Midrash su Giosuè 21:43

Another interpretation (of Jer. 2:31): UTTER DARKNESS. Have I <ever> said to you that I am bringing a benefit and delayed it? UTTER DARKNESS (rt.:'PL) can only be a term of delay, as it is used (in Exod. 9:32): <BUT THE WHEAT AND THE SPELT WERE NOT HURT> BECAUSE THEY RIPEN LATE (i.e., ARE DELAYED: rt.:'PL).¹³Below, Numb. 10:7; I Corinthians 10:4. {R.} Joshua said (in Josh. 21:43 [45]; cf. 23:14): NOT A {SINGLE} THING HAS FAILED (NPL) OF ANY GOOD THING {OF HIS} WHICH THE LORD PROMISED UNTO THE {CHILDREN} [HOUSE] OF ISRAEL; IT ALL CAME TO PASS. <Therefore> (in Jer. 2:31:) WHY DID MY PEOPLE SAY: RADNU (rt.: RWD); <WE WILL NOT COME UNTO YOU ANY MORE>?¹⁴According to the interpretation given here, the word is regarded as coming from the root, RDH and voweled as radanu. The word is Mishnaic (as in Ter. 10:3 = Makhsh. 3:3): ONE WHO REMOVES (RWDH) A HOT LOAF (adhering to an oven).¹⁵Bread is usually baked adhering to the roof or wall of the oven with the fire beneath. They (i.e., Israel) said: When the bread is baked in the oven and is taken out of it, can it stick¹⁶Rt.: QB‘ (which normally means “fix in” or “fix on”). On the translation of this root, see Midrash Tanhuma (Jerusalem: Eshkol, 1971/72), vol. II, p. 647, n. 2, which regards it here as the equivalent of the root DBQ (which means (“stick to”). In a similar vein, see Wolf Einhorn’s commentary, Perush Maharzaw, on Numb. R. 1:2. Since the root QB‘ can also mean “rob” or “defraud,” the meaning for Israel would be that, as bread removed from an oven cannot stick to it again, neither can Israel once removed from Jerusalem ever defraud again. to the oven again? Now we in Jerusalem were as in an oven (since it is stated in Is. 31:9): SAYS THE LORD, WHO HAS A FIRE IN ZION AND HAS AN OVEN IN JERUSALEM. Now you exiled us to Babylon. What do you still want from us? (Jer. 2:31:) WHY DID MY PEOPLE SAY: RADNU (i.e., He has <already> removed us (radanu) <once from oven of Jerusalem>)?

Another interpretation: "See I" (Deuteronomy 11:26). I who have chosen goodness, see how different I am from the whole world, such that the creatures should not say, "When Moshe came to bless us, he blessed us a little, but when he came to curse us, he cursed us a lot." How is this? The curses in [Leviticus] were one less than thirty verses, whereas the blessing were [only] eleven. Rabbi Shmuel said, "The one who looks at them finds that the blessing are more than the curses. How is this? With the blessings, it opens with [the first letter of the alphabet,] alef [of] 'Eem bechukotai telechu' (Leviticus 26:3), and it ends with [the last letter,] tav, [of] 'veolech eetchem kommemiut' (Leviticus 26:13), as the blessings come to you from alef to tav. But the curses open with [the letter,] vav [of] 'Ve'em lo tishmaau' (Leviticus 26:14), and ends with [the letter,] hay [of] 'beyad Moshe' (Leviticus 26:46), and between vav and hay, there is nothing (as they are adjacent in the alphabet)." Rabbi Levi said, "There is a [relevant] parable about a king that had a son. He brought him into his palace and showed a kitchen full of good things, and he showed him a palace full of swords. The son said to his father, 'For whom is this kitchen?' [The father] said, 'For the one who praises me.' [The son continued asking,] 'And for whom are the swords?' [The father answered,] 'For the one that rebels against me.' So [too,] the Holy One, blessed be He, shows them blessings and curses, and they see that the blessings are few and the curses are many." Another interpretation: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them, "If you do My will - even though the the blessings are few - I will increase them for you, and I will not bring the curses upon you. There is a [relevant] parable about a king who took on a servant with a contract. And he wrote in the contract, "If you do my will and serve me as is fit, I will give you food, drink and clothing like the rest of my servants. But if you do not do my will, I will not give you food and I will not give you drink, but I will rather put you in shackles and put you in prison." [So] the servant entered [into the contract] and did his will more than he stipulated. What did the servant do [afterwards]? He stopped doing the will of his master. His master said to him, "I stipulated with you that I would shackle you and kill you. By your life, I will make a compromise with you." So is it with Israel. The Holy One, blessed be He, wrote about them (Leviticus 26:3), "If you walk in my statutes," I will bring you these blessings. But if not, I will bring the curses upon you, as it is stated (I Kings 8:56), "Not one thing of all of His good word shall fail." And when Israel sinned in the days of Yirmiyahu, the Holy One, blessed be He, said, "I stipulated with you that I would bring the curses upon you. [But] I know that you do not have the ability to withstand them. Rather I will make a compromise with you." Rabbi Abba said that Rabbi Yirmiyah said, "'The Lord has done what He purposed, He has carried out His word' (Lamentations 2:17). 'He has carried out,' He has made a compromise with them." Hence it is written (Deuteronomy 11:26), "See I, etc." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them, "In this world I have ordered in front of you blessings and curses, the good and the bad. But in the world to come, I will remove the curses and the bad from you and I will bless you. And all who shall see you shall say that you are a blessed people, as stated (Isaiah 61:9), 'Their offspring shall be known among the nations, their descendants in the midst of the peoples; all who see them shall recognize that they are a stock the Lord has blessed.'"