Midrash sa Jeremias 3:20: Midrash Tanchuma Buber & Shemot Rabbah

(Exod. 23:20:) BEHOLD, I AM SENDING AN ANGEL <BEFORE YOU TO GUARD YOU ON THE WAY>…. This text is related (to Jer. 3:19): THEN I SAID: HOW WOULD I⁴¹This translation fits the context of the midrash. PUT (rt.: ShYT) YOU AMONG THE CHILDREN,… !⁴²Tanh., Exod. 6:17; see below, Tanh. (Buber), Numb. 4a:15. R. Eleazar ben Pedat says: What is this <expression>: WOULD I PUT (rt.: ShYT) YOU? It had occurred to me that we, I and you, would be < alone > in the world.⁴³Tanh., Exod. 6:17, adds, “I as father and you as children.” How did you manage for me to bring the peoples of the world in among you?⁴⁴Cf. Tanh., Exod. 6:17: “How did you manage to bring the peoples of the world in between me and you?” This expression is nothing but an expression of setting apart (as in Gen. 30:40): AND HE PUT (rt.: ShYT) HIS OWN FLOCKS <APART>…. R. Hama bar Hanina said: What is the meaning of WOULD I PUT (rt.: ShYT) YOU?⁴⁵Cf. Exod. R. 32:2. There was a great love between me and you.⁴⁶Below, Tanh. (Buber), Lev. 7:12; Numb. 4a: 15; Exod. R. 32:2. How did you manage that I should hate you? (Jer. 3:19:) HOW WOULD I PUT (rt.: ShYT) YOU AMONG THE CHILDREN! This expression is nothing but an expression of hatred, as used (in Gen. 3:15): I WILL PUT (rt.: ShYT) ENMITY <BETWEEN YOU AND THE WOMAN>. Another interpretation (of Jer. 3:19:) HOW WOULD I PUT (ShYT) YOU AMONG THE CHILDREN ! R. Joshua ben Levi said: I spoke in <your> defense.⁴⁷Gk.: synegoria. You behaved toward me so that I denounced you and pronounced you guilty (rt.: HYB). The expression (rt.: ShYT) is nothing but an expression of guilt (rt.: HYB), as used (concerning one guilty of negligence in Exod. 21:30): IF A RANSOM IS PUT (rt.: ShYT) UPON HIM, <HE SHALL GIVE WHATEVER IS PUT (rt.: ShYT) UPON HIM TO REDEEM HIS LIFE>. Another interpretation (of Jer. 3:19:) HOW WOULD I PUT (ashit; rt.: ShYT) YOU AMONG THE CHILDREN! R. Berekhyah the Priest said: You were as dear to me as someone who has a single field, which he fertilizes, cultivates, and weeds. So dear were you to me. Your behavior toward me was for you to commit lawlessness. Now this word (ashit) is nothing but an expression for lawlessness, as used (in Is. 5:6): AND I WILL MAKE (ashit) IT (i.e., the Holy One's vineyard) A DESOLATION. (Jer. 3:19, cont.:) AND GIVE YOU A DESIRABLE LAND, a land that the great ones of the world (i.e., the patriarchs) desired.⁴⁸Below, Tanh. (Buber), Numb. 4a: 16. Abraham said to the Hittites (in Gen. 23:4): GIVE ME A BURIAL SITE. The Holy One also endeared it to {the children of} Isaac, as stated (in Gen. 26:3): RESIDE IN THIS LAND, <AND I WILL BE WITH YOU AND BLESS YOU>…. Jacob said (according to Gen. 50:5): IN MY GRAVE WHICH I DUG FOR MYSELF <IN THE LAND OF CANAAN, THERE YOU SHALL BURY ME>. Ergo (in Jer. 3:19): A DESIRABLE LAND. (Ibid., cont.:) <THE MOST> [BEAUTIFUL HERITAGE] <OF ALL THE NATIONS>. What is the meaning of <THE MOST> BEAUTIFUL (tsevi) HERITAGE? Just as in the case of a deer (tsevi), when one slaughters it, strips off its hide, and tries to return the flesh into the hide, it does not contain it, so the land of Israel does not contain its produce. What is written (in Is. 30:24)? AS FOR THE OXEN AND ASSES THAT WORK THE GROUND, THEY SHALL EAT FERMENTED FODDER, WHICH HAS BEEN WINNOWED WITH SHOVEL AND PITCH FORK. First they winnow with the SHOVEL and after that with the PITCH FORK. Why? Because there was more grain than straw. Even so there was produce in <further> winnowing the straw. Where is it shown? Where it is stated (ibid.): FERMENTED MASH, WHICH HAS BEEN WINNOWED WITH SHOVEL AND PITCH FORK. Mashes are from produce. Ergo (in Jer. 3:19): [A DESIRABLE LAND,] <THE MOST> BEAUTIFUL (tsevi) HERITAGE (understood in the sense of THE MOST DEERLIKE HERITAGE), a land which does not contain its produce, a land which was so good that all the kings of the world desired it. It is written (in Josh. 12:9): THE KING OF JERICHO, ONE; THE KING {FOR AI} [OF AI WHICH IS BESIDE BETHEL], ONE. Now there are only three miles⁴⁹Lat.: mille. between Jericho and Ai; yet it says: THE KING OF JERICHO. It is simply that whoever has a possession outside of the land without having a possession in the land of Israel was not called a king.