Мидраш к Шмот 16:7

R. Jochanan said in the name of R. Elazar b. R. Simon: "Wherever you find something said by R. Eliezer, the son of R. Jose, the Galilian, in the way of homeletics, make thy ear like the hopper [to receive his words]." (Deut. 7, 7) The Lord did not set His love upon you nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people, etc. The Holy one, praised be He! said unto Israel: "I love you, because at the time when I even overwhelm you with dignity, ye are belittling yourself before Me. For I gave dignity unto Abraham and he [in return] said (Gen. 18, 27) Who am I but dust and ashes. I did the same unto Moses and Aaron and they [in return] said (Ex. 16, 7) And what are we. Unto David, and he said (Ps. 22, 7) But I am a worm, and not a man. The other nations, however, behave differently; for when I gave dignity unto Nimrod, he then said (Gen. 11, 3) Come, let us build us a city. Unto Pharaoh, and he said (Ex. 5, 2) Who is the Lord? Unto Sennacherib, and he said (II Kings 18, 35) Who are they among all the gods of the countries, etc. Unto Nebuchadnezzar, and he said (Is. 14, 14) I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. Unto Chiram, King of Tyre, and he said (Ez. 28, 2) I sit in the seat of God, in the heart of the seas." Raba, and according to some authorities, R. Jochanan, said "The stand which the passage states was taken by Moses and Aaron is more [exhausting] than the one taken by Abraham; for concerning Abraham it is written, Who am but dust and ashes, while concerning Moses and Aaron, it is written, And what are we?" Raba, and according to others, R. Jochanan, said further: "The world would not have been in existence were it not for the sake of Moses and Aaron; for it is written here and what are we, and it is written elsewhere (Job 26, 7) He hangeth the earth over nothing."