is handsome but his clothing is ugly, and one who is ugly but his clothing handsome. But [regarding] Israel, they adorn the land and the Land adorns them. Hence it is stated (in Ps. 16:6), “Even a beautiful inheritance for me.” And so too is it stated (in Job 29:14), “I clothed myself in righteousness and it clothed me.” It is written (in Josh. 7:19), “Then Joshua said unto Achan, ‘My son, please give glory to the Lord God of Israel [and make a confession to Him; please tell me what you have done, do not hide it from me.]’” Achan said to him, “Am I to die because of this thing that you are saying?” When Achan saw [the situation], he said in his heart, “Now I shall be entrapped by the lot. Then I shall be found untrue (rt.: 'mn) and deemed a liar before Joshua.” At that moment Achan said to Joshua, “Why are you casting lots between me and my house? Let me cast lots between you and Phinehas! If the lot does not come up for both of you, I also shall believe (rt.: 'mn) [in it].” At that moment (according to Josh. 7:19) Joshua said to Achan, “My son, please give glory to the Lord God of Israel and make a confession to Him. Please tell me what you have done.” Achan said to him, “You also tell me what you have done.” Immediately discord broke out in Israel, so that [Achan's] tribe of Judah arose in strife and killed one group in Israel after another. When Achan saw this, he said in his heart, “If anyone saves a single life in Israel, it is as though he had saved the entire world; yet in my case, it has been through me that several people in Israel have been killed. I am a sinner and one who causes [others] to sin. It is better [for me] to confess my transgression before the Holy One, blessed be He, and before Joshua, so that no calamity come about through me.” What did Achan do? He arose and made his voice heard, so that the whole congregation turned to him. He said to Joshua (in vs. 20), “’(Truly) I am the one who sinned before the Lord God of Israel; thus and so (literally, like this and like this) is what I have done.’ So it was not this alone, but I have already misappropriated other [things].”⁶See Gen. R. 85:14, according to which Achan had acted dishonestly in the person of his great grandfather, Zerah, the son of Judah by Tamar. Joshua said to him, “Indeed I also knew that you were responsible for the situation; (Josh. 7:19,) ‘please tell me what you have done. Do not hide it from me.’” (Vs. 21) “I saw among the spoils”: [He said,] “I have seen what is written in the Torah (in Deut. 20:14), ‘you may eat the spoils of your enemies.’” (Josh. 7:21, cont.) “A fine shinar mantle”: [He continued,] “Now do not say that I am poor and in need, for there is no one in the tribe [of Judah] wealthier than I. Immediately (there follows vs. 22), “Then Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent and behold buried in his tent was the silver […].” For what reason did Joshua send them? So that the tribe of Judah would not steal them (i.e., the stolen articles) and continue in the discord. Joshua therefore sent quickly, and (according to vs. 23) “they brought them unto Joshua and unto all the Children of Israel; and they spread them out before the Lord.” What is the significance of “and they spread them out?” Joshua said in front of the Holy One, blessed be He, “Master of the world, is it because of these that You have been angry with Your children? Here they are set before you.” Immediately [we read] (in vs. 24), “Then Joshua took Achan ben Zerah, the silver, the mantle, and the wedge of gold, together with his sons and his daughters,” [the latter] in order to teach them a lesson; “his ox, his ass, […] and his tent,” for burning. (Vs. 24, cont.) “And all Israel [Joshua took] with him,” to see his punishment so that they would not become accustomed to acting in this way. (Vs. 24, cont.) “And they brought them up to the Valley of Achor (akhor; rt.: 'kr).” (Vs. 25) “Then Joshua said, ‘Just as you have afflicted (rt.: 'kr) us, [may the Lord afflict (rt.: 'kr) you] this day:’”⁷Without the bracketed words, the verse would read: HOW YOU HAVE AFFLICTED US THIS DAY! This day [only] is he to be afflicted ('akhur; rt.: 'kr), but he will have a share in the world to come. (Vs. 25, cont.) “Then all Israel pelted him with stones,” him alone; “and they burned them with fire”: The text is speaking of his wealth, for so it had been told [Joshua] by the Almighty (in vs. 15), “And it shall come to pass that the one who has been seized with what has been proscribed shall be burned with fire....” If so, what do we learn from the verse (vs. 15, cont.), “him, and all that he has?” [This passage] is only to teach you that Achan had confessed that he had stolen them on the Sabbath, when he took them out of Jericho and buried them in the midst of his tent. Thus he was stoned for profaning the Sabbath and burned because he had transgressed the ban. And where is it shown? You find that the Holy One, blessed be He, said so to Joshua (in Josh. 6:2–4), “See, I have given Jericho into your hands, along with its king and the mighty warriors. So you shall go around the city with all the men of war to encompass the city one time, thus shall you do for six days. [… but on the seventh day you shall go around the city seven times].” [This passage serves] to teach you that Jericho was conquered on the Sabbath. Now Joshua did this thing on his own, and the Holy One, blessed be He, gave his consent. Joshua said (to himself), “The Sabbath is holy, as stated (in Exod. 31:14), ‘You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you.’ And whatever we conquer shall be holy.” It is so stated (in Josh. 6:19), “But all the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and iron, are holy to the Lord.” And where is it shown that he received consent? Where it is stated (in Josh. 6:17), “The city and everything in it are to be proscribed for the Lord.” At that time (according to Josh. 7:26) “the Lord turned from His burning anger.” Concerning [this matter], it is stated (in Prov. 16:14), “The king's anger is like messengers of death, and whoever is wise will appease it.” This refers to Joshua, who caused the burning anger of the Lord to turn away from Israel.

R. Yehoshua b. Karchah says: (Koheleth 1:4) "A generation goes and a generation comes, and the earth stands forever.": What was created for what? The earth (was created) for the generation (of men). It should be written, thus: "The earth goes and the earth comes, and the generation stands forever!" But because they changed (i.e., corrupted) their ways, the Holy One Blessed be He changed because of them the ordinance of creation. And thus is it written (Hoshea 2:1) "And the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured and which cannot be numbered!" (The resolution:) When Israel do the will of the L-rd, they are as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured and which cannot be numbered. And if not, then the number of the children of Israel shall be." And it is written (Isaiah 30:17) "… until you will be left as a beacon on the top of a mountain," and (Amos 5:3) "For thus said the L-rd G-d: The city that went out with a thousand shall leave a hundred, and that which went out with a hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel." Variantly: "And the number of the children of Israel shall be" — This is the number of Heaven (i.e., Only G-d can give the exact number.) "as the sand of the sea, etc." — This is the number of man, (who is not capable of counting them).