Midrash su Isaia 51:1

[Exod. 38:21:) THESE ARE THE RECORDS OF THE TABERNACLE, THE TABERNACLE OF THE TESTIMONY.] What is the meaning of THE TESTIMONY? This is the Torah in which they would labor.¹⁸Tanh., Exod. 11:8; Exod. R. 51:7. The Holy One said to them: By virtue of the Torah and by virtue of the offerings, I am saving you from Gehinnom. Also in the case of their father Abraham, the Holy One showed him the Torah, the offerings, Gehinnom, and the empires (all of which were revealed to him in the theophany of Gen. 15):¹⁹PRK 5:2; PR 15:2; Gen. R. 44:21; M. Pss. 52:8; Mikhilta de Rabbi Ishmael, Bahodesh 9; cf. Lev. R. 13:5. Torah (in Gen. 15:17): AND A FLAMING TORCH;²⁰Cf. Exod. R. 51:7, which relates this verse to the lightning on Mt. Sinai in Exod. 20:15 [18]. the offerings (in vs. 9): AND HE SAID UNTO HIM: BRING ME A THREE-YEAR-OLD HEIFER; Gehinnom (in vs. 17): A SMOKING OVEN; the empires (in vs. 12): AND LO, A GREAT DARK DREAD <FELL UPON HIM>. The Holy One said to him: As long as your children are engaged in <the first> two, they shall be saved from <the other > two. As long as they are engaged in the Torah and the offerings, they shall be saved from Gehinnom and from the empires. Now the Temple is going to be destroyed, and the offerings shall cease. Therefore, how do you say that your children should be enslaved? By Gehinnom or by the empires? Abraham chose the empires. He said to him: Sovereign of the World, Let them be enslaved by the empires, and let not one of them go down into Gehinnom. Thus it is stated (in Deut. 32:30): <HOW SHOULD ONE HAVE ROUTED A THOUSAND, OR TWO PUT TEN THOUSAND TO FLIGHT, > UNLESS THEIR ROCK HAD SOLD THEM? Now THEIR ROCK can only be their father Abraham, since it is stated (in Is. 51:1): LOOK UNTO THE ROCK OUT OF WHICH YOU WERE HEWN. (Deut. 32:30, cont.:) AND THE LORD HAD GIVEN THEM UP, because the Holy One had concurred with him (i.e., with Abraham in his decision to be enslaved by the empires). R. Hanina said: Abraham was standing in bewilderment, and did not know what to choose. The Holy One said to him: Make the decision. At that time the Holy One gave him a hint to choose the empires.²¹According to Exod. R. 51:7, the hint is found in Ps. 66:12. See also Tanh., Exod. 11:8. Ergo (in Exod. 38:21): THESE ARE THE RECORDS OF THE TABERNACLE <…> OF THE TESTIMONY, <a testimony that> as long as Israel was engaged in the Torah and in the offerings, they would not go down into Gehinnom. The Holy One said to Israel: In this world you have been enslaved in the hands of empires, but in the world to come I will save you from Gehinnom by virtue of the Torah, which is called a fire, as stated (in Deut. 33:2): AT HIS RIGHT HAND THERE A FIERY LAW (dat) FOR THEM. So the fire (of Torah) puts out the fire (of Gehinnom), as stated (in Is. 43:2): WHEN YOU WALK THROUGH THE FIRE, YOU SHALL NOT BE SCORCHED, NEITHER SHALL THE FLAME BURN YOU.

R. Isaac said: "Our father Isaac was impotent, as it is said (Gen. 25, 21) And Isaac entreated the Lord (L'nochach) opposite his wife. It is not stated Al (concerning) his wife, but it is said L'nochach (opposite) his wife. Infer from this that both of them were impotent [and therefore both prayed."] If so, then why is it written: And the Lord was entreated of him? Entreated of them, it ought to be? This is because the prayer of a righteous (Isaac), the son of a righteous, is not like the prayer of a righteous (Rebecca), son (daughter) of a wicked. R. Isaac said: "Why were our ancestors childless [until they prayed?] Because the Holy One, praised be He! desires [to hear] the prayers of the righteous." R. Isaac said: "Why are the prayers of the righteous symbolized by a shovel? Because just as the shovel turns the grain at the threshing floor from place to place, so the prayers of the righteous turn the dispensations of the Lord from anger to mercy." R. Ami said: "Sarah our mother was a Tumtum, as it is said (Is. 51, 1) Look unto the rock, (Ib. b) whence ye were hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence they were dug out. And immediately follows: Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bore you." 11. Nachman, in the name of Rabba b. Abahu, said: "Our mother Sarah was wombless, as it is said (Gen. 11, 30) But Sarah was barren, she had no child; i.e., even a place for a child (womb) she had not."

