Midrasz do Wyjścia 32:10

Rabbi Menaḥem bar Avin interpreted the verse as referring to Moses. “And Yokim” (I Chronicles 4:22) – on the basis of: “Rise [kuma] Lord, and let Your enemies be scattered” (Numbers 10:35). “And the people of Kozeva” (I Chronicles 4:22) – as he rendered the word of the Holy One blessed be He like falsehoods [kazav], as it is stated: “Why, Lord, is Your wrath enflamed at Your people?” (Exodus 32:11).⁷⁵God had said that He would consume the Israelites (Exodus 32:10), but after Moses’ prayer, He relented and did not destroy them. “Yoash” (I Chronicles 4:22) – as he despaired [nitya’ash] of living,” as it is stated: “And if not, please expunge me” (Exodus 32:32). “And Saraf” (I Chronicles 4:22) - as he mentioned the act of those who were burned [serufim], “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants” (Exodus 32:13).⁷⁶See footnote 18. “Who had dominion [ba’alu] over Moav” (I Chronicles 4:22) – as his pleasant actions ascended [alu] and came before his Father [aviv] in Heaven. “And Yashuvi Laḥem” (I Chronicles 4:22) – as he ascended on high and captured the Torah, on the basis of what is stated: “You ascended on high and you took a captive [shevi]” (Psalms 68:19).
“And the matters are ancient [atikim]” (I Chronicles 4:22) – Rabbi Aivu and Rabbi Yehuda ben Simon, Rabbi Aivu said: Even items that were taken [nitatku] from them, [Moses] returned, as it is stated: “Hew for yourself [two tablets of stone like the first]” (Exodus 34:1). These matters⁷⁷On the tablets. were stated by He who will [ultimately] remove [ma’atik] the world, as it is said: “He removed from there” (Genesis 12:8).⁷⁸Thus, the term atikim in the verse in I Chronicles is interpreted to refer to the tablets broken by Moses and then replaced, which contained the word of God. Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon said: These matters are vague here, but explicit elsewhere. He restored [the tablets] to them, as it is stated: “The Lord said to Moses: ‘Write these matters for yourself, as on the basis of these matters [I have established a covenant with you and with Israel]’” (Exodus 34:27). “They are the yotzerim” (I Chronicles 4:23) – on the basis of: “The Lord God formed [vayitzer]” (Genesis 2:19).⁷⁹The midrash interprets the word yotzerim in the sense of yetzurim, creations. The subject is the words of Torah, because God’s intent in creating the world was in order to give the Torah (Etz Yosef).
Another matter, “they are the yotzerim” (I Chronicles 4:23) – these are the souls of the righteous with whom the Holy One blessed be He consulted when creating the world. “And the dwellers among the plants” (I Chronicles 4:23) – on the basis of: “And the Lord God planted” (Genesis 2:8). “And a fence” (I Chronicles 4:23) – on the basis of what is stated: “Who placed the sand for the bound of the sea” (Jeremiah 5:22). “With the king in his service” (I Chronicles 4:23) – the souls of the righteous sat there with the King who is the king of kings, the Holy One blessed be He, and He consulted them and created His world.

What is meant by When He hath said, will He not do it? It means that though He should decide in a moment of anger to inflict misfortune, He might rescind that decision. For example, though He said to Moses: Let Me alone that I may destroy them and blot out their name (Deut. 9:14), He did not do so, for The Lord repented of the evil (Exod. 32:14). Likewise, though He declared: Now, therefore, let Me alone that My wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them (ibid., v. 10), yet he did not do so. Instead, the Holy One, blessed be He, exclaimed: I have pardoned according to thy word (Num. 14:20). Hence, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: I am not a man who threatens to do evil and then haughtily does it.

