Midrash su I Samuele 9:2

What is written after this passage (in Lev. 21:10)? “And the priest that is highest among his brothers”²²Lev. R. 26:9. Why is he called by the name, “high priest?”²³THE PRIEST THAT IS HIGHEST, without the addition, AMONG HIS BROTHERS, would normally be translated, HIGH PRIEST. Because he was highest (literally: greatest) in five things: in beauty, in strength, in wealth, in wisdom, and in age.²⁴TYoma 1:6; Yoma 18a; see yYoma 1:3 (39a); cf. ‘Eduy. 2:9; Avot. 6:8. In regard to beauty, because he was more handsome than his brothers. In regard to strength, because he was powerful in strength. Come and consider Aaron. When he waved the Levites (as in a wave offering), he waved twenty-two thousand in one day. How did he wave them? Back and forth, up and down. Ergo, he was highest in strength. With regard to wealth, where would it come from? If he was not wealthy, his brother high priests would magnify (rt.: gdl) him. There is a story about Phineas the Stonecutter. When they appointed him high priest, his brother priests went out and saw him cutting stone. So they filled the quarry before him with gold dinars.²⁵Lat.: denarii. And where is it shown that if he had nothing, his brother high priests would magnify (rt.: gdl) him? Where it is stated (in an alternate translation of Lev. 21:10), “And the priest that is highest (rt.: gdl) because of his brothers.” And [this rule applies] not to the high priest alone, but to the king as well. And so you find in the case of David, when he went to fight with Goliath the Philistine, Saul said to him (in I Sam. 17:33), “You cannot go unto this Philistine […].” David said to him (in vs. 34-36), “Your servant tended his father's sheep; and when a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock, I would go out after it, smite it, and deliver it out of its mouth…. Your servant smote both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them.” Saul said to him, “And who told you that you could slay him?” Immediately David replied, (vs. 37), “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” Immediately (we read in vs. 38), “Saul clothed David with his military garments.” Now it is written (in I Sam. 9:2), “he was a head taller²⁶More literally: TALLER FROM HIS SHOULDERS ON UP. than any of the people.” When he had clothed him in his garments and seen that they were fit for him, he immediately cast a jaundiced eye at him. When David saw that he had offended Saul, he said to him (in I Sam. 17:39), “I cannot go in these, for I am not used to them.” Here you learn that even though a person may be short, when he is appointed king, he becomes tall. Why? Because as soon as he is anointed with the anointing oil, he becomes superior to his brothers. David said, “I rejoiced over the anointing oil with which I was anointed.” It is so stated (in Ps. 16:9), “So my heart rejoices, and my glory exalts; my flesh also dwells in safety.”

“Naomi had an acquaintance of her husband’s, a mighty man of valor, from the family of Elimelekh, and his name was Boaz” (Ruth 2:1).
“Naomi had an acquaintance [moda] of her husband’s, a mighty man of valor” – moda means relative. Rabbi Abbahu said: If a giant marries a giantess, what do they produce? Mighty men of valor. Boaz married Ruth; what did they produce? David, “who knows how to play, a mighty man of valor, a man of war, understanding in matters, a comely man, and the Lord is with him” (I Samuel 16:18). “Who knows how to play” – [refers to his expertise] in Bible; “a mighty man of valor” – in Mishna; “a man of war” – he knows to negotiate the battle of Torah; “understanding in matters” – in good deeds; “a comely man” – in Talmud. Alternatively: “Understanding in matters” – he infers one matter from another matter; “a comely man” – who displays understanding in halakha; “and the Lord is with him” – the halakha is in accordance with his opinion.
“From the family of Elimelekh, and his name was Boaz” – the wicked precede their name: “Goliath was his name” (I Samuel 17:4); “Naval is his name” (I Samuel 25:25); “Sheva son of Bikhri was his name” (II Samuel 20:21). However, the righteous, their names precede them: “And his name was Kish” (I Samuel 9:1); “and his name was Saul” (I Samuel 9:2); “and his name was Yishai” (I Samuel 17:12); “and his name was Mordekhai” (Esther 2:5); “and his name was Elkana” (I Samuel 1:1). It is because they are similar to their Creator, as it is written: “But with My name, the Lord, I was not known to them” (Exodus 6:3).
They objected to him: “And his name was Laban” (Genesis 24:29). Rabbi Yitzḥak said: This is an obvious characteristic.¹⁴⁹He was extremely white [lavan] or was a senior judge who sought to clarify matters. Laban was not his real name. Rabbi Berekhya said: He was blatant [meluban] in his wickedness. But is it not written: The sons of Samuel, “the name of the firstborn was Yoel and the name of his second, Aviya” (I Samuel 8:2), [and] the Rabbis say: Just as this one was wicked, so too, that one was wicked? Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon said: Because they changed their actions and merited the Divine Spirit, as it is stated: “The word of the Lord that was to Joel [Yoel] son of Petuel” (Joel 1:1).¹⁵⁰The midrash interprets Petuel as a reference to Samuel; see Bemidbar Rabba 10:5.

