사무엘상 2:7 미드라쉬: Bamidbar Rabbah, Midrash Tanchuma & Midrash Tehillim

“The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying” (Numbers 3:14).
“In the wilderness of Sinai, saying” – that is what is written: “God settles individuals in a house” (Psalms 68:7). The Holy One blessed be He said: Even though people in this world were individuals, [I did not leave them as individuals]; rather, I made them fruitful and multiplied them and rendered them dynastic houses in which they would reside in this world. How so? David was an individual, and I rendered him a dynastic house, as it is stated: “House of David, so said the Lord” (Jeremiah 21:12). Aaron was an individual, and I rendered him a dynastic house, as it is stated: “House of Levi, bless the Lord” (Psalms 135:20); “house of Aaron, bless the Lord” (Psalms 135:19). Israel, too, were individuals, as it is stated: “Who is like your people Israel, one nation in the land…” (II Samuel 7:23), and God multiplied them, as it is stated: “The Lord your God has multiplied you” (Deuteronomy 1:10). That is, “God settles individuals in a house.”
Another matter: “God settles [individuals in a house]” (Psalms 68:7) – a certain noblewoman asked Rabbi Yosei ben Ḥalafta; she said to him: Everyone agrees that God created the world in six days. From six until now, what does He do? He said to her: He elevates ladders and lowers ladders. So-and-so, who was wealthy, will become poor, and so-and-so, who was poor, will become wealthy, as it is stated: “The Lord impoverishes and makes wealthy…” (I Samuel 2:7). Rabbi Berekhya said: That is not what he answered; but rather, this is what he said to her: He makes matches in His world and says: So-and-so man will marry so-and-so woman, and so-and-so woman will marry so-and-so man, and He settles them in houses. She said to him: I can make one thousand matches in one day. Rabbi Yosei was silent and went on his way. What did she do? She brought one thousand slaves and one thousand maidservants and matched them with each other. She said to them: So-and-so man will marry so-and-so woman, and so-and-so woman will marry so-and-so man. When they entered with them at night, an altercation broke out between them, and they stood and struck each other. In the morning they went to her; this one’s head was wounded, and that one, his hand was injured. She sent for Rabbi Yosei and related the incident to him. He said to her: If this matter is insignificant in your eyes, it is as difficult before the Omnipresent like the parting of the Red Sea. That is what is written: “God settles individuals in a house.” What is “God settles individuals”? The Holy One blessed be He sits and judges them; He brings this one from this place and that one from that place and settles them in one house. “He joyously [bakosharot] leads out prisoners” (Psalms 68:7) – he takes them from their houses, bound against their will, and makes matches between them. “Bakosharot” – if they do not merit, they weep [bokhin], but if they merit, they sing [meshorerin].¹⁸This is a portmanteau of the words bekhi and shirot – weeping and singing.
Another matter: “God settles individuals in a house” (Psalms 68:7) – that He makes a match for each and every one of them with a kindred soul.
Another matter: “God settles [individuals in a house]” (Psalms 68:7) – one who marries a wife suitable for him, the Holy One blessed be He renders them houses. Individual [yaḥid] is nothing other than an expression of greatness, just as it says: “One of [aḥad] the people¹⁹This is an allusion to Avimelekh, the king. almost lay with [your wife]” (Genesis 26:10), and it says: “Who is like your people Israel, one [eḥad] nation in the land” (II Samuel 7:23). From them He produces sons, masters of Torah, who issue rulings to prohibit [osrim] and permit [umakhshirim]. That is, “He joyously [bakosharot] leads out prisoners [asirim]” (Psalms 68:7). “But the rebellious” (Psalms 68:7) – but one who does not marry a wife suitable for him, ignorant sons emerge from him. That is what is written: “Dwell in a parched land [tzeḥiḥa]” (Psalms 68:7). Tzeḥiḥa is nothing other than an expression of thirst, just as it says: “Parched [tziḥe] with thirst” (Isaiah 5:13). What the verse said, “parched,” is that they were thirsty, [meaning] without Torah, just as what is written: “Not famine for bread and not thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.” (Amos 8:11).
Another matter: “God settles individuals [in a house]” (Psalms 68:7) – who was it? These are Amram and Yokheved, by virtue of whose merit “He joyously leads out prisoners” (Psalms 68:7) – these are Israel, who were enslaved in Egypt. What did the Holy One blessed be He do? He matched Yokheved with Amram, so that a redeemer would emerge from them and redeem Israel.
