Бамидбар 20:14 Мидраш: Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, Sefer HaYashar (midrash), Midrash Tanchuma & Seder Olam Rabbah

What is written of Moses? (Numbers 20:14-16) "And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom … And our fathers went down to Egypt … and He hearkened to our voice." He (the king of Edom) said to them (the messengers): You take pride in what your father Isaac bequeathed to you — (Genesis 27:22) "The voice is the voice of Jacob", (Numbers 21:3) "And the L–rd hearkened to the voice of Israel" — and we take pride in what our father Isaac bequeathed to us — (Genesis, Ibid.) "and the hands are the hands of Esav", (Ibid. 40) "and by your sword will you live." As it is written (Numbers 20:18) "And Edom said to him: Do not pass through me, lest I go out against you with the sword," their trust being only in the sword. But Israel embraced the "trade" (prayer) of their fathers, the trade of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

And in the thirty-ninth year of the Israelites’ going out of Egypt, the Lord provoked the heart ‎of Sihon, king of the Amorites, to go forth and fight against the children of Moab. And Sihon ‎sent messengers to Beor the son of Janeus, the son of Balaam, counselor to the king of Egypt, ‎and unto Balaam his son, to curse Moab, that it might be delivered into the hands of Sihon. ‎And Beor and Balaam his son came, and they cursed Moab, and the Lord delivered the children ‎of Moab into the hands of Sihon; and Sihon slew the king of Moab, and he took all the cities of ‎Moab, including Heshbon which was one of the cities of Moab, and he placed his princes and ‎officers over Heshbon. Therefore they that spoke in proverbs, Beor and his son Balaam, speak ‎in these words, saying: Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and prepared. Woe to ‎thee, Moab, thou art undone, O people of Chemosh! Behold it is written in the book of the ‎law of God. And Sihon gave many presents unto Beor and his son Balaam, and they returned ‎to their home. And at that time all the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of ‎Moab, and they went around the wilderness of Edom, and they came into the wilderness of ‎Zin on the first month of the fortieth year after their going out of Egypt; and Israel abode there ‎in Kadesh, and there Miriam died, and she was buried in that place. Then Moses sent ‎messengers unto Hadad, king of Edom, saying: Let me pass, I pray thee, through thy country; ‎we will not pass through the fields or through the vine yards, neither will we drink of the ‎waters of the wells; we will go by the king's highway. And Edom said unto him: Thou shalt not ‎pass by me; and Edom went forth against Israel with a numerous host, but the children of ‎Israel removed from Edom without fighting with them.‎ And the children of Israel journeyed from Kadesh and they came to Mount Hor.

Furthermore it says: Fear not, thou worm Jacob (Isa. 41:14). Why is Israel compared to a worm? To teach us that just as a worm has only a soft and tender mouth with which to strike at a hard cedar tree, so Israel has only its prayers. Idolaters are likened to a cedar, as Scripture states: Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon (Exod. 31:3). And yea, the Lord breaketh in pieces the cedars in Lebanon (Ps. 29:5). Whenever their enemies overpowered them, the Israelites would become penitent and would plead and pray. Hence it says: I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren which I took out of the hand of the Amorites, with my sword and with my bow (Gen 48:29). Did he actually seize it with his sword and his bow? Has it not already been said: For I trust not in my bow, neither can my sword save me (Ps. 44:7)? This implies that my sword refers to prayer and my bow to beseeching. Scripture says: And this for Judah, and he said: “Hear Lord, the voice of Judah,” etc. (Deut. 33:7). Similarly, David said: Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a javelin; but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast taunted (I Sam. 17:45). It says also: Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will make mention of the name of the Lord his God (Ps. 20:8), and it is said: There is none beside Thee to help, between the mighty and him that hath no strength; help us, O Lord our God; for we rely on Thee, and in Thy name are we come against this multitude. Thou art the Lord our God; let not man prevail against thee (II Chron. 14:10). Concerning Moses it states: And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom … how our fathers went down into Egypt, and when we cried unto the Lord, He heard our voice (Num. 20:14–15). He said to them: Ye exalt yourselves because of your fathers’ legacy to you, but the voice is the voice of Jacob, and the hands are the hands of Esau (Gen. 27:40). Thus the verse The children of Israel cried out unto the Lord indicates that they followed the practices of their fathers. After they cried out to Him, the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself to them, as it is said: But from thence ye will seek the Lord thy God; and thou shall find him (Deut. 4:29).