Midrasz do Psalmów 3:8

And his sister stood from afar... - Why did Miriam stand from afar? Rabbi Amram said in the name of Rav: Because Miriam prophesied and said "In the future, Mother will give birth to a child that will be the savior of the Jewish people." When Moshe was born, the entire house was filled with light. [Miriam's] father arose and kissed her on the head. He [Amram] said to her [Miriam]: "My daughter, your prophecy has been fulfilled". That is what is said (Exodus 15:20) "And Miriam the Prophetess, the brother of Aharon, took the tambourine..." Was she only the brother of Aharon and not the brother of Moshe? Rather, she had stated that prophecy while she was the sister of Aharon and not (yet) the sister of Moshe. When they put him (Moshe) in the river, her mother arose and hit her on the head and said to her daughter: "My daughter, where is your prophecy!?" And this is why the verse says "And his sister stood by from afar", for she wanted to know what would be the results of her prophecy. And the Rabbis say the entire verse was said with the Divine Spirit. "And she stood" similar to (Samuel I 3:10) "And G-D came and stood". "His Sister" similar to (Proverbs 7:4) "Say to wisdom, she is your sister". "From afar" similar to (Jeremiah 31:2) "From afar G-D is seen to me". "To know what will happen to him" similar to (Samuel I 2:3) "For G-D is all knowing".

"And his sister stood back" - Why did Miriam stand back? Rabbi Amram said in the name of Rav: "Because Miriam had prophesied: 'In the future, my mother will give birth to a son who will save Israel'. When Moses was born, the whole house was filled with light; her father rose and kissed her on the head. He said to her: 'My daughter! Your prophecy has come to pass' - as it is written [Exodus 15:20]: 'And Miriam the prophetess, sister of Aaron, took up the timbrel.' [Why was she called] 'Sister of Aaron,' and not 'sister of Moses'?! Because when she issued her prophecy, she was [only] the sister of Aaron - Moses had not been born yet. When she cast him into the Nile, her mother rose and struck her on the head. She said: 'My daughter! What has become of your prophecy?!' This is why it is written 'his sister stood back etc.': in order to know would become of her prophecy. And our rabbis taught: This entire verse speaks [not of Miriam, but] of the Holy Spirit. 'And she stood...' refers to 'The LORD came and stood...' [I Samuel 3:10]; '[His] sister' refers to 'Say to Wisdom: "You are my sister"' [Proberbs 7:4]. 'Back' refers to 'The Lord appeared to me from far back' [Jeremiah 31:3]. 'In order to know what would happen to him' refers to 'For the LORD is a God of knowledge.' [I Samuel 2:3]".

(Est. 5, 1) And placed herself in the inner court of the king's house. R. Levi said: "As soon as she reached the house of idols, the Shechina left her; so she began to say (Ps. 22, 2) My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Doth thou hold guilty one who does a thing unintentionally as though she did it intentionally, and what one is compelled to do as if she did it voluntarily?" (Ib.) And it happened when the king saw Esther the queen. R. Jochanan said: "Three angels came to her help at the same time; one angel raised her head [that the king might see her]; one, who strung a chord of grace (protection) around her, and one who stretched out the sceptre which the king handed out to her." How far did it stretch? R. Jeremiah said: "Its usual length was two cubits and it became twelve cubits long"; and others say it stretched to sixteen. R. Joshua b. Levi said: "To twenty-four." R. Chisda said: "To sixty." So also we find that it happened with the arm of Pharaoh's daughter; and thus also it happened with the teeth of Og, as it is whitten (Ps. 3, 8) The teeth of the wicked Shibarta, and Resh Lakish said: "Do not read Shibarta (hast thou broken) but read it Shibabta (that became ramified)." Rabba b. Uphran, in the name of R. Eliezer, who had heard it from his master, who quoted his master, said: "It became longer by two hundred ells."