Another matter: “God settles individuals [in a house]” (Psalms 68:7) – these are Israel, who descended as individuals with seventy people, and the Holy One blessed be He rendered them houses, as it is stated: “The children of Israel were fruitful and prolific…” (Exodus 1:7). “He joyously leads out prisoners” (Psalms 68:7) – because they distanced themselves from licentiousness, He took them out of Egypt. Likewise, Solomon says: “A locked garden is my sister, my bride; [a locked fountain, a sealed spring]” (Song of Songs 4:12). “A locked garden” – these are the virgins. “A locked fountain” – these are the married women. “A sealed spring” – these are the single women. The Holy One blessed be He said to them: Due to their merit, I am redeeming My children. That is what is written: “Your branches [shelaḥayikh] are a pomegranate orchard” (Song of Songs 4:13) – by merit of this, I have sent you out [shelaḥayikh]. “It was when Pharaoh sent out [beshalakh]” (Exodus 13:17) – that is, due to the upright [kesherot] women, Israel departed from Egypt. That is why it is stated: “He joyously [bakosharot] leads out prisoners.”
Another matter: “He joyously [bakosharot] leads out prisoners” (Psalms 68:7) – what is bakosharot? When Israel departed from Egypt, they departed only at a propitious time [bakosharot]. Rabbi Akiva said: He took them out only in a month during which it was propitious to depart; not in Tamuz, due to the heat, and not in Tevet, due to the cold, but in Nisan, which is propitious for setting out on a journey, neither extreme heat nor extreme cold. If you say Tishrei, there are rainy seasons.²⁰Tishrei is followed by the rainy season, when it is difficult to travel, whereas Nisan is followed by mild weather. That is bakosharot.
Another matter: Bakosharot – Rabbi Elazar said: Bakosharot: Those who were weeping [bokhin], these are Israel and Moses: “Behold, a boy weeping” (Exodus 2:6), and likewise, “The children of Israel sighed…” (Exodus 2:23). They are singing [meshorerin] now, as it is stated: “Then Moses and the children of Israel sang” (Exodus 15:1); that is bakosharot.
Another matter: Bakosharot – Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya said: There are weeping [bekhiya] and singing [veshira] here. The Egyptians were weeping because they were despoiled, as Israel despoiled them and emptied their houses, as it is stated: “They stripped Egypt” (Exodus 12:36). Israel was singing, as they were loaded with the spoils of their enemies. That is, bakosharot.
Another matter: The master of a slave weeps because his slave fled before him. A slave sings because he was extricated from slavery. So, the Egyptians wept because Israel fled, as it is stated: “It was told to the king of Egypt that the people had fled” (Exodus 14:5). Israel was reciting song because they were extricated from slavery. That is bakosharot.
Another matter: By virtue of what merit did Israel depart from Egypt? Rabbi Ḥilefai said: It is by virtue of the merit of Jacob, as it is stated: Bakosharot, as likewise, it says: “He strove [vayasar] with an angel and prevailed; he wept [bakha] and pleaded with him” (Hosea 12:5).
Another matter: Bakosharot – our Rabbis say: It is by virtue of the women, the upright [hakesherot] matriarchs, as it is stated: Bakosharot. It is not written here bekhishron, but bakosharot,²¹In the feminine. the fair and upright.
Another matter: Bakosharot – due to the upright [haksherim] who were in their midst, they departed. Who were the upright among them? This is the tribe of Levi, as although Israel were idol worshippers in Egypt, the tribe of Levi would worship the Holy One blessed be He and circumcise themselves. That is why Moses lauds them before his death, as it is stated: “Because they observed Your saying, and they upheld Your covenant” (Deuteronomy 33:9). That is, due to the upright who were in their midst, Israel departed from Egypt.
Another matter: Bakosharot – by virtue of what merit did Israel depart from Egypt? Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: It is because the Holy One blessed be He foresaw that they are destined to craft a Tabernacle for Him, as it is stated: “They will know that I am the Lord their God, who took them out of the land of Egypt” (Exodus 29:46) in order “that I may dwell among them” (Exodus 29:46). That is, it was only by virtue of the merit of the Tabernacle that Israel departed from Egypt.
