Midrash su Isaia 48:12

R. Joshua of Sikhnin said in the name of R. Levi: The names of the tribes are not mentioned in the same order in every instance. At various times one precedes the other. Why is that so? Lest people say that the children of Jacob’s wives take precedence over those of his handmaidens. This teaches us that one was not greater than another. Another comment on why one precedes another: They are, as it were, like the ceiling of the world; just as one constructs a ceiling by placing the thick side of one beam against the thin side of another, so on different occasions He mentioned one before the other. How do we know that they are the ceiling (tikrah) of the world? Because it is stated: Hearken unto Me, O Jacob and Israel, My called (mekora’) (Isa. 48:12).

R. Joshua of Sikhnin said in the Name of R. Levi: The names of the tribes are the same in every place, except that sometimes one takes precedence and sometimes another.²⁵The parallel version in Exod R. 1:6 reads: “Why are not the names of the tribes the same in every place, but sometimes….” Similarly, Tanh., Exod. 1:3. Why so? Lest the sons of the wives²⁶Literally: “ladies.” (Leah and Rachel) be written first and the sons of the bondmaidens (Zilpah and Bilhah) written last. So why does one <name> sometimes take precedence and sometimes come later? To teach you that the former were not greater than the latter. Then why do some take precedence over others? Because they are the ceiling of the world, and whoever puts in a proper roof sets the top (i.e. the thin end) of one beam next to the top of the other.²⁷The text is probably corrupt. Cf. the parallel in Tanh., Exod. 1:3: “And whoever prepares a proper ceiling sets the thick end of one beam next to the top of another since they are not equal.” So also Exod. R. 1:6. See Buber’s note here. Some < tribes >, therefore, take precedence over others. And where is it shown that they are the ceiling (rt.: QRH) of the world? Where it is stated (in Is. 48:12): LISTEN TO ME, O JACOB, EVEN ISRAEL, WHOM I HAVE CALLED (rt.: QR').

“There is a matter of which it is said: See, this is new. It has already been, in the ages that were before us” (Ecclesiastes 1:10).
“There is a matter of which it is said: See, this is new.” It is written: “The Lord delivered to me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them [va’aleihem] was written in accordance with all [kekhol] the matters [hadevarim]…” (Deuteronomy 9:10). Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: “Aleihem, va’aleihem; kol, kekhol; devarim, hadevarim;⁸⁹All of these words contain prefixes or introductory words, e.g. the verse could have stated aleihem but instead says vaaleihem, with the prefix va. These additional letters and words are amplifications that come to include additional matters. “all the commandment [kol hamitzva] [that I command to you today you shall observe to perform]” (Deuteronomy 8:1); hamitzva, kol hamitzva. It is to teach you that Bible, Mishna, halakhot, Tosefta, and aggada, and rulings that distinguished disciples were destined to issue, already existed, and were given as halakhot to Moses from Sinai. From where is it derived? From what is written: “There is a matter of which it is said: See, this is new.” His counterpart admonishes him: “It has already been, in the ages [that were before us].”
Rabbi Berekhya in the name of Rabi Ḥelbo: This is analogous to one who had a sela coin tied into the corner of his garment,⁹⁰He intended thereby to form a kind of button. and it fell from him. To replace it with one larger, there is no room for it; to replace it with one smaller, it will not be filled; to replace it with an identical one, it will be filled. So too, if you hear Torah from a Torah scholar, you should consider it as though your ears heard it from Mount Sinai. That is what the prophet is admonishing them and saying to them: “Approach me, hear this: From the beginning I did not speak in secret. From the time that it was, I was there” (Isaiah 48:16).⁹¹The prophet is saying that his words, which the people have not followed, are not new. They were given at Sinai, and the prophet heard them there, and now in his generation he has been told to relay this prophecy to the people (Etz Yosef). They said to him: ‘Why didn’t you tell us?’ He said to them: ‘Because I did not have the capacity.⁹²Literally, “chambers were not created in me.” But now I have the capacity, “now the Lord God has sent me and His spirit” (Isaiah 48:16).’