Musar su Osea 12:8

Bereshit Rabbah 59,8 describes Eliezer's features as resembling those of his master Abraham, basing itself on the words זקן ביתו, to mean that he resembled his master. The words המושל בכל אשר לו, are interpreted by that Midrash as a compliment that Eliezer held his evil urge in check. The Midrash goes on to interpret the words ויאמר אליו העבד in 24,5 by quoting Hoseah 12,8: "A trader (כנען) who uses false weights, who loves to overreach." "The trader," i.e. כנען, supposedly refers to Eliezer. Probably the Midrash, too, makes a destinction between the instances where the Torah uses the term עבד for Eliezer, and where another term such as זקן ביתו is employed. Whenever the latter term is used, Eliezer had Mattaron hovering over him.

ושבית שביו . We have mentioned earlier that the Sifri interprets this to mean that even non-resident Canaanite prisoners are included in the permission granted to take them as prisoners. We must remember that our internal conflicts, our battle with the evil urge, is also due to the curse resting on Canaan whose strength is derived from Samael in the Celestial Regions. We find an allusion to this in Numbers 21,1 where the Torah reports that the Canaanite led by the king of Arad took prisoners, שבי, from among the Jewish nation. This king, or the nation he represents, is perceived as having used scales that were not true in his hands (Hosea 12,8). In Job 39,5 the word ערד is used to describe a wild ass. The verse in Job refers to the "releasing" of such an animal to wreak havoc. Know therefore that it is sin and not the wild ass which causes death. Israel learned this lesson in Numbers 21 where Moses was told to construct the copper snake and people who looked up to it, i.e. looked to G–d for help were saved (cured from the bites of the snakes mentioned in 21,6), whereas the others died from the bites sustained (Rosh Hashanah 29). In this connection the Talmud (Berachot 33a) recounts an occurrence where a wild ass terrorised a community and people told Rabbi Chaninah ben Dotha about it. The Rabbi asked to be shown the lair of the animal in question. When he was shown the lair he placed his heel on the entrance to the lair. The wild ass emerged, bit Rabbi Chaninah ben Dotha and died as a result. Rabbi Chaninah ben Dotha hauled it on his shoulder and brought its carcass to the house of study. There he told his students that it was not the wild ass that had brought death to the community but the sins of the people who had been bitten by it. At that time the people said: "Woe to the people who have encountered the wild ass, and woe to the wild ass that has encountered Rabbi Chaninah ben Dotha." Rashi comments: "I have found in Halachot Gedolot that they say in ארץ ישראל "When a wild ass bites a human being and the wild ass reaches water first the victim dies; if the victim reaches water first the wild ass will die. A miracle occurred in the case of Rabbi Chaninah and a well of water suddenly opened beneath his heel. This is no idle legend. When the Israelites conquered the land of Canaan the Canaanites died from such bites, but miracles occurred for the Israelites who crossed the Jordan. Afterwards the Canaanites started dying. These were what are referred to as מלחמות שוות, normal wars.

We can explain this by means of a statement in Baba Batra 75a, where Rabbi Yonatan says that when Leviathan is hungry his mouth emits so much heat that all the oceans of the world dry up, since we read in Job 41,23: "He makes the depths seethe like a cauldron." If he would not place his head within גן עדן, no creature could stand the stench of Leviathan. This is also proved from Job 41,23: "He makes the sea boil like an ointment pot." When the said Leviathan is thirsty, his wake in the ocean is like a luminous path, and he makes the Deep seem white-haired (Job 41,24). Rabbi Acha said that the Deep does not revert to its former state for seventy years, since we read in Job 41,24: "He makes the Deep seem like a שיבה,” and that word is never used for someone under seventy years of age. Rabbah, quoting Rabbi Yochanan, said that in the World To Come G–d will prepare a feast for the righteous at which the "meat" of Leviathan will be served for it is written in Job 40,30: יכרו עליו חברים, and the word כירה always means a repast, as we read in Kings II 6,23: "He prepared a lavish feast (כרה) for them and they ate and drank." The word חברים refers to Torah scholars as we know from Song of Songs 8,13: "She who sits in the gardens and חברים listen to your voice; let Me hear it." The leftover of that meal will be divided up by traders in the market-places of Jerusalem since it is written (Job 40,30) "he will be divided up among the Canaanites," and Canaanites are merchants as we know from Hosea 12,8: "A Canaanite trader who uses false weights to oppress the one who thinks the trader is his friend." You may also prove this point from Isaiah 23,8: "whose traders are nobles, whose traders (כנעניה) were the most respected ones on earth."