Йешайау 33:12 Мидраш: Shir HaShirim Rabbah, Midrash Tehillim, Bamidbar Rabbah & Midrash Tanchuma Buber

Rabbi Huna interpreted the verse regarding the kingdoms.²⁷The kingdoms within which the Jewish people are scattered in exile. Just as a lily, when it is situated among the thorns, a north wind emerges, tilts it northward, and the thorn pierces it, but, nevertheless, its stalk is directed upward; so, too, Israel, even though taxes and levies are collected from them, their heart is directed toward their Father in Heaven, as it is stated: “My eyes are always toward God” (Psalms 25:15).
Rabbi Aivu interpreted the verse regarding the future redemption.²⁸Literally, tomorrow’s redemption. Just as this lily, when it is situated among the thorns, it is difficult for its owner to pluck it; what does he do? He brings fire and burns [the thorns] around it and then plucks it. So too, “The Lord has commanded concerning Jacob that those that surround him should be his adversaries” (Lamentations 1:17), like Ḥalamish to Naveh, Jericho to No’aron, Susitan to Tiberias, Kastra to Haifa, Lod to Ono.²⁹All of these were gentile cities that were adjacent to Jewish cities. That is what is written: “This is Jerusalem, in the midst of the nations I have situated it” (Ezekiel 5:5). In the future, when the end of days will arrive, what will the Holy One blessed be He do? He will bring fire and burn around it. That is what is written: “Peoples will be burnings of lime, [cut thorns ignited with fire]” (Isaiah 33:12). What is written there? “The Lord alone will lead him [and there is no foreign god with Him]” (Deuteronomy 32:12).³⁰There will no longer be peoples who engage in idol worship (Onkelos).

12. “Be sincere [literally: kiss with purity]” (Psalms 2:12). [This Midrash reads the verse as “kiss the wheat”] This [relates to] that which is written, “Your navel is like a round goblet; [let mixed wine not be lacking; your belly is like a heap of wheat hedged about with lilies.]” (Song of Songs 7:2). Why is Israel compared to wheat, [such] that it is written, “your belly is like a heap of wheat” (ibid.)? Rabbi Iddi said, “Just as a [kernel of] wheat has a furrow through its middle and is [thus] distinguished from all other fruit; such that all other [foods] are secondary to it; so too Israel is distinguished from the idolatrous nations, with circumcision, and with tzitzit, and everyone is secondary to them.” Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said, “Just as with wheat, when they go out to be sown, they only go out [once they’ve been] counted, and when they are brought in [at time of the harvest], they are only brought in [once they’ve been] counted; so too with Israel – when they went down to Egypt, they went down [having been] counted, as it is said, “Your ancestors went down to Egypt as seventy souls” (Deuteronomy 10:22). And when they ascended [from the land of Egypt], they only did so [having been counted], as it is said, “[The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth,] around six hundred thousand [fighting men on foot, aside from noncombatants]” (Exodus 12:37).” Rabbi Chanina said, in response to [the teaching of] Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish, “Why is Israel compared to wheat? [The following parable will] tell you [why]. If a landlord has a steward, when he comes to [work] with him on [his] accounts, he doesn’t ask him “how many baskets of chaff did you bring into the storehouse?” or, “how many bundles of chaff did you bring into the storehouse?” or, “how many bundles of straw?” Rather, place the thorns in the fire, and winnow the chaff into the wind. And [thus], what does he say? “Pay attention to how much wheat you’re bringing into the storehouse.” Because [wheat] gives life to the world. This landlord is the Holy One, blessed be He, for all of the world is His, as it is said, “To God belongs the land and all that it contains” (Psalms 24:1). This [trusted] steward is Moses, as it is said, “in all my house he is [the most] trusted” (Numbers 12:7). And what did the Holy One, blessed be He, say to him? Pay attention to the idolators? No! Why? Because they are compared to straw: “[Your fury] consumes them like straw” (Exodus 15:7). And what do we do with straw? We soak it in water, as it is said, “[God] hurled Pharoah and his army into the Sea of Reeds” (Psalms 136:15). And they are compared to thorns, as it is said, “Nations shall be burnings of lime; thorns cut down that are set on fire” (Isaiah 33:12). But Israel is likened to wheat, as it is said, “your belly is like a heap of wheat” (Song of Songs 7:3). Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, “Pay attention to counting the Israelites, to know how many there are, as it is said, “When you take a census of the Israelites...” (Exodus 30:12).” Another interpretation of: “your belly is like a heap of wheat” (Song of Songs 7:3). An ear of wheat rises up and ascends, and her stem is long, and her leaves are wide and long, and the ear of wheat [sits at] the top of the stalk. And when the stalk is complete it becomes prideful and boasts, “For my sake was this field sown.” And the leaves become prideful and boast the same [boast]. The ear of wheat says to them, “Behold! The harvest [will soon] come and then everyone will be appeased, and will know for whom the field was [really sown].” After not much time, the harvest came. The straw was gathered into the fire. The chaff is thrown to the wind. And [only] the wheat is preserved in the granary, and everyone who sees it, takes it, and kisses it. So too the idolatrous nations. They say, “The world was made for our benefit.” And Israel says to them, “Is it not written that “Nations shall be burnings of lime; [thorns cut down that are set on fire]” (Isaiah 33:12)?” But Israel in the days to come [is destined] to be left alone, as it is said, “God alone did guide them, and there was no alien deity alongside Him” (Deuteronomy 32:12) [as if to say God guided Israel to the end of days, but He guided nobody else, he “guided them alone”]. Another interpretation of: “your belly is like a heap of wheat” (Song of Songs 7:3). Rabbi Yuden said, “This heap of wheat refers to the book of Leviticus since all of the sin and guilt offerings are written within it, as it says, “This is the law of the burnt-offering” (Leviticus 6:2); “This is the law of the sin offering” (ibid., 6:18); “This is the law of the guilt offering” (ibid., 7:1) – “hedged about with lilies” (Song of Songs 7:2) – this refers to words of Torah which are as delicate as lilies. How many commandments and details are contained within [the book of Leviticus]? How many laws does it contain concerning invalid sacrifices, and [how many laws] concerning leftover sacrificial meat?” Rabbi Levi said, “In the way of the world, if a man marries a woman of 20 or 30 years old, once he has settled his [wedding] expenses, he comes to her to be intimate with her. But if she says, “I have seen [the colour] or a red rose [i.e., I am menstruating],” he separates from her immediately. And what caused him not to draw near to her? What wall was there between then? What fence? What serpent bit him? What viper stung him? Rather, what stung him were the words of Torah, which are delicate like a lily, for it is written within her, “Do not approach [to be intimate with] a woman in her menstrual impurity” (Leviticus 18:19). And similarly, if someone brought a person a plate of meat, and he was hungry, but they told him that some forbidden fat had fallen within it, he will immediately rescind his hand from it, and he won’t taste it. And what caused him not to taste it? Nothing other than words of Torah, which are as delicate as a lily, like that which is written within them, “Do not eat any forbidden fats or any blood” (Leviticus 3:17).” Another interpretation of: “your belly is like a heap of wheat” (Song of Songs 7:3). Rabbi Huna said in the name of Rabbi Iddi, wouldn’t a heap of pinecones, or a heap of peppers be more beautiful? Why [then] are [the Israelites] compared to wheat? Rather, a person can live without pinecones and without pepper, but a person can never live without wheat. And just as it is impossible for a world to be without wheat, so too it is impossible for the world to be without Israel.