⁵⁰Sifre, to Deut. 7:12 (37); Gen. R. 85:14. Why? Because they longed for the land of Israel. R. {Isaac} [Johanan] said: What is written (in Josh. 7:21): I SAW AMONG THE SPOILS A <FINE> SHINAR MANTLE, <i.e.> a Babylonian⁵¹Gk.: Babylonikon; Lat.: Babylonicum. robe of royal purple,⁵²Gk.: porphura; Lat.: purpura. which the king of Babylon wore to rule in Jericho. Ergo (in Jer. 3:19): THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HERITAGE OF THE NATIONS.⁵³According to this reasoning, the various kingships were so close to each other in Israel because every king needed a seat in Israel in order to be regarded as a king. (Ibid., cont.:) AND I SAID YOU SHALL CALL ME FATHER. Just as a father is obliged <to provide > for his daughter's enjoyments, so did I bring down rain for you. (Exod. 16:14:) WHEN THE LAYER OF DEW HAD GONE UP, <THERE ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH LAY SOMETHING FINE AND FLAKY>…. (Jer. 3:20:) SURELY AS A WOMAN BREAKS FAITH WITH HER LOVER <SO YOU HAVE BROKEN FAITH WITH ME, O HOUSE OF ISRAEL>. R. Judah bar Simon said: Oh that <you were> like an unfaithful wife. This <kind of> a woman, who has a lover, gives him food, drink, and love. When his power is diminished, she leaves him and goes away. SURELY AS A WOMAN BREAKS FAITH WITH HER LOVER. I have not done so to you. The manna came down for you, and the well rose up. I did not deprive you of anything when you were unfaithful with me. See, I gave you an angel who watched over you. (Exod. 23:20:) SEE, I AM SENDING YOU AN ANGEL <TO WATCH OVER YOU>. When you became worthy and received the Torah, I went before you in person. But now, when you have been found guilty, here I am <merely> (ibid.:) SENDING AN ANGEL BEFORE YOU. [Another interpretation:]⁵⁴Tanh., Exod. 6:18. The Holy One said to Moses: I am sending <an angel> before you but not before them. He said: If you send <him> out before me, I do not want <him>; but Joshua saw the angel and fell down before him. What did he say to him (in Josh. 5:13)? ARE YOU FOR US OR FOR OUR ADVERSARIES? When he said to him: ARE YOU FOR US? he began to cry in great anguish.⁵⁵Literally: “From under the nails of his feet.” (Ibid., vs. 14:) Then he said: NO, BUT [I] AM THE CAPTAIN OF THE LORD'S HOST. NOW I HAVE COME.⁵⁶Gen. R. 97:3 (traditional text only). Here are two times that I have come to give Israel an inheritance. I am the one who came in the days of your master, Moses; but he rejected me. (Ibid., cont.:) NOW I HAVE COME. THEN JOSHUA FELL ON HIS FACE. He saw him and fell on his face, but when Moses saw <him>, he rejected him. The Holy One said (in Exod. 23:20): SEE, I AM SENDING AN ANGEL BEFORE YOU, to you and to whomever observes the Torah [as you <do>. Resh Laqish said: It is written (in Ps. 91:4): HE WILL COVER YOU WITH HIS PINIONS AND YOU WILL FIND REFUGE UNDER HIS WINGS, <i.e.> all who observe the Torah.] (Ibid., cont.:) HIS FIDELITY IS A SHIELD AND BUCKLER. Therefore (in Exod. 23:20): < I AM SENDING MY ANGEL BEFORE YOU > TO GUARD YOU ON THE WAY….

Another matter: “Behold, I am sending an angel before you” – that is what is written: “And I said: How shall I place you [ashitekh] among the children” (Jeremiah 3:19). What is ashitekh? The Holy One blessed be He said: From the moment that you stood at Sinai and received the Torah, and I wrote that I love you, as it is stated: “But because of the Lord’s love for you” (Deuteronomy 7:8) – after I loved you, how can I hate you? “How shall I place you [ashitekh] among the children?” Ashitekh indicates nothing other than animosity, as it is stated: “I will place [ashit] animosity” (Genesis 3:15).
Another matter: “How shall I place you [ashitekh] among the children?” (Jeremiah 3:19) – Rabbi Yehoshua said: You have obligated yourselves, as it is written: “In accordance with all that shall be imposed [yushat] upon him” (Exodus 21:30). Rabbi Berekhya said: You have laid waste to yourselves, as it is written: “Briers and thistles [shayit]” (Isaiah 5:6). “I gave you a desirable [ḥemda] land” – why is it called desirable? Because the Temple is located in it; that is what is written: “The mountain that God desired [ḥamad] for His abode” (Psalms 68:17).