“It was contemptible in his eyes to lay hands on Mordekhai alone, for they had told him of Mordekhai’s people; Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were in the whole kingdom of Aḥashverosh, the people of Mordekhai” (Esther 3:6).
“It was contemptible [vayyivez] in his eyes to lay hands on Mordekhai alone” – contemptible one son of contemptible one. It is written there: “Esau showed contempt [vayyivez] to the birthright” (Genesis 25:34), and here it is written: “It was contemptible in his eyes.”
“Haman sought to destroy all the Jews” – Rabbi Shimon ben Yosei ben Lakonya said: In this world, Israel was likened to rocks, as it is stated: “For from the top of rocks I will see them” (Numbers 23:9); “look to the rock from which you were quarried” (Isaiah 51:1). They were likened to stones, as it is stated: “From the shepherd of the stone of Israel” (Genesis 49:24); “the stone that the builders rejected” (Psalms 118:22). The nations of the world were likened to pottery; that is what is written: “He will break it as a potter’s jug is broken” (Isaiah 30:14). If a boulder falls on a clay pot, woe to the pot; if the pot falls on a boulder, woe to the pot; one way or the other, woe to the pot. So it is regarding anyone who confronts them [the Jews]; he will receive his just deserts from them. And so it says in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream: “That a stone was hewn from the mountain, not with hands, and it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay”¹⁰The stone will destroy the image made of the different materials, each representing an empire that will be destroyed. (Daniel 2:45).
Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Yannai said: If the royal purple is sold in the marketplace, woe to the buyer and woe to the seller. Likewise, Israel is the royal purple in which the Holy One blessed be He glories; that is what is written: “My servant Israel, that I glory in you” (Isaiah 49:3); if they are sold, woe to the seller and woe to the buyer.
To what is the wicked Haman comparable? To a bird that made a nest on the seashore and the sea swept away its nest, and it said: ‘I will not move from here until the sea becomes dry land and the dry land becomes sea.’ What did it do? It would take water from the sea in its mouth and pour it on the land, and would take dirt from the land and cast it into the sea. Its fellow came and stood alongside it and said to it: ‘Luckless and unfortunate one! Ultimately, what can you accomplish?’ So said the Holy One blessed be He to the wicked Haman: ‘World class fool! I said I would destroy them, so to speak, and could not, as it is stated: “He said He would destroy them, were it not for Moses, His chosen one, who stood before Him in the breach to turn back His wrath from destruction” (Psalms 106:23), and you said “to destroy, to kill, and to eliminate” (Esther 3:13) [them]. By your life, your head will be severed instead of their heads, as they are destined for deliverance and you for hanging.’

The Holy One, blessed be He, told Abraham: Whenever your descendants occupy themselves with two of these, they will be saved from the other two, but since sacrifices will be abolished in the future and the Temple will be destroyed, do you prefer that your sons should be enslaved in Gehinnom or in exile? Abraham began to ponder the matter, but did not know which to choose. R. Hanina the son of Pappa held that Abraham chose the rule of foreign kingdoms and said: It is better that my descendants shall be enslaved in exile than that any one of them should descend into Gehinnom. The Holy One, blessed be He, agreed with him, as is said: Except their rock had given them over, and the Lord had delivered them up (Deut. 32:30). Except their rock had given them over refers to Abraham, as is written: Look unto the rock whence ye were hewn (Isa. 51:1). And The Lord delivered them signifies that the Holy One, blessed be He, concurred with him.

(Gen. 20:1:) THEN ABRAHAM JOURNEYED FROM THERE TO THE LAND OF THE NEGEV. This text is related (to Job 14:18): AND YET A FALLING MOUNTAIN WILL CRUMBLE.⁹²M. Pss. 53:2; cf. Gen. R. 52:1ff. This is Sodom and its companion cities, as stated (in Gen. 19:23f.): THE SUN HAD RISEN UPON THE EARTH…. THEN THE LORD RAINED DOWN < UPON SODOM AND UPON GOMORRAH BRIMSTONE AND FIRE … AND HE DESTROYED THOSE CITIES >. R. Samuel bar Nahmani said: Woe to those wicked people because they cause a place of mercy to become a place of retribution. Wherefore, note how David gives praise⁹³Gk.: kalos. (in Ps. 148:1, 7f.): HALLELUJAH! PRAISE THE LORD FROM THE HEAVENS…. < PRAISE THE LORD … FIRE AND HAIL >…. But there is no fire there < in the heavens >, no hail, and no brimstone. Our colleague R. Ariste (citing Ps. 96:6) said: HONOR AND MAJESTY ARE BEFORE HIM. Where is there a place for retribution? From on earth, as stated (in Ps. 148:7) PRAISE THE LORD FROM THE EARTH, YOU SEA MONSTERS AND ALL OCEAN DEEPS. Ergo: < Retribution is > FROM THE EARTH. < Then > how can it be written (in Gen. 19:24): THEN THE LORD RAINED DOWN … < FROM THE LORD OUT OF THE HEAVENS > ? Simply to teach you < this >: From the beginning when they were created, the Holy One gave a decree concerning them and said to them: In accordance with how you shall see the creatures, so let it be done to them.⁹⁴Cf. Mark 4:24 & //s; Galatians 6:7f. A parable: To what is the matter comparable? To a caldron⁹⁵Gk.: miliarion; Lat.: miliarium. of gold. < Whoever > wanted warm water would find < some > within it. < Whoever > wanted it cold would take < some > out of it. < Whoever > wanted burning coals would take < some > out of it. So < also > the Holy One said to the heavens: Whatever you see, do. For the Sodomites and the children of Esau there would be brimstone and fire; for Israel, dew. Thus it is stated (in Micah 5:6 [7]): THEN THE REMNANT OF JACOB SHALL BE IN THE MIDST OF MANY PEOPLES, LIKE DEW. The Holy One said: What need do I have for these people? He immediately destroyed them, as stated (in Gen. 19:25): AND HE DESTROYED THOSE CITIES…. Ergo, it says (in Job 14:18): AND YET A FALLING MOUNTAIN WILL CRUMBLE, AND THE ROCK IS REMOVED FROM ITS PLACE. Now there is no rock but Abraham, as stated (in Is. 51:1f.): LOOK UNTO THE ROCK FROM WHICH YOU WERE HEWN … < LOOK UNTO ABRAHAM >. < He is the one > who journeyed from his place, as stated (in Gen. 20:1): THEN ABRAHAM JOURNEYED FROM THERE < TO THE LAND OF THE NEGEV >….

Variantly: "The rock of your birth you have forgotten": You have forgotten the acts of your forefathers, viz. (Isaiah 51:1-2) "Look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the hollow of the pit from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your forefather and to Sarah who bore you."