Another matter, “The number of the children of Israel will be…” (Hosea 2:1), Rabbi Avin HaLevi bar Rabbi began: “Everything by number and by weight…” (Ezra 8:34). Rabbi Avin said: All matters have a measure. Water has a measure, as it is stated: “Who measured the water in the hollow of his hand?” (Isaiah 40:12). The heavens have a measure, as it is stated: “And gauged the heavens with a span” (Isaiah 40:12). The dust has a measure, as it is stated: “And meted the dust of the earth with a measure” (Isaiah 40:12). The mountains have a measure, as it is stated: “And weighed mountains with scales” (Isaiah 40:12). Hills have a measure, as it is stated: “And hills with a balance” (Isaiah 40:12). All matters have a measure, as it is stated: “Everything by number and by weight.” The one who has neither weight nor measure is Israel, who have neither weight nor measure, as it is stated: “The number of the children of Israel will be like the sand of the sea [which cannot be measured and cannot be counted].” Just as the sand of the sea has no measure, the same is true for Israel.
To what is this matter comparable? It is to one who knew three crafts; he was a goldsmith, a potter, and a glazier.⁴²Of these types of craft, a goldsmith is considered the most sophisticated, the potter the lowest, and the glazier the middle. Anyone who was fond of him called him son of a goldsmith. Anyone who hated him called him [son] of a potter. Anyone who neither loved him nor hated him would call him [son] of a glazier. So it was with Moses; because he loved Israel, he likened them to stars, as it is stated: “Behold you are today as the stars of the heavens in abundance” (Deuteronomy 1:10). But Bilam, who hated them, likened them to dust, as it is stated: “Who has counted the dust of Jacob?” (Numbers 23:10). Hosea, who was neutral, he neither loved nor hated, likened them to sand, as it is stated: “The number of the children of Israel will be like the sand of the sea.”
Another matter, “like the sand of the sea,” Israel was likened to sand and the nations to lime, as it is stated: “Peoples will be burnings of lime” (Isaiah 33:12). If you do not place sand with the lime, it has no endurance. So, if there is no Israel, the nations of the world would be unable to endure. So you find that were it not for Joseph, Egypt would have been lost in the famine. Likewise, were it not for Daniel, the wise men of Babylon would have been lost.
Rabbi Menaḥma in the name of Rabbi Beivai, Rabba in the name of Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov: Israel was likened to sand; just as this sand, you make a hole in it in the evening and in the morning, you find that it is filled, so all the thousands that were lost in the days of David were restored in the days of Solomon, as it is stated: “Judah and Israel were numerous, like the sand that is by the sea in abundance” (I Kings 4:20). Rabbi Elazar in the name of Rabbi Yosei ban Zimra: Any time that Israel was counted for a purpose, they did not suffer a loss; for no purpose, they suffered a loss. Which is the time that they were counted for a purpose? It was in the days of Moses, with the banners and in the distribution of the land. For no purpose, it was in the days of David.