Another matter: “A desirable land” (Jeremiah 3:19) – for all the kings desired it, as between Ai and Jericho is only three mil, and this one had a king and that one had a king.
Another matter: “A desirable [ḥemda] land” (Jeremiah 3:19) – the Rabbis say: A land that was made desirable for the patriarchs of the world.⁵God made it desirable to Abraham and Isaac by commanding them to live there and by promising them the land. They fulfilled these commands, thereby indicating how desirable it was to them. Abraham, as it is stated: “Go from your land…[to the land that I will show you]” (Genesis 12:1). Isaac – “reside in this land” (Genesis 26:3). Jacob – “you shall transport me from Egypt” (Genesis 47:30). Why did it become desirable for them?⁶Why was it desirable to them to be in the Land of Israel even after death, as in the case of Jacob? (Etz Yosef). Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: Because [those who are buried there] come to life first in the messianic era.
What is “a magnificent inheritance [naḥalat tzevi]” (Jeremiah 3:19)? Why is it analogized to a gazelle [tzevi]? Just as the gazelle, when a person flays it, its hide cannot contain its flesh, so too, when Israel took possession of it, the Land of Israel could not contain its produce.
Another matter: Just as the gazelle is easy to eat,⁷They do not require raising and herding. so too, the produce of the Land of Israel is easy to eat.⁸When the people of Israel are deserving, the land produces great bounty without requiring hard work. The Rabbis say: Just as the gazelle, its legs are fleeter than any animal and any beast, so, the Land of Israel is faster to ripen its produce than all the lands. Why to that extent? The Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: ‘So that My name will be uniquely associated with you.’
“I said: You shall call Me my Father, and do not turn back from following Me” (Jeremiah 3:19), but you did not do so, but rather, “indeed, a woman has betrayed her lover” (Jeremiah 3:20). The Rabbis say: It is not written here, “her husband,” but rather, “her lover.” Just as a woman cannot rebel against her husband, but she can reject her lover – why, because there is no marriage contract between them – so the Holy One blessed be He says to Israel: ‘You did not render Me a husband but rather a lover; just as a woman betrays her lover, so “you have betrayed Me, house of Israel”’ (Jeremiah 3:20). Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon said: If only [they were] like a woman to her lover. For as long as he gives her a wage, she obeys him; if he stops giving her wage, she says to him: ‘Was I not subservient to you only for the wage?’ So, the Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: ‘Have I withheld anything from you such that you have rejected Me?’ That is, “a woman has betrayed her lover.”
Another matter: “Behold, I am sending an angel” – the Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: Had you merited, I, Myself, would have become a messenger for you just as I did for you in the wilderness, as it is stated: “The Lord was going before them by day” (Exodus 13:21). Now that you did not merit, I am passing you to a messenger, as it is stated: “Behold, I am sending an angel.”

Rabbi Yitzḥak began: “And I said: How shall I place you among the children.… Indeed, a woman has betrayed her lover” (Jeremiah 3:19–20). “And I said: How shall I place you among the children” – all the miracles and mighty acts that I performed on your behalf were not so you would give Me My reward, but rather, so you would respect Me like children and call Me your Father. “I said: You shall call Me my Father” (Jeremiah 3:19) – what miracles did I perform for any creature more than you, as you would walk after Me and I would walk before you and illuminate for you, as it is stated: “The Lord was going before them by day [in a pillar of cloud to lead them on the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to illuminate for them]” (Exodus 13:21).
“I said: You shall call Me my Father” (Jeremiah 3:19), but you, what did you do? “Indeed, a woman has betrayed her lover” (Jeremiah 3:20) – it is not written here, “her husband,” but rather, “her lover.” Why? It is because a man who takes a wife and spends many days with her, even if he becomes poor, his wife does not reject him; rather, she says: When he was wealthy, he fed me and clothed me, and now that he has become poor, I do not reject him. But when she is a prostitute,¹³The prostitute is with a man only because he pays her and not because they share a marriage relationship. if he gives to her she thanks him, if he does not give to her, she does not acknowledge him. That is why it is stated: “Indeed, a woman has betrayed her lover.”
Another matter: When a prostitute has a lover and he honors her with an object, she shows it to her friends and says: See how much my lover has honored me. But you, house of Israel, did not do so. Rather, I performed miracles and mighty acts on your behalf, as the clouds of glory were surrounding you, the manna was falling, the spring of water was rising, and the quail was available, but you did not laud Me, and you were not like a prostitute who lauds the fee <see ezekiel="" 16:31="">, as it is stated: “They did not say: Where is the Lord, who takes us up from the land of Egypt” (Jeremiah 2:6). I, too, “for I will not ascend in your midst” (Exodus 33:3), but rather, “behold, I am sending an angel” (Exodus 23:20).