Midrash sa Isaias 40:9: Midrash Tanchuma, Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Aggadat Bereshit & Midrash Tehillim

Sometime later R. Eliezer and R. Joshua met him and noticed that his countenance had changed. They said to each other: “Aquila must be studying the Torah.” When he drew near them, he asked numerous questions which they answered. Later he returned to his uncle, Hadrian, who asked him: “Why has your countenance changed? I am inclined to think that your business was unsuccessful or that some person oppressed you.” (He answered) “That is not so. You are my relative, and no man would dare oppress me.” Hadrian continued asking him: “But why has your countenance changed?” “I have studied the Torah,” he replied, “and I was also circumcised.” “Who advised you to do that?” he asked. “You did,” he answered. “When did I do that?” “When I told you I desired to engage in business, you said: ‘Whatever merchandise you find low, that is worthless, and lying on the ground because it is ignored, do business in it, for it will finally rise in value.’ I have traveled among the nations and have found nothing so low and so cast down as Israel, and it is destined to rise, as Isaiah said: Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One, to him who is despised of men, to him who is abhorred of nations, to a servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the Lord that is faithful, even the Holy One of Israel, who hath chosen thee” (Isa. 40:9). His advisor said to him: “Are these the ones about whom you spoke—will a king arise before them in the future, as it is said: Kings shall see and arise?” Hadrian struck him (the advisor) upon his cheek and shouted: “Now go dress that wound. If they saw just one legionary they would be unable to rise up against him, yet you dare say of them: Kings shall see and arise before them.”

Another interpretation (of Gen. 27:22): THE VOICE IS THE VOICE OF JACOB, BUT THE HANDS ARE THE HANDS OF ESAU. The hands of Esau shall be shaken when the voice of Jacob comes. This (coming voice of Jacob) refers to the Messianic King, according to what is stated (in Is. 40:9): GO UP UPON A HIGH MOUNTAIN, O HERALD OF GOOD TIDINGS TO ZION, RAISE YOUR VOICE WITH STRENGTH.

Chapter (79) 80: Prophets [1] And it came to pass when the offering was completed (1 Chronicles 18:26). This can be compared to the second thread and the end, like a tower, etc. (Song of Songs 4:4) Like the second thread of your lips, you used to say, "We will do and we will listen," like the thread of the veil that separated between holy and profane, so I separated you from all the nations. Why was Israel compared to the veil? Rabbi Berechiah said, "There was no vessel in the Temple more praiseworthy than the veil" (and so we learn in Tractate Middot). It was forty cubits long and twenty cubits wide, woven with seventy-two threads, and the thread was folded twenty-four times. Everyone desired to see it, and whoever saw it was not satisfied, as there was no form in the world as praiseworthy as it, and there was no form in the world that did not have an image, as it is said, "The work of the skillful workman" (Exodus 26:1). He made them in the form of cherubim, arranged in rows, just as you were before, like the second thread of your lips. "And your speech is comely" (Song of Songs 4:3), when you said to Moses, "We are able" (Deuteronomy 5:22). Therefore, I said to Moses, "Well said, all that they have spoken" (ibid. 28), and for the reward they received, they immediately merited to have prophets arise from them, as it is said, "I will raise them up a prophet" (ibid. 18:18). "And your speech is comely," when you speak words of Torah. [Da'at Mikra 1 Chronicles 18:26] "Moreover, your speech is pleasant, and your conduct is seemly. Your conduct is nothing but a custom. And in their custom, they recite blessings as follows: they bless upon the luminaries, they read the Shema and pray, they read from the Torah, the Cohen reads first, the Levite second, and the Israelite third, and they conclude with the Haftarah. They stand and pray, and they pass before the Ark, the Cohanim open their palms, and they bless Israel. This is a proper custom, like the second thread of the ephod. And concerning your conduct, this is the Choshen (breastplate), which contained good stones fixed in order, with the names of the tribes engraved upon them. Rabbi Acha said: Why were the names of the tribes inscribed on the stones? Because they were all called Cohanim at Sinai, as it is said, "And you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests" (Exodus 19:6). The Holy One, blessed be He, said, "Is it possible that they should all offer sacrifices on the altar? Let all their names be inscribed upon the heart of the High Priest, so that whenever he enters to offer the sacrifice, each one of them should be considered as if he himself were the High Priest, vested in his priestly garments, like the blossom of the pomegranate, this is the Tzitz (forehead-plate), which extends over the forehead, and like the garland that is fastened behind, this is the Nezer (crown). Moreover, like the blossom of the pomegranate, your temples. The heads of the people of Israel are filled with commandments like the fruit of the pomegranate. "Through your temples," they assemble and congregate, and stand crowded together in the synagogues, and drink in the words of the Torah with thirst. "As a tower of David," your neck. This is the Temple, which is compared to the neck, and why? Because just as the neck is dearer than all the other members of the body, so that if one of the members of the body were removed, a man could still have life, but if the neck were severed, he could not live, even so Israel cannot exist without the Temple. "As a tower of David," your neck. Just as the neck of man is taller than all his other members, so too the Temple was taller than all the world, as it is said, "He set me down upon a very high mountain" (Ezekiel 40:2)." "As the neck supports the body, so too all of Israel is dependent on Abraham, as it says, 'The shield of Abraham, upon which a thousand shields hang' (Song of Songs 4:4). He does kindness for thousands (Exodus 20:6), and his commandment is for a thousand generations (Psalms 105:8). Through the merit of Abraham, the chain of the generations hangs upon him for a thousand generations, and through the merit of the three patriarchs, even more so. All the conquests of heroes (Song of Songs 3:7) refer not only to heroes but also to the righteous, as it says, 'Mighty heroes who do His bidding' (Psalms 103:20).In addition, "And your speech is comely" refers to the wilderness in which you dwell, which is comely before Me, all the more so the settled areas among you. Who are the wilderness people? These are the ignorant people who neither read nor study nor inquire. They are like a wilderness that does not produce fruit. They enter synagogues and houses of study, and bless, "Blessed be He who formed the luminaries and gives life to the dead," for He created and gives life to the dead, and they answer, "Amen," and say, "We believe that He gives life to the dead and created the world," even if they have nothing but the reward of this "Amen." Therefore, Isaiah praises the Holy One, blessed be He, saying, "Lord, Thou art our God; we will praise Thee" [Isaiah 25:1].