(Ex. 2, 5) And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river. Said R. Jochanan in the name of R. Simon b. Jochai: "From this it may be inferred that she came down to cleanse herself from the idols of her father's house, and so also do we find [that the word 'washing' is applied for idols.] (Is. 4, 4) When the Lord shall have washed away the filth from the daughters of Zion." (Ex. 2, 5) And her maidens walked along by the side of the river. Said R. Jachanan: "The word halicha (walk), is used in connection with death, and so also does the passage read, (Gen. 25, 32) Behold I am going (holech) to die." (Gen. 2, 5) And when she saw the box among the flags; i.e., as soon as her maidens noticed that she desired to save Moses they said to her: "Our princess, the custom of the universe is that if a frail king issues a decree even though the decree is not observed by the rest of the world, nevertheless the king's sons and household obey it and thou art transgressing the decree of thy father, [which caused the throwing of the children in the river]." Thereupon the angel, Gabriel, came and smote them upon the ground [thus the above meaning, going to death, is derived]. (lb.) She sent Amatha and fetched it. R. Juda and R. Nechemiah differ in the explanation of Amatha. One said it means her hand, while the other contends that it means her maid. The one that explains it to mean hand bases his opinion upon the text (amatha, means arm), but the one that explains it to mean maid bases his opinion that for hand the text should have used Yada (hand), [which could not be misunderstood]. But how can you interpret Amatha maid? Have we not said above that Gabriel came and smote them upon the ground? One of the maidens was left, for it is not customary to leave a princess without a maiden. Again, the one who interprets Amatha hand, why did not the text used rather Yada? By using Amatha it informs us that her arm became stretched out, for the master said: "So also we find that it happened with the arm of Pharaoh's daughter! and thus also it happened with the teeth of the wicked [Og] as it is written (Ps. 38) The teeth of the wicked Shibarta, and Resh Lakish said: Do not read Shibarta (hast Thou broken) but read it Shirbabta (that became remified)."

And they wept. Why did they weep? This may be compared to a situation in which a wolf attacks a ram. The ram gores the wolf with his horns, while the wolf sinks his teeth into the ram’s horn until they both cry out. The wolf cries out because he is unable to do any harm to the ram, and the ram cries out because he is fearful that the wolf might attack him once again and kill him. Esau and Jacob cried out for the same reason. Esau cried because Jacob’s neck had become as hard as marble, and Jacob cried out because he was afraid that Esau might try to bite him again. Scripture says about Jacob: Thy neck is as a ivory tower (Song 7:5), and it describes what happened to Esau: Thou hast broken the teeth of the wicked (Ps. 3:8). The Holy One, blessed be He, told Israel: In this world I cast down those who hate thee, but in the world-to-come I will place men beneath thee (Isa. 43:4).

Chapter 2: Rabbi Yochanan opened: "But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall have no way to flee, and their hope shall be the drooping of the soul." (Job 11:20), a body that isn't destroyed and its soul leaves in a fire that doesn't extinguish, and about them the scripture says: "For their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched." (Isaiah 66:24). Said Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: One time, I walked on the road and I found Elijah the Prophet, his memory for blessing. He said to me: Is it your desire that I place you at the gate of Gehinnom? I said to him: Yes. He showed me humans that were hanging by their noses and humans that were hanging by their hands and humans that were hanging by their tongues and humans that were hanging by their legs, and he showed me women that were hanging by their chests, and he showed me humans that were hanging by their eyes, and he showed me humans to whom they were feeding their flesh and humans to whom they were feeding hot coals of broom-wood and humans sitting alive and worms were eating them. He said to me: These are the ones that about them it is written "For their worm shall not die." (ibid.). And he showed me humans to whom they were feeding fine sand, and they were feeding them against their will and their teeth were breaking, and the Holy One Blessed Is He was saying to them: Evil ones, when you ate stolen [food], it was sweet in your mouths, and now there isn't within you the strength to eat, to fulfill that which is said: "You break the teeth of the wicked." (Psalms 3:8). And he showed me humans whom they were casting from the fire to the snow and from the snow to the fire like this shepherd who shepherds his sheep from mountain to mountain, and about them the scripture says: "Sheeplike they head for Sheol, with Death as their shepherd. The upright shall rule over them at daybreak, and their form shall waste away in Sheol till its nobility be gone." (ibid. 49:15). Said Rabbi Yochanan: Each individual angel is appointed to exact the punishment of one sin. This one comes and judges him and goes on his way, and so the second one and so the third one and so all of them until they recompense for all the sins that are in his hand. To what is the matter similar? To a debtor who had many creditors and they brought him before the king. Said to them the king: What should I do for you? Go and split it (his money) between yourselves. [So too] at that time, his soul is passed in Gehinnom to cruel angels and they split it between themselves.

