Midrash sa Isaias 61:7: Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Bereshit Rabbah & Midrash Tehillim

Acher asked this question of R. Mair, after he had gone forth into the evil courses: "What is the meaning of the passage (Ecc. 7, 14) Also this hath God made in equal measure with the other?" He answered him: "Everything which the Holy One, praised be He! — created. He created with its counterpart. He created mountains and He created hills; He created seas and He created rivers." Acher said to him: "R. Akiba thy teacher did not say so, but he explained it as meaning that He created righteous and He created sinners; He created the garden of Eden and He created Gehenna. To every individual belongs two shares, one in the garden of Eden and the other in Gehenna. If one is meritorious and righteous, he receives his own portion and that of his neighbor in the garden of Eden. If he has incurred guilt, he receives his own portion and that of his neighbor in Gehenna." R. Mesharshia said: "Where is the passage to prove this? Concerning the righteous, it is written (Is. 61,7) Therefore in their hand shall they inherit a twofold (portion), and concerning the wicked, it is written (Jer. 17, 18) And strike them with a double breach."

In Rabbi Meir’s Torah they found written: “And, behold, it was very [me’od] good” – and, behold, death [mot] is good.⁶In a gloss next to the word me’od Rabbi Meir had written mot. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: I was once riding on the shoulders of my grandfather, going up from his city to Kefar Ḥanan via Beit She’an, and I heard Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar sitting and expounding in the name of Rabbi Meir: “And, behold, it was very good” – and, behold, death is good. Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina and Rabbi Yonatan, Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina said: Adam the first man was worthy not to have tasted the taste of death. Why, then, was he penalized with mortality? It is because the Holy One blessed be He foresaw that [his descendants] Nebuchadnezzar and Ḥiram king of Tyre were destined to render themselves deities. That is why he was penalized with mortality. That is what is written [concerning Ḥiram]: “You were in Eden, the Garden of God” (Ezekiel 28:13). Now, was Ḥiram actually in the Garden of Eden? This is a rhetorical question. Rather, He was saying to him: ‘It is you who caused the one in the Garden of Eden to die.’ Rabbi Ḥiyya, son of Rabbi Berekhya’s daughter, said in the name of Rabbi Berekhya: “You were a great cherub” (Ezekiel 28:14) – it is you [Ḥiram] who caused that cherub [Adam]⁷Adam is referred to as a cherub due to his lofty spiritual status. to die. Rabbi Yonatan said to him:⁸To Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina. If so,⁹If the reason for Adam’s mortality is as you say. let Him decree death for the wicked and not decree death for the righteous. The reason [He didn’t do this] is that it was so that the wicked should not feign repentance, so that the wicked should not say: ‘Do the righteous not live because they accumulate mitzvot and good deeds? We, too, will accumulate mitzvot and good deeds.’ The result would be acting [virtuously] for insincere motives.
Rabbi Yoḥanan and Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish, Rabbi Yoḥanan said:¹⁰In explanation of Rabbi Meir’s statement that death is a good thing. Why was death decreed for the wicked? The answer is that as long as the wicked are alive, they anger the Holy One blessed be He. That is what is written: “You wearied the Lord with your words” (Malachi 2:17). But once they die, they stop angering the Holy One blessed be He, as it is stated: “There anger has ceased for the wicked” (Job 3:17) – there they stop angering the Lord. And why was death decreed for the righteous? The answer is that as long as the righteous are alive, they engage in battle against their evil inclination, and when they die, they rest.¹¹In Paradise. That is what is written: “There rest those whose strength is sapped” (Job 3:17) – [those who say:] ‘We have toiled enough.’
Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: It¹²The benefit of dying and going on to the Next World. is to give these [the righteous] a double reward and to exact double retribution against those [the wicked]. It is to give reward to the righteous who were worthy of never tasting the taste of death. That is why, “therefore, they will inherit a double portion in their land” (Isaiah 61:7). And to exact retribution against the wicked, as the righteous were worthy of never tasting the taste of death, and it was only due to them [the wicked] that they accepted death upon themselves. They will therefore inherit double of what they have earned.¹³Double punishment. There are other versions that cite the verse: “Shatter them with double destruction” (Jeremiah 17:18).

