Midrash su Numeri 11:26

(Fol. 17) Our Rabbis were taught (Ib. 11, 26) And there remained two men in the camp. According to some, it means that their names remained in the urn. For, at the time the Holy One, praised be He! said to Moses: Gather unto Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, Moses said [to himself]: "How shall I do it? Shall I appoint six of each tribe? Then there will be two more. Shall I take five of each? Then there will be ten less. Shall I appoint from two tribes." So he chose six from each, and each? Then I will bring jealousy among the tribes." So he chose six from each, and brought seventy-two ballots. On seventy he wrote Zaken (elder), and two he left blank. After he had mixed them all up and put all of them into the urn, he said to them: "Go, each, and take your ballot." To the one who drew the ballot on which "Elder" was written he said: "You are already sanctified by Heaven." But to those who drew the blanks he said: "Since Heaven did not select you, I cannot alter it." Similar was the following case (Ib. 3, 47) Thou shalt take five shekels a piece for the poll. Moses said to himself: "How shall I do it? If I should say to one, 'Give the shekels,' he may answer, 'The Levite has already redeemed me.'" Therefore he brought twenty-two thousand ballots and on each he wrote: "Levi;" and on two hundred and seventy-three he wrote "five shekels," mixed them, put them in the urn, and said to the people: "Draw your ballot." To the one who drew on which "Levi" was written, he said: "The Levite has redeemed you." And he who drew five shekels was told to pay the amount and go." R. Simon, however, said [Eldad and Medad] remained in the camp; for when the Holy One, praised be He! said to Moses: Gather unto Me seventy men of the Elders of Israel, they said: "We are not worthy of such a high appointment." And the Holy One, praised be He! said: "Because ye were modest, I will increase your grace." And what grace was increased to them? All the seventy had prophesied once, and ceased; but these two did not cease to prophesy. And what was their prophecy? They said: "Moses shall die, and Joshua shall bring Israel to his land." Aba Chanin, however, said in the name of R. Elazar: "They prophesied about the quail, saying, 'Come up, quail. Come up, quail." And R. Nachman said: "They prophesied about Gog and Magog, as it is said (Ezek. 38, 17) Then hath said the Lord Eternal: Art thou (not) he of whom I have spoken in ancient days through means of My servants, the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days (Shanim) years, that I would bring thee against them?" Do not read Shanim (years) but Shnayim (two). And who were the two who had prophesied at one period, with one and the same prophecy? Eldad and Medad.

19 Another interpretation (of Numb. 11:16), “Gather Me seventy men [from the elders of Israel]”: When the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, “Gather Me seventy men,” Moses said, “How shall I manage to get [them] from all the tribes?⁴² Sifre to Numb. 11:24-26 (95). If I get five each from every tribe, they will not add up to the number seventy. There will [only] be sixty. And if we get six each from every tribe, they will add up to the number seventy-two. But if I get five from one tribe and six from another, I shall be imposing jealousy among the tribes.” What did Moses do? He took seventy-two pieces of paper and wrote “elder” on them plus two other blank pieces of paper. Then he mixed them up and put them in the urn. He said to them, “Come and take your papers.” If a paper with ‘elder’ written on it came up in [a person's] hand he knew that he had been appointed an elder, but if a blank one came up in his hand he knew that he had not been appointed. Then the officer-in-charge would say to him, “Look there is another paper there with ‘elder’ written upon it. If you had been worthy of being appointed, [a paper with ‘elder’] would have come up in your hand.” When [Moses had followed this procedure] the elders were appointed. Eldad and Medad were there, but they excluded themselves. [They said,] “We are not worthy to be in the number of the elders.” Now because they excluded themselves, they were found [to have become] superior to the elders in five respects. The elders only prophesied for the morrow as stated (in Numb. 11:18), “And you shall say to the people, ‘Purify yourselves for the morrow,’” but these men prophesied what was going to happen at the end of forty years as stated (in Numb. 11:26), “But two men had remained in the camp; [the name of the one was Eldad and the name of the other was Medad…; and they were…] prophesying in the camp.” But what were they prophesying? Some say [they were prophesying] about the downfall of Gog, while others say [they were prophesying that] Moses would die and Joshua would bring Israel into the Land. You yourself know that they so prophesied, since it is what Joshua told Moses (in vs. 28), “Then Joshua ben Nun, Moses' attendant from his youth, answered.” And it is written (in vs. 27), “But a lad ran and told Moses.” And who was it? It was Moses' son, Gershom. The elders did not enter the land, but these did enter the land. Eldad is [so listed] (in Numb. 34:21) [as] Elidad ben Chislon. Medad is [so listed] (in Numb. 34:24) [as] Kemuel ben Shiphtan. The elders were not designated by their names, [but these were designated by their names]. The elders had their prophecy cease, since their prophecy was from what belonged to Moses, even as the Scripture has said (in Numb. 11:17), “and I will set aside some of the spirit which is upon you and put it on them”; but these [two] had their prophecy from that which belonged to the Holy One, blessed be He, as stated (in Numb. 11:26), “and the spirit rested upon them.” Now if you say, “Since the elders had their prophecy from what belonged to Moses, might it not have lessened his prophecy somewhat?” [The answer is] no. To what may Moses be compared? To a lamp which was lit and⁴³Sifre to Numb. 11:17 (93). everyone lights up from it; yet its light is in no way diminished. So also in the case of Moses. Although the prophets took of his prophecy, the prophecy of Moses was in no way diminished. [It is so stated] (in Deut. 34:10), “And never again did there arise in Israel a prophet like Moses.”

(Ibid. 26) "And there remained two men in the camp": Some say: They (i.e., their ballots) remained in the ballot box. When the Holy One Blessed be He told Moses to select seventy elders, Moses asked himself: What am I to do? I must select six from each (of the tribes) and five from two tribes. Which tribe will consent to only five? Moses did as follows: He took seventy ballots and wrote on them "elder," and two blank ballots and mixed them (with the others) in the ballot box, and he said to them: Come and take your ballots. Whoever came up with a ballot marked "zaken," was told by Moses: "The L-rd has already selected you," and whoever came up with a blank ballot was told by Moses: It is the will of Heaven — what can I do? Similarly, (Bamidbar 3:96) "And (for) the redemption (money) of the two hundred and seventy-three of the first-born of the children of Israel over and above the (number of the) Levites, etc." Moses said what am I to do now? Each one (of the Israelite first-born) will say: A Levite has redeemed me! Moses did as follows: He took (22,000) ballots and wrote upon them "Levite," and (273) ballots and wrote upon them "five shekels," placed them in a ballot box and said to them: Come and take your ballots. Whoever came up with a ballot marked "Levite" was told by Moses: "You have already been redeemed," and whoever came up with a ballot marked "five shekalim" was told by Moses: "Go and give your redemption money (to the Cohanim). R. Shimon says (on Bamidbar 11:26): "They (Eldad and Medad) remained in the camp, for when they saw Moses selecting elders, they said: We are not deserving of this honor, saying which, they went and hid themselves — whereupon the L-rd said to them: You lowered yourselves; I will exalt you above all the others: Of the seventy elders it is written (Ibid. 25) "And they prophesied — but (after that day), they prophesied no more," whereas of Eldad and Medad it is written (Ibid. 27) "They are prophesying in the camp" — until the day of their death. And what were they saying? "Moses will die and Joshua will bring Israel to Eretz Yisrael."