Midrash su Isaia 44:26

R. Samuel the son of Nahman stated: The Holy Spirit forsook Jacob twice. Once when he wished to bless Manasseh and Ephraim, and again when he was about to reveal the time of redemption. And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head (Gen. 48:14). He began to bless him with the words: And let them increase like fish (ibid., v. 16). He thus indicated that Ephraim’s descendants would be caught like fishes, as it is said: Say now “Shibboleth”; and he said “Sibboleth” (Judg. 12:6).¹¹Just as fishes are caught by their mouths, so too forty-two hundred Ephraimites were killed because they could not pronounce the word Shibboleth correctly. When Joseph saw that his father was laying his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him and He held up his father’s hand, to remove it (Gen. 48:17). Jacob rebuked him, saying: “Do you seek to turn away the hand that vanquished the foremost among the angels?” R. Yohanan said: Jacob’s arms were like two columns in the public baths in Tiberias. And Joseph said unto his father: “Not so, my father, only this one is the firstborn” (ibid. , v. 18). And his father refused and said: “I know it, my son; I know it” (ibid., v. 19). He foresaw that Gideon would descend from Manasseh, but that his younger brother was the more important one, since Joshua would descend from him. And he blessed them that day, saying: “By thee shall Israel bless, saying: God make thee as Ephraim and Manasseh” (ibid., v. 20). He mentioned Ephraim before he mentioned Manasseh. When was his blessing finally fulfilled? At the time of the consecration of the chiefs. Then Ephraim brought his offering on the seventh day, and Manasseh on the eighth, in fulfillment of the scriptural verse: That confirmeth the word of his servant and performeth the counsel of his messengers (Isa. 44:26).

3. [God] confirmeth the word of His servant, and performeth the counsel of His messengers; that saith of Jerusalem: 'She shall be inhabited'; and of the cities of Judah: 'They shall be built, and I will raise up the waste places thereof';(Is 44:26) R. Berekiah said in the name of R Levi: Whoever confirmeth the word of His servant, and performeth the counsel of His messengers, do we not [therefore also] know that he will say of Jerusalem: 'She shall be inhabited'; and of the cities of Judah: 'They shall be built?' Rather [the apparent repetition may be understood by another text]: an angel appeared to our father Jacob and said to him, 'What is thy name?' And he said: 'Jacob.' And he said: 'Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel;(Gen 32:28-29). The Kadosh Baruch Hu appeared [afterwards] to our father Jacob to fulfill the decree of the angel [in another verse]: And God said unto him: 'Thy name is Jacob: [thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name'; and He called his name Israel.] (Gen 35:10) Jerusalem, of which all the prophets prophesied that it will be built, all the more so! Another interpretation: “[God] confirmeth the word of His servant” refers to Moses, [as he is called in another verse]: My servant Moses is not so. (Num 12:7) “Performeth the counsel of His messengers” refers to Moses, [as he is called in another verse]: [God] sent a messenger, and brought us forth out of Egypt. (Num 20:16) The Kadosh Baruch Hu said to Moses, “Go, tell the people Israel that I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, [and will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt.]” (Ex. 12:12) Moses went and said to Israel, “Thus saith the LORD: About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt.” (Ex 11:4) The Kadosh Baruch Hu said, “Already I have made my promise to Moses, And I said of him 'My servant Moses is not so; he is trusted in all My house.' (Num 12:7) Should I make a liar out of My servant Moses? No, instead Since Moses said “About midnight,” then I will go out at midnight. So it happened that it came to pass at midnight, [that the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt.]

And the Lord remembered Sarah (Gen. 21:1). Scripture states elsewhere in reference to this verse: That confirmeth the word of His servant, and performeth the counsel of His messengers. That saith of Jerusalem: “She shall be inhabited”; and of the cities of Judah: “They shall be built” (Isa. 44:26). That confirmeth the word of His servant refers to Abraham, for the Holy One, blessed be He, said: I opened his womb (Abimelech) on account of Abraham, My servant, who prayed in his behalf, as it is said: And Abraham prayed unto God (Gen. 20:17). Performeth the counsel of His messengers alludes to the angels who informed Abraham that he would have an offspring, as it is said: I will certainly return unto you when the season cometh around (ibid. 18:10).

That saith of Jerusalem: “She shall be inhabited”; and of the cities of Judah; “They shall be built” relates to the subject we are discussing. Though the nations were confident that Jerusalem would not be rebuilt, it will be rebuilt, as it is said: That saith of Jerusalem: “She shall be inhabited”, and it is written elsewhere: When the Lord hath built Zion (Ps. 102:17). But if you are doubtful as to the ultimate rebuilding of Jerusalem, look unto Abraham, your father, and unto Sarah who bore you (Isa. 51:2), for just as I did in behalf of Sarah and Abraham, so I shall do in behalf of Jerusalem.

