Comentário sobre Números 11:16

אספה לי GATHER UNTO ME [SEVENTY MEN OF THE ELDERS OF ISRAEL] — "This" — the Lord said — “is the reply to your complaint which you uttered (v. 14) I am not able to bear all this people alone”’ (cf. Sifrei Bamidbar 92). But where were the first elders, that God commanded him to gather elders anew? Had they not sat as judges together with them (with Moses and Aaron) in Egypt, as it is stated, (Exodus 3:16) “Go and gather the elders of Israel together”? But these had died by the consuming fire of Taberah (v. 3). They really had deserved this for their conduct at Sinai, as it is said, (Exodus 24:11) "And they beheld God” which means, that they comported themselves irreverently towards God — like a person who nibbles his bread and at the same time addresses the king — for this is the meaning of the words, “[And they saw God] and ate and drank”. The Holy One, blessed be He, however, did not wish to give any cause for mourning at the joyous event of the Lawgiving, and therefore punished them here (at Taberah) (Midrash Tanchuma, Beha'alotcha 16).

AND THE ETERNAL SAID UNTO MOSES: GATHER UNTO ME SEVENTY MEN OF THE ELDERS OF ISRAEL. Our Rabbis have already mentioned that there are seventy nations¹⁹⁰Bereshith Rabbah 66:8. with seventy languages,¹⁹¹Sanhedrin 17 a. each one having a constellation in the heavens with a prince above it, as it is said in the Book of Daniel, and the prince of the kingdom of Persia,¹⁹²Daniel 10:13. See Ramban in Leviticus 18:25, and also Vol. I, pp. 349-350. and it is [further] written with reference to the kings of Greece, lo, the prince of Greece shall come;¹⁹³Daniel 10:20. and it is about this that Scripture states, And the Eternal will punish the host of the high heaven on high.¹⁹⁴Isaiah 24:21. The Rabbis have also said¹⁹⁵Succah 58 b. that the [seventy] bullocks [brought as offerings on the seven days] of the Festival of Tabernacles allude to them. [A similar reference to the seventy princes we find, in connection with the Tower of Babel] in the Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer:¹⁹⁶Chapters of Rabbi Eliezer. Chapter 24. “Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to the seventy kings that surround the throne of His Glory: ‘Let us come and confound their language.’”¹⁹⁷Genesis 11:7. It was for this reason that the number of those who went down to Egypt was seventy,¹⁹⁸Ibid., 46:27. and that He commanded that there should be this number of judges in Israel [as is stated in the verse before us], for this number includes all opinions [that are possible in a given case] since it comprises all powers, and there will not be anything too hard for them.¹⁹⁹Deuteronomy 17:8-9: If there arise a matter ‘too hard for thee’ in judgment … then shalt thou arise etc. — and go to the judges of the Great Sanhedrin and they will answer you. The point is thus clear: there will not be anything “too hard” for them. Similarly at the Giving of the Torah [special prominence was given to] seventy elders of Israel,²⁰⁰Exodus 24:1. and it is fitting that the Glory of the Divine Presence should rest upon [a group of] this perfect number, since it is [comparable to] the camp on high, for Israel are the hosts of the Eternal²⁰¹Ibid., 12:41. See also Vol. I, p. 393. on earth, just as the ark and its cover and the Tabernacle were all made in the likeness of those that minister [before Him] on high. So also were the [four] standards made in the image of the Divine Chariot which Ezekiel saw,²⁰²Ezekiel, Chapter I. in order that the Divine Presence should rest upon them on earth as it is present in the heavens.
Now Moses was above the seventy elders [in authority], thus alluding to Israel, a nation one in the earth.²⁰³II Samuel 7:23. And our Rabbis have received by tradition that every Sanhedrin (Great Court) that sits in G-d’s House in the place which He shall choose on which to rest His Presence, should consist of this number, seventy, with the head [of the Court] above them [in authority] like Moses our teacher, and thus they comprise [a Court] a seventy-one [judges, and with the Divine Presence in their midst they are seventy-two]. Similarly the letters in the Great Ineffable Divine Name are seventy-two, corresponding to the seventy princes [of the seventy nations, together with Israel, making seventy-one nations],²⁰⁴Abusaula, and so also in Beiur Ha’lvush to Ricanti. and the One G-d who is the sole Master over all. It is to this that Scripture hints in saying, G-d standeth in the congregation of G-d; in the midst of the judges He judgeth,²⁰⁵Psalms 82:1. for the Divine Presence is with them to assent to their judgment. And Scripture further states, How long will ye judge unjustly?,²⁰⁶Ibid., Verse 2. thus admonishing [and saying] that since the Glorious Name²⁰⁷Deuteronomy 28:58. is with them in giving judgment,²⁰⁸II Chronicles 19:6. how can you not be fearful of Him when you pervert justice, as in the expression, the people that provoke Me to My face continually.²⁰⁹Isaiah 65:3. And it states furthermore [in that psalm], “I said: Ye are godlike beings, and all of you sons of the Most High,²¹⁰Psalms 82:6. for your number is the same as the number of the princes above and the One Master, and so I said that you will sit in the seat of G-d²¹¹Ezekiel 28:2. on earth. But ‘k’adam’ ye shall die²¹²Psalms 82:7. — like the first man [Adam] who was driven from his glorious place [in the Garden of Eden] and died, so will you [who judge unjustly] be driven out of the House of G-d and die. And like one of the princes²¹²Psalms 82:7. on high you were, but you fell from that high position.” I have already mentioned something of this matter in Seder V’eileh Hamishpatim.²¹³And these are the ordinances — Exodus 21:1. The verse referred to is ibid., 6.

אספה לי שבעים איש, "gather for Me seventy men, etc." G'd did not say: "gather the seventy elders for Me." This is proof of what Bamidbar Rabbah 15,21 stated that the elders who had accompanied Moses on the way from Egypt had all been killed at the same time as Chur the son of Miriam. This is why G'd instructed Moses to appoint others in their place from amongst the elders of Israel. G'd added the word לי "for Me," to tell Moses that he must have in mind that these elders would perform a task for G'd so that he would not be misled by Satan to appoint someone not qualified. Once Moses had the right intention in appointing them he would be protected by the principle that people in the process of performing a good deed will not be thwarted in their intention.