(Fol. 54a) Our Rabbis taught: "He who sees the passages where Israel crossed the sea, the Jordan, the passage of the brook of Arnon, the stones of the declivity of Beth Charan, the stone which Og attempted to throw upon Israel, the stone upon which Moses was sitting when Joshua fought Amalek, Lot's wife who became a pillar of salt, and the walls of Jericho which sank in their foundations, should give praise and thanksgiving to God." (Ib. b) The stone which Og, King of Bashan, tried to throw upon Israel is delivered by tradition as follows: "The camp of Israel [I see]," said he, "extends three miles. I shall therefore go and uproot a mountain three miles in extent and throw it upon them and kill them." He went and uprooted a mountain three miles in extent, and raised it above his head. But the Holy One, praised be He! sent a host of ants to the mountain and they bored a hole in it causing it to fall over his head and rest on his shouldrers. He tried to throw it oft, but his teeth protruding one into the other, had riveted it upon him and he was not able to throw it off. Thus is understood the passage (Ps. 3, 8.) Thou hast broken the teeth of the wicked; and as R. Simon ben Lakish explained it, for R. Simon b. Lakish said: "Do not read it Shibarta (Thou hast broken) but read it Shirbabta (that became ramified), i.e., Thou hast caused to branch out." What was Moses' height? Ten cubits; he seized an axe ten cubits long, sprang up ten cubits, and struck Og's ankle a mighty blow which killed him. R. Juda in the name of Rab said: "Four classes of people are in duty bound to return thanks to God. Those who have returned from a voyage at sea; those who have traveled in the desert; those who have recovered from a serious illness, and those who are liberated from prison." Whence do we learn this concerning those that have returned from a voyage at sea? It is written (Ps. 107, 23-31.) They who go down to the sea in ships, etc. These have seen the wonders of the Lord. For he spoke, and he raised the stormy wind. They would mount up to heaven, they would go down to the depths. They would reel to and fro, etc. And they were rejoiced because they were silent. They shall therefore give thanks unto the Lord. Whence do we infer this concerning those who have traveled in the deserts? It is written (Ib. ib. 4-8.) They wandered about in the wilderness, hungry and thirsty. Then they cried unto the Lord, and he led them forth upon the right road. Therefore they shall give thanks unto the Lord. Whence do we infer this concerning those who have recovered from a serious illness? It is written (Ib. ib. 17-2.) Fools, because of their transgression. All manner of food their soul abhorreth. But when they cry unto the Lord. He sendeth his word and healeth them. They therefore shall give thanks unto the Lord. Whence do we know this concerning those who have been liberated from prison? it is written (Ib. ib. 10-20.) Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. Because they have rebelled against the words of God. And he humbled their hearts with trouble But when they cry unto the Lord He bringeth them out of the darkness. They, therefore, shall give thanks unto the Lord. How shall they say the grace? R. Juda said: "Blessed art thou who bestoweth kindness." Abaye said: "It should be said in the presence of ten persons, as it is written (Ib. ib. 32) And they must exalt him in the congregation of people." Mar Zutra said: "And two of the ten shall be learned men, as it is written (Ib. ib.) And in the assembly of the elders must they praise Him." (Fol 55a) R. Jochanan and R. Elazar both said: "As long as the Temple was in existence, the altar was [the means of] atonement for Israel, but now [since there is no Temple], each man's table is [the means of] atonement."