Midrash su Salmi 147:4

And these are the names of the Children of Israel who came to Egypt, Jacob and his sons, each man and his household came - Israel is comparable to the multitude of the heavens, here it is said names, and it is said of stars names, as it is said (Psalms 147:4): "He counteth the number of the stars; He giveth them all their names," even the Holy One Blessed is He, when Israel descended to Egypt, counted how many they were, and because they are compared to the stars, He gave them all names, as it is written: "And these are the names of the Children of Israel, etc."

(Is. 40:26:) WHO CREATED THESE? [THE ONE WHO SENDS FORTH THEIR HOST BY NUMBER. HE CALLS THEM ALL BY <A SINGLE> NAME.] It is written (ibid.): HE CALLS THEM ALL BY <A SINGLE > NAME. But one scriptural verse says, NAMES (i.e., Ps. 147:4): [HE GIVES NAMES TO THEM ALL]. If <Ps. 147:4 says> NAMES, why <does Is. 40:26 say> BY <A SINGLE> NAME? If <Is. 40:26 says> BY <A SINGLE> NAME, why <does Ps. 147:4 say> NAMES? It is simply that, when the Holy One wishes, he calls them all as a single <unit>; but when he wishes <otherwise>, he calls each and every one by his own name, <e.g.> Michael and Gabriel. Ergo (in Is. 40:26): HE CALLS THEM ALL BY <A SINGLE> NAME.

Another interpretation: David said (in Ps. 147:3): WHO HEALS THE BROKEN HEARTED…. These are the tribes since they had a broken heart, saying <that> Joseph might kill them. (Ps. 147:4:) HE RECKONS (rt.: MNH) THE NUMBER OF THE STARS.¹⁴Exod. R. 1:3. These are the tribes. Just as these stars only go forth by < their > names, as stated (ibid., cont.): HE GIVES THEM ALL NAMES; and likewise, when they come in, they come in with a reckoning (minyan, rt.: MNH), as stated (in Ps. 147:4): HE RECKONS (rt.: MNH) THE NUMBER OF THE STARS; so <also> in the case of the tribes, when they entered Egypt, it is written (in Deut. 10:22): WITH SEVENTY SOULS DID YOUR ANCESTORS GO DOWN TO EGYPT. Also, when they left, (according to Exod. 12:37): ABOUT SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND MEN ON FOOT. And before¹⁵The translation follows an emendation in Midrash Tanhuma (Jerusalem: Eshkol: n.d.), vol. 1, appendix, p. 89, n. 7. the tribes went down to Egypt, their names were specified (in Gen. 46). Also, when they entered Egypt, their names were specified, as stated (in Exod. 1:1): NOW THESE ARE THE NAMES OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.

One verse tells us; He gave them all their names (Ps. 14:7), while another says: He called them all by their names (Isa. 40:26). How can these verses by reconciled? If He gave them all their names, why does it say: He called them all by their names? If the Holy One, blessed be He, so desires, He calls all of them by one name and they stand before Him as one, but when he so desires, He calls each one by his own name: Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael. Hence, He gave them all their names.

The same Caesar said to Rabban Gamaliel: "I am aware of what your God is doing, and where He seateth now." R. Gamaliel sighed deeply. And to the question: "Why are you sighing?" he said: "I have a son in one of the sea-towns and I am anxious concerning him. Can you inform me of his whereabouts." "Whence shall I know this?" replied he. Whereupon Rabban Gamaliel said: "If you do not know what is in this world, how can you claim to know what is in heaven!" At another time the Caesar said to Rabban Gamaliel: "It is written (Ps. 147, 4) Who counted the number of the stars, etc. What prerogative is this? I also can do this." R. Gamaliel took grain, put it in a sieve, and while straining them told him to count the grain. And he replied: "Let the sieve stand, and I will count it." R. Gamaliel said then to him: "The stars are always moving." According to others, the Caesar asked Rabban Gamaliel to count the stars, and R. Gamaliel answered him: "Can you tell me how many teeth are in your mouth?" He put his hand in his mouth and began to count them. When R. Gamaliel remarked: "If you are not aware of the number of teeth in your mouth, how can you claim to know what there is in heaven!"

One verse states (Ibid. 3) "Is there any number to His angelic hosts?" and another (Daniel 7:10) "A thousand thousands were serving Him, and myriad myriads were standing before Him." How are these two verses to be reconciled? Before they were exiled from their land — "Is there any number to His angelic hosts?" After they were exiled from their land — "A thousand thousands were serving Him." As it were, the celestial retinue was diminished. Rebbi says in the name of Abba b. Yossi: One verse states: "Is there any number to His angelic hosts?" and another, "A thousand thousands were serving Him." How are these two verses to be reconciled? "A thousand thousands were serving Him" — this is one host. And how many hosts are there? — "Is there any number to His angelic hosts?" One verse states (Psalms 147:4) "He counts the number of the stars, (which implies that He calls each by name), and another (Isaiah 40:26) "Raise your eyes on high and see who created these. He brings forth their legions by number; he calls to all of them by name," (which implies that He calls all of them as one). (How is this to be understood?) When the Holy One Blessed be He calls, all answer, something impossible for flesh and blood, to call two names at the same time. Similarly, (Shemot 20:1) "And G-d spoke all of these things (in one utterance) saying, etc.", and (Psalms 62:12) "One thing has G-d spoken; these two have I heard," and (Jeremiah 23:29) "Is My word not like fire, says the L-rd, and like a hammer shattering rock?" Rebbi says in the name of Abba Yossi b. Dostai: One verse states "He brings forth their legions by number, etc.", and another "He counts the number of the stars." How are these two verses to be reconciled? We are hereby taught there is no changing of the (essential) name there. The name that it is called by now is not the name that it will be called by later, (but its "name" is simply a function of its embassy.) And thus is it written (Judges 12:18) "And the angel of the L-rd said to him: Why do you ask my name? It is hidden." I do not know what "name" I will be converted to (in the future). One verse states (II Samuel 24:24) "And David bought the threshing floor and the cattle for fifty silver shekels," and another (I Chronicles 21:25) "And David gave Arnon for the place gold shekels weighing six hundred." How are these two verses to be reconciled? For the place of the threshing floor, six hundred; for the place of the altar, fifty. Rebbi says, in the name of Abba Yossi b. Dostai: One verse states "And David bought the threshing floor, etc." and another verse states "And David gave Arnon for the place gold shekels weighing six hundred." How are these two verses to be reconciled? There were twelve tribes, and he took from each fifty shekels, six hundred shekels in all. R. Elazar says "And David bought the threshing floor," as explained elsewhere. Where? "And David gave Arnon for the place, etc." But the cattle for the burnt-offering and the threshing sledges and the cattle gear for the wood for fifty shekalim. One verse states (I Kings 5:6) "And Solomon had forty thousand stables of horses for his chariots," and another, (II Chronicles 9:28) "four thousand stables of horses." How are these two verses to be reconciled? Four thousand stables for forty thousand (horses). One verse states (Ibid. 4:5) "Its capacity was three thousand bath measures," and another (I Kings 7:26) "Its capacity was two thousand bath measures." How are these two verses to be reconciled? Two thousand in wet measure, which are three thousand in dry measure — whence the sages ruled: Forty sa'ah in wet measure is equal to two kor in dry measure.