Another thing that the verse (Psalms 97:7) said is, "All those who serve idols will be ashamed." Rabbi Yudan said in the name of Rav Nachman, "In the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will give real significance to idolatry that will come and bow down to the Holy One, blessed be He, and afterward, it will be ashamed of its worshippers." Rabbi Pinchas said, "In the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will give speech to the gentiles, and it will speak before its worshippers in the future, saying to them, 'You have acquired eternal life and have bowed down to the one of whom it is said, "They have a mouth, but cannot speak." And you have made the subsidiary the primary.' Rabbi Yochanan said, 'Do not wonder, for when the Holy One, blessed be He, descended on Sinai, He gave strength to the gentiles, and they bowed down to Him.' Rabbi Tachlifa quoted a supporting verse (Psalms 97:7), 'All gods bow down to Him.' 'They shall bow down to Him' means only that they shall bow down to Him, as they already bowed down to Him on Sinai. Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Nechemia said, 'Just as the gentiles were shattered into pieces, so were its worshippers shattered into pieces,' as it is said (Zechariah 14:12), 'This shall be the plague.' And the rabbis say, 'Just as the gentiles were burned with light, so were its worshippers burned with light,' as it is said (Zechariah 14:12), 'And this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the nations that waged war against Jerusalem - their flesh shall rot away while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall rot in their sockets, and their tongues shall rot in their mouths.'" Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, Rabbi Shmuel, and Rabbi Nehemia say: When the Holy One, blessed be He, will sit in judgment of the Gentiles and the Jews in the future, He judges the Jews favorably, and the Gentiles are ashamed. And what does the evil inclination do? It tries to sow discord between them, and they say: We seek justice that will be reversed. What does the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He judges them and obligates them, and they are ashamed again. If they had remained silent, they would have been ashamed only once. Therefore, they will be doubly ashamed in the future. And in the future, when every nation of Gentiles calls upon their god, some calling to the moon and some to the sun, they will not be answered because they are not real gods, and they will be ashamed, as it is said: "Let all the worshippers of graven images be ashamed." Then they will come before the Holy One, blessed be He, and He will say to them: "You have made the insignificant significant, and I make the significant insignificant, and I do not answer you because you did not come to Me first. If only you had come to Me first, I would have answered you, as it is said: 'They cried out, but there was no savior; to the Lord, but He did not answer them.' These are their gods, but they did not call out to the Lord." This is the Holy One, blessed be He, who does not answer them. Therefore, twice they shall be ashamed. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said that in the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will judge Israel and purify them, and give a crimson garment to the righteous to enter the Garden of Eden, and bring the wicked into Gehenna. Then He will take them out and bring them into the Garden of Eden, saying to them, "Behold, there is a place for the righteous and additional empty places." So that you will not say, "If we had repented, there would not have been any room for us in the Garden of Eden with the righteous." He will then take the righteous out of the Garden of Eden and bring them into Gehenna, saying to them, "Behold, there is a place for the wicked and additional empty places." So that you will not say, "If we were obligated, there would not have been any room for us in Gehenna." Rather, the wicked will inherit Gehenna for themselves and for you. As the verse says, "Instead of your shame you shall have double" (Isaiah 61:7). David said, "To whom does the shame belong? To the wicked," as it says, "Let the wicked be ashamed, let them be silent in the grave" (Psalm 31:18). Rav said, "Anyone who finds fault in it will not see the good in it," as it says, "How great is your goodness, which you have hidden away for those who fear you" (Psalm 31:20). Rabbi Abdimi from Haifa said that the Holy One, blessed be He, will make 310 worlds for every righteous person. As it says, "To grant an inheritance to those who love me" (Proverbs 8:21). The letters of "those who love me" (yesh b'gematriya) add up to 310. Rabbi Yitzchak ben Tardion said that the sword of the Holy One, blessed be He, has sixteen faces. As it says, "Join them one to another into one stick, and they shall become one in your hand" (Ezekiel 37:17). Just as the measure of punishment is minimal, so the measure of good is much greater. Rav Yudan said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer bar Avina that the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed the end to Jacob and to Daniel. To Jacob, as it says, "And Jacob called to his sons" (Genesis 49:1), and to Daniel, as it says, "And he said, 'Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end'" (Daniel 12:9). "And when it comes to revealing the end, what does it say? 'But you, Daniel, seal up the words and seal the book.' Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel, 'You have hidden the Torah and the commandments from Me in this world, and I will hide for you the same goodness that is prepared for the righteous in the future world,' as it says, 'How abundant is Your goodness that You have hidden away for those who fear You.' Rabbi Yudan said that the Holy One, blessed be He, said, 'You do according to your ability, and I will do according to My ability.' Rabbi Yonatan said, 'There are three pleasing languages: the Roman language for war, the Greek language for conversation, and the Assyrian language for prayer. Beware of mixing them up.' "