[(Lev. 21:1:) THEN THE LORD SPOKE UNTO MOSES: SAY UNTO THE PRIESTS.] What is written after this passage (in vs. 10)? AND THE PRIEST THAT IS HIGHEST AMONG HIS BROTHERS.²⁸Tanh., Lev. 8:4; Lev. R. 26:9. Why is he called by the name HIGH?²⁹THE PRIEST THAT IS HIGHEST, without the addition, AMONG HIS BROTHERS, would normally be translated, HIGH PRIEST. Because he was highest (literally: greatest) in five areas: In beauty, in strength, in wealth, in wisdom, and in age.³⁰TYoma 1:6; Yoma 18a; see yYoma 1:3 (39a); cf. ‘Eduy. 2:9; Avot. 6:8. In regard to beauty, because he was more handsome than his brothers. In regard to strength, because he was heroic in strength. Come and consider Aaron. When he waved the Levites (as in a wave offering), he waved twenty-two thousand in one day. How did he wave them? Back and forth, up and down. Ergo: He was highest in strength. Also in regard to wealth, because if he had not been wealthy, his brother priests would have made him wealthy. There is a story about Pinhas the Stone Cutter. When they appointed him high priest, his brother priests went out and saw him cutting stone. So they would not permit him to continue, but filled the quarry before him with gold dinars.³¹Lat.: denarii. [And where is it shown] that, if he had nothing, his brother high priests would magnify (rt.: GDL) him? Where it is stated (in an alternate translation of Lev. 21:10): AND THE PRIEST THAT IS HIGHEST (rt.: GDL) BECAUSE OF HIS BROTHERS. And < this rule applies > not to the high priest alone, but to the king as well. And so you find in the case of David, when he went to fight with Goliath the Philistine, Saul said to him (in I Sam. 17:33): YOU CANNOT GO UNTO < THIS > PHILISTINE … David said to him (in vs. 34–36): YOUR SERVANT TENDED HIS [FATHER'S] SHEEP; < AND WHEN A LION OR A BEAR CAME AND CARRIED OFF A LAMB FROM THE FLOCK, > I WOULD GO OUT AFTER IT, SMITE IT, < AND DELIVER IT OUT OF ITS MOUTH >…. < YOUR SERVANT > SMOTE BOTH THE LION AND THE BEAR, < AND THIS UNCIRCUMCISED PHILISTINE SHALL BE AS ONE OF THEM >…. Saul said to him: And who told you that you could slay him? David replied: Hunting³²Gk.: kynegia. has trained me, Papa. (Vs. 37:) THE LORD WHO DELIVERED FROM THE PAW OF THE LION… < WILL DELIVER ME FROM THE HAND OF THIS PHILISTINE >. Immediately (we read in vs. 38): SAUL CLOTHED DAVID WITH HIS MILITARY GARMENTS…. Now it is written (in I Sam. 9:2): HE WAS A HEAD TALLER³³More literally: TALLER FROM HIS SHOULDERS ON UP. THAN ANY OF THE PEOPLE. When he had clothed him in his garments and seen that they were made for him, he immediately cast a jaundiced eye at him. When David saw that he had offended Saul, he said to him (in I Sam. 17:39): I CANNOT {GO FORTH} [GO] IN THESE, FOR I AM NOT USED TO THEM. Here you learn that even though a person may be short, when he is appointed king, he becomes tall. Why? Because as soon as he is anointed with the anointing oil, he becomes superior to his brothers. David said: I rejoiced over the anointing oil with which I was anointed, in that I shall never move away from my glory. It is so stated (in Ps. 16:9): SO MY HEART REJOICES, AND MY GLORY EXALTS; MY FLESH ALSO DWELLS IN SAFETY.