[(Exod. 12:29:) AND IT CAME TO PASS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.] This text is related (to Is. 44:26): <HE> CONFIRMS THE WORD OF HIS SERVANT.⁶⁸PRK 7:3. R. Berekhyah said in the name of R. Levi: What is the meaning of CONFIRMS THE WORD OF HIS SERVANT? Do we not know that (ibid., cont.) HE SAYS TO JERUSALEM: YOU SHALL BE INHABITED, AND TO THE CITIES OF JUDAH: THEY SHALL BE REBUILT? It is simply that a certain angel appeared to our ancestor Jacob. He said to him: What is your name? He told him: Jacob. <THEN HE SAID> (in Gen. 32:29 [28]): YOUR NAME SHALL NO LONGER BE JACOB, <BUT ISRAEL>…. (Is. 44:26, cont.:) AND FULFILLS THE COUNSEL OF HIS MESSENGERS. The Holy One appeared to Jacob to affirm the command of his angel, AND (in Gen. 35:10) GOD SAID TO HIM: YOUR NAME IS JACOB. <YOUR NAME SHALL NO LONGER BE JACOB, BUT YOUR NAME SHALL BE ISRAEL. > In the case of Jerusalem, over which all the prophets have prophesied, how much the more <will the Holy One confirm (i.e., fulfill) their prophecies>?

"And it was in the middle of the night" (Exodus 12:29) - this is [the meaning of] what is written (Isaiah 44:26), "He fulfills the word of His servant and completes the counsel of His messengers:" Rabbi Abahu said, "'He fulfills the word of His servant' - this [refers to] Moshe as it is stated (Numbers 12:7), 'Not so My servant Moshe.'" And how is it that He fulfilled it? Rather, when He brought the plague of darkness upon them, Pharaoh began to cry out (Exodus 10:24), "Go and serve the Lord, but your sheep and cattle must stay." Moshe said to him, "Upon your life! 'And also our livestock we will take, not one hoof will remain' (Ibid. 26)." What is [meant by] a hoof? Even an animal that belongs completely to an Egyptian and has one hoof that belongs to a Jew, [Moshe] will not leave. "Since from them shall we take" (Ibid.) - after he said, "from them shall we take," he went back and said "and we do not know with what we will serve the Lord." He said to him, "If with you, who are flesh and blood, [and] people die if they transgress your commands; [nonetheless] if you put out a proclamation in front of you and you say, collect this and that for me, the world can stand in front of you [and fulfill your proclamation]; but with us, perhaps God will say to us, 'sacrifice a sacrifice [that includes all of the sacrifices] of two hundred and ten years.'" That is [what is meant by] "and we do not know." Pharaoh said to him, "Until when will you enter here? 'Go away from me; guard yourself, do not see my face again!' (Ibid. 28)" Moshe said [back] to him, "you have spoken well; 'I will not see your face again.'" The Holy One, blessed be He, said, "What is still required for me? To inform Pharaoh of one plague." Immediately, He went into the palace of Pharaoh for Moshe - who said to [Pharaoh], "I will not see your face again" - so that he would not be found to be a fabricator. And you find that the Holy One, blessed be He, did not speak with Moshe in the house of Pharaoh except for that time. From where [do we know this]? As it is stated (Exodus 9:29), "When I leave the city, I will raise my hands to the Lord;" and now the Holy One, blessed be He, hastened and spoke with Moshe, as it is stated (Exodus 11:1), "still one plague will I bring upon Pharaoh, etc." Once Moshe heard [this], he rejoiced and became great, as it is stated, (Ibid. 3) "and also the man, Moshe, was very great." He begin to cry out in public (Ibid. 4), "'so did the Lord say, "at the middle of the night."' You have spoken well, 'I will not see your face again.' I, myself, will not come again to you, but rather you will come to me; and your general that is standing with you - and he is your head officer - and all of these [in] your palace retinue will come to me with you and request of me - and bow down to me - that we should leave from here;" as it is written (Ibid. 8), "And all of your servants will come down to me and bow down to me saying" - he did not want to say, 'and you will bow down to me' because of the honor of the king. When the middle of the night arrived, as Moshe said; immediately, "And it was the middle of the night and the Lord smote every firstborn." Hence, "He fulfills the word of his servant. And completes the counsel of His messengers" - that He made a counsel (agreement) with Avraham because of this thing. When? When the kings came and he pursued them. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "It is enough for you until the middle of the night - come, let us split the night, you and I;" as it is stated, "And he divided against them at night (understood here as 'and He divided the night for them')." When the time came, he completed his counsel. That is [the meaning of] "And it was in the middle of the night." Thus is it written, "And completes the counsel of His messengers."