By virtue of what merit did the tribe of Levi depart? Was it, perhaps, by virtue of the Tent of Meeting that they, too, departed? Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: No, it was by virtue of their own merit that they departed. Therefore, when he came to count Israel at the beginning of the book, He mentions the Tent of Meeting and the exodus from Egypt, as it is stated: “The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting” (Numbers 1:1), and it mentions immediately, “[in the second year] of their exodus from the land of Egypt” (Numbers 1:1), to inform you that Israel departed from Egypt only by virtue of the merit of the Tent of Meeting. But the children of Levi, who departed by virtue of their own merit, when it came to count them, it does not mention in their passage the Tent of Meeting, nor the exodus from Egypt. That is what is written: “The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai…saying” (Numbers 1:1).

(Numb. 32:1:) “Much livestock.” This text is related (to Ps. 75:7), “For it is not from the east or from the west [or from the wilderness that there comes an exaltation (harim)].” What is the meaning of (Ps. 75:7) “For it is not from the east (rt.: mts') or from the west?”¹⁵Numb. R. 22:8. It is not from a person working hard by going out (rt.: mts') for trade and traveling from east to west and searching in wildernesses and on mountains (harim) that he becomes wealthy. Rather even if one sails away in ships to go from east to west and searches in wildernesses and on mountains (harim), he does not become wealthy. What is the meaning of (Ps. 75:7, cont.), “or from the wilderness that there comes an exaltation (harim)?” R. Abba Sanagoria says, “Every use of harim in Scripture denotes mountains except for here, where it denotes exaltation. Thus one is not exalted from these things.” So what does the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He takes possessions (nekhasim) from one and gives them to another, as stated (in Ps. 75:7, cont.), “For God it is who gives judgment; He brings down one man, He lifts up another.” That is why they are called nekhasim, as they are covered (nikhsim) from one and revealed to another. And why is the name of [common coins] called zuzim? Because they move (zazim) from one and are given to another. [It is called] money (mammon), because what you count (mah [she’atah] moneh) is not anything. [It is called] coins (ma’ot), because they are from time (me’et) to time. And one can expound [with these] expression[s of money]. And so did Hannah say (in I Sam. 2:7), “The Lord makes poor and makes rich; He casts down, He also (af) lifts high,” [meaning] with the anger (af) that He bring upon one, He lifts up the other. A certain matron asked R. Jose ben Halafta, “In how many days did the Holy One, blessed be He, create His world? He said to her, “In six days, as stated (in Exod. 31:17), ‘for in six day the Lord made the heavens and the earth.’”¹⁶Above, Numb. 1:18; Gen. R. 68:4; PRK 2:4; Lev. R. 8:1; Numb. R. 3:6; cf. above, Gen. 1:2. She said to him, “And what has He been doing since that time?” He said to her, “He sits down and makes ladders for raising up one and putting down another. Hence it is stated (in Ps. 75:7), ‘For God it is who gives judgment; He brings down one man, He lifts up another.’” You yourself know that, when He wanted the Children of Gad and the Children of Reuben to become wealthy, He brought down the Midianites in front of Israel, so that the Children of Gad and the Children of Reuben would become wealthy. What is written above (in Numb. 31:9)? “Then the children of Israel took the women and children of the Midianites captive, and all their cattle, all their livestock, and all their wealth they seized as plunder.” Then after that, it is written (in Numb. 32:1), “Now [the Children of Reuben and the Children of Gad] had much livestock.” See that He brought down the Midianites and raised up the Children of Reuben and the Children of Gad, to fulfill that which is stated, (in Ps. 75:8), “For it is not from the east or from the west…, for it is God who judges; He brings down one man, He lifts up another.”

Do not lift up your horns on high; speak not with a stiff neck. For not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes exaltation. When Belshazzar saw the handwriting on the wall (Daniel 5), he wondered if rebellion against him had arisen and sent for all the wise men of his kingdom, but none could interpret the writing. He then realized that his downfall was from God, who humbles one and exalts another, as it is said, "God brings low and he raises up" (1 Samuel 2:7). Another explanation: "This one will be humbled" refers to the incident with the Golden Calf when the people said of Moses, "This fellow Moses, we don't know what's become of him" (Exodus 32:1). "And this one will be exalted" refers to the time when God said, "Whoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book" (Exodus 32:33), whereupon the Levites came forward and slew the transgressors.