22 (Numb. 14:11) “Then the Lord said unto Moses, ‘How long ('ad-'anah) will this people scorn Me, and how long ('ad-'anah) will they have no faith in Me?’”: The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “I have uttered two cries (of 'ad-'anah) because of you. Your end shall be to cry out in the subjection of the four empires: (Ps. 13:2-3,) ‘How long ('ad-'anah), O Lord, will you forget me forever; how long ('ad'-'anah) will you hide Your face from me? How long ('ad-'anah) shall I take counsel in my soul with grief in my heart [all day]; how long ('ad-'anah) will my enemy be exalted over me?’ I cried out (in Numb. 14:27), ‘How long ('Ad-matay) shall this evil congregation [be murmuring against me]?’ Your end shall be to cry out (in Ps. 6:4), ‘My soul also is greatly dismayed; [and You, O Lord, how long ('ad-matay)]?’” (Numb. 14:12) “I will strike them with pestilence”: Moses said, “Master of the world, look at the covenant with their ancestors, to whom You swore that You would raise up from them kings, prophets, and priests!” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “But are you not one of their children?” (Ibid., cont.) “Then I will make you into a nation that is greater [and more numerous than they]!’” When Moses saw [how things were], he took a different course (in Numb. 14:13-14): “But Moses said unto the Lord, ‘When the Egyptians hear [what happened]…, they will say unto the inhabitants of this land.’” They will say, “He had no power to sustain them.” He said to him, “But have they not seen the miracles and the mighty deeds which I did for them in Egypt and by the sea?” They will say, “He was able to stand against us, [but] He was not able to stand against thirty one kings.³³See Josh. 12:9-14. Master of the universe, act on Your behalf. (Numb. 14:17) “So now please let the power of the Lord increase,” and let the principle of mercy overcome the principle of justice. (Ibid., cont.) “As you have promised, saying”: I said to You, “With what principle do You judge Your world,” as stated (in Exod. 33:13) “Please make Your ways known to me.” So you removed (rt.: 'br) [the principle of justice] from me (according to Exod. 34:6), “And the Lord passed by (rt.: 'br) [before] him, and proclaimed.” Fulfill that principle of which You told me; (according to Exod. 34:6) “The Lord, the Lord is of long patience, of great kindness…” (Numb. 14:19) “Please pardon [the sin of this people].” The Holy One, blessed be He, accepted his words and conceded to him, [as stated] (Numb. 14:20), “Then the Lord said, ‘I have pardoned like your words.’” As truly in the future, Egypt will say like your words.

And it came to pass after these words that God did prove Abraham (Gen. 22:1). Scripture states elsewhere in reference to this verse: Forasmuch as the king’s word hath power; and who may say unto him: “What dost thou?” whoso keepeth the commandment shall know no evil thing (Eccles. 8:4–5). What is meant by this verse? Whatsoever the Holy One, blessed be He, desires to do, He may do, and none may stay His hand. What then can be the meaning of And who may say unto Him: “What doest Thou?” whoso keepeth the commandment, etc.? These words whoso keepeth the commandment allude to the righteous men who perform the commandments of the Holy One, blessed be He. And it is their decree that He fulfills, as it is written: Thou shalt also decree a thing and it shall be established unto thee, and the light shall shine upon thy ways (Job 22:28). An example of this is what occurred after they made the golden calf. Though the Holy One, blessed be He, desired to destroy them, our master, Moses, restrained the Holy One, blessed be He, as though that were possible, just as a man restrains his companion. Hence the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: And now let Me be (Exod. 32:10). We learn this as well from the verse: Let Me alone that I may destroy them (Deut. 9:14). Therefore Scripture says: Who may say unto him: “What doest thou?” whoso keepeth the commandment.

Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb (Exod. 17:6). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Wherever you find the imprint of a man’s foot, there I stand before you. And thou shalt smite within the rock. It does not say “upon the rock (al ha-tsur),” but within the rock (batsur). And there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink … and the name of the place was called Massah. R. Joshua stated: Moses named it Massah, as it is said: And he called the name of the place Massah. R. Eleazar of Modi’im said: And the Omnipresent called it Massah and Meribah. Because of this the Great Court is called the place.¹⁵Massah and Meribah means “trial and strife,” and the since Great Court was a place of massah and meribah, it is that which is referred to here. It is also called the place in Deut. 17:8. And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying: “What shall I do unto this people? They are almost ready to stone me” (Exod. 17:4). Moses cried to the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the world, I shall be slain, for I am trapped between you and them. You commanded me not to be angry at them, when you said to me: Carry them in thy bosom (Num. 11:12), but now they wish to stone me. In this instance the Holy One, blessed be He, had suppressed His anger, while Moses increased his, but elsewhere the Holy One, blessed be He, increased (his anger), while Moses suppressed his, as is said: Now therefore, let Me alone that My anger may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them; and Moses besought the Lord (Exod. 32:10–11). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: You said They are almost ready to stone me, now Pass on before the people (ibid. 17:5), and let Me see who will stone you. He began to walk before them, and all the Israelites arose and treated him with honor and deference. The Holy One, blessed be He, declared: Many times I commanded you not to lose patience with them, but to lead them as a shepherd does his flock. It was for their sake that I elevated you, and it was because of them that you found grace, life, and honor in My sight.

The Holy One, blessed be He, sent five angels to destroy Israel. (The angels were) Wrath, Anger, Temper, Destruction, and Glow of Anger. Moses heard, and he went to invoke Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the Cave of Machpelah, and he said: If ye be of the children of the world to come, stand ye before me in this hour, for behold your children are given over like sheep to the slaughter. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob stood there before him. Moses spake before the Holy One, blessed be He (saying): Sovereign of all the worlds ! Didst Thou not swear to these (forefathers) thus to increase their seed like the stars of the heaven, as it is said, "Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven" (Ex. 32:18).