And Abraham, son of Terah, passed by, and saw them building the city and the tower, and he cursed them in the name of his God, as it is said, "Swallow up, O Lord, divide their language" (Ps. 55:10). But they rejected his words, like a stone cast upon the ground. Is it not a fact that every choice and good stone is only put at the corner of a building? and with reference to this, the text says, "The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner" (Ps. 118:22).

(Bamidbar 12:1) "And Miriam and Aaron spoke (vatedaber) against Moses": "dibbur" in all places connotes "harsh" speech, as in (Bereshit 42:30) "The man, the lord of the land, spoke ("dibber") roughly to us," (Bamidbar 21:5) "and the people spoke ("vayedaber") against G-d and against Moses." And "amirah" in all places connotes imploration as in (Bereshit 19:7) "And he said (vayomer): Do not, I pray you, my brothers, do ill," (Bamidbar 12:6) "And He said (vayomer): Hear, I pray you, My words." "And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses": We are hereby apprised that both spoke against him, but that Miriam spoke first. This was not her practice, but the occasion demanded it. Similarly (Jeremiah 36;6) "And you (Baruch) shall go and read from the scroll, on which you have written from my (Jeremiah's) mouth, the word of the L-rd in the ears of the people" — not that it was Baruch's practice to speak before Jeremiah, but the occasion demanded it. "and Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses": How did Miriam know that Moses had ceased from marital relations (with his wife Tzipporah)? Seeing that Tzipporah did not adorn herself as other (married) women did, she asked her for the cause and was told: "Your brother is not 'particular' about this thing" (intercourse, [being constantly "on call" for the word of G-d]). Thus Miriam learned of the matter. She apprised Aaron of it and they both spoke of it (as being a troublesome precedent for others.) Now does this not follow a fortiori, viz.: If Miriam, whose intent was not to berate her brother, but to praise him, and not to diminish propagation (in Israel), but to increase it, and who spoke thus privately — If she was thus punished, then one who intends to speak against his brother, in defamation and not in praise, and to diminish propagation and not to increase it, and in public — how much more so (is he to be punished!) Similarly, a fortiori from the instance of Uzziah (viz. II Chronicles 16-19) If King Uzziah, whose intent (in offering the incense) was not self-aggrandizement or personal honor but the glory of his Master, was thus punished, how much more so one who intends the opposite! (Bamidbar, Ibid.) "… Because of the Cushite woman": Scripture hereby apprises us that whoever beheld her attested to her beauty. And thus is it written (Bereshit 11:29) "… the father of Milkah and the father of Yiskah": Yiskah is Sarah: Why was she called "Yiskah"? For all gazed upon ("sochim") her beauty, as it is written (Ibid. 12:15) "And Pharaoh's officers saw her and praised her to Pharaoh." R. Eliezer the son of R. Yossi Haglili said: "Tzipporah" (Moses' wife) — Why was she called "Tzipporah"? "Tzfu ur'uh" ("Look and see") how beautiful this woman is! "the Cushite (Ethiopian) woman": Now was she an Ethiopian? Wasn't she a Midianite, viz. (Shemot 2:16) "And the priest of Midian had seven daughters, etc." What is the intent of "Cushite"? Just as a Cushite is exceptional in his skin, so Tzipporah was exceptional in her beauty — more so than all the women. Similarly, (Psalms 7:1) "A Shiggayon of David, which he sang to the L-rd concerning Cush (Saul), a Benjaminite." Now was he a Cushite? (The intent is:) Just as a Cushite is exceptional in his skin, so Saul was exceptional in his appearance, as it is written of him (I Samuel 9:2) "… from his shoulder and upwards, taller than all of the people." Similarly, (Amos 9:7) "Are you not like Cushites to Me, O children of Israel?" Now were they Cushites? (The intent is:) Just as a Chushite is exceptional in his skin, so, is an Israelite exceptional in mitzvoth. Similarly, (Jeremiah 32:7) "And Eved-melech the Cushite heard": Now was he a Cushite? Was he not Baruch? But, just as a Cushite is exceptional in his skin, so, was Baruch ben Neriah exceptional in his deeds, more so than any of the others in the king's palace. (Bamidbar, Ibid.) "for he had taken a Cushite woman": Why is this written? Is it not written (immediately before) "about the Cushite woman that he had taken"? — There are those who are beautiful in appearance, but not in deed; in deed, but not in appearance, viz. (Proverbs 11:22) "Like a golden ring in the snout of a pig is a beautiful woman lacking in sense. Tzipporah was beautiful in both — wherefore it is written "about the Cushite woman that he had taken, for he had taken a Cushite woman."