Midrash sa Mga Awit 2:9: Midrash Tehillim, Bereshit Rabbah & Yalkut Shimoni

“You can break them with an iron mace, [like a potter’s handiwork you can shatter them]” (Psalms 2:9). There is a story about one of the great men of [the town of] Tzipori, whose son died. Some say that he was an apostate. Rabbi Yossi came to comfort him. [The apostate] saw [Rabbi Yossi] smiling. He said to him, “What are you smiling about?” He said to him, “Because we trust in the master of the heavens that you will see [your son again] in the world to come.” [The apostate] said to him, “Am [I] not sufficiently distressed, that you should have to come and distress [me] further [with these empty words of comfort]?” [Moreover], he said to [Rabbi Yossi], “Can shards of pottery be stuck [back together]? Is it not written, “like a potter’s handiwork you can shatter them” (Psalms 2:9)?” Rabbi Yossi said to him, [the verse is talking about] a potter’s handiwork [while it is still in the hands of the potter] before it has been heated [in a kiln], [such that it] has no clear form, and if it breaks, it can be fixed, for [the potter] can make it [again] after [it has collapsed]; [it is only] once it has been heated [in a kiln], that its form is clear, and [only then is it such that] if it breaks it cannot be fixed. [And so, your prooftext doesn’t demonstrate that the dead cannot be put back together again, since they are like the clay that is still in the hands of the potter.] Moreover [perhaps a person is more like] a glass vessel: [even] once it has been heated, [such that] its form is clear, [even then,] if it breaks, it can [still] be healed.” [The heretic responded, “a glass vessel can be fixed because it is made by blowing.” – here I’m supplementing what seems to be a corrupted text, using the parallel story in Bereshit Rabbah 14:7] [Rabbi Yossi] said to him, “Let your ears hear what your mouth has said. Just as a glass vessel, which is made by the blowing of flesh and blood, can be healed [even] if its breaks; a human being, who is formed by the blowing of the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said, “and He blew into his nostrils the breath of life” (Genesis 2:7) – how much more so [can he be healed]?” Rabbi Yitzchak said, “a potter’s handiwork” isn’t written here. Rather [what is written is] “like a potter’s handiwork” [i.e., like what is still in the hands of the potter] – until it has been heated, they are able to return [in repentance, just as the clay can be reformed in the potter’s hand].

“[The Lord God formed the man] of dirt [afar]” – [read the word] ofer,²²Literally, a young gazelle. meaning a young man, as he was created in his full form.²³Adam was not created as a baby, but as a full-grown young man. Rabbi Elazar bar Rabbi Shimon said: Eve, too, was created in her full form. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Adam and Eve were created [with the bodies of people who were] approximately twenty years old.
Rabbi Huna said: [“Dirt [afar] from the ground [adama]”].²⁴Both afar and adama refer to earth, so what is the significance of using both terms? Afar is a masculine word, adama is a feminine word. A potter brings masculine dirt and feminine ground²⁵He mixes coarse clay with fine clay in order to construct the best pottery. so that the vessels he makes will be strong.²⁶Adam was created from two different kinds of earth to make him more robust.
There was an incident involving an individual from Tzippori whose son died. [Some say the mourner himself was a heretic, and] others say that a heretic was sitting before him [to console him]. Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥalafta went up to visit him. He [the heretic] saw that he [Rabbi Yosei] was sitting there and smiling. He said to him: ‘Why are you smiling?’ He said to him: ‘We have faith in the Lord of heaven that you will behold his face [once again] in the World to Come.’ He said to him: ‘Is this man’s grief not enough for him, that you come and aggrieve him further?²⁷With such nonsense. Are there earthenware vessels that can be repaired? Is it not written: “Shatter them like a potter’s vessel”?’ (Psalms 2:9) he asked in bewilderment.²⁸So, too, a dead body cannot be restored to life, as the verse compares man to earthenware. He said to him: ‘An earthenware vessel is formed with water, and is firmed by fire. A glass vessel, [in contrast,] is formed with fire and is firmed with fire. Yet this one [glassware], when broken, can be repaired, while that one [earthenware], when broken, cannot be repaired? This is astonishing.’ He [the heretic] said to him: ‘It is because it [glass ware] is made by blowing.’ He said to him: ‘Let your ears hear what your own mouth is saying. If this one [glassware], that is made with the breath of mortal man, can be repaired, [that which is made] with the breath of the Holy One blessed be He, all the more so.’
Rabbi Yitzḥak said:²⁹Regarding the aforementioned verse, which compares man to earthenware. “Shatter them like an earthenware vessel” is not written here, but rather, “Shatter them like a potter’s vessel” (Psalm 2:9) – a potter’s vessel [refers to one] that has not yet been fired, and can be repaired.³⁰So, too, man will be resurrected after death.

Save my soul from the tongue of falsehood. The people of Israel said before the Almighty, "Just as You saved us from everything, please save me from this, and we will no longer have any trouble, for the tongue of falsehood is the trouble." This is why it is said, "Save my soul." All of a person's limbs, some sit and some stand, some move his hands, and some lift and carry. However, the tongue does not sit or stand but is idle and silent, yet it can harm both great and small, near and far. If it were a limb, it would be like any other limb, walking on one foot and another. "What do you gain and what do you add?" It is a sinner and not a benefit. The Almighty said to the thieving tongue, "You steal to eat, even though it is written, 'Thou shalt not steal' (Exodus 20:15). He steals only for a moment, as it says (Proverbs 6:30), 'Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his appetite.' But you, the tongue, have lifted nothing for your soul, and you have killed. I will do to you what you did to the world from the beginning, slandering people like the serpent. So I will do to you, the serpent of the desert, as it is written (Numbers 21:6), 'And the people spoke against God and against Moses.' What did God do to them (Numbers 21:7)? 'And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people.' Why serpents? Because it was the serpent that slandered, as it says (Psalms 140:4), 'They sharpened their tongues like a serpent.'" "And I also do the same to them as I said to the serpent (Genesis 3:14), 'dust shall you eat, etc.' What will it give you and what will it add to you, etc.' Lashon Hara (evil tongue) is called the third, and it kills three: the one who speaks it, the one who accepts it, and the one it is spoken about. Similarly, you find in Doeg, who killed himself, and he has no portion in the world to come. And he killed Ahimelech the priest, as it says about him, 'and Nob, the city of the priests, he struck.' And he killed Saul, as it is said (Samuel I 31:6), 'and Saul died, and his three sons, etc.' And so, the wicked gentile is like the serpent that strikes, as it says (Jeremiah 46:22), 'her voice moves like a serpent,' etc. The tongue is compared to an arrow, and why is it that if a person draws the sword in his hand to kill his friend, he pleads with him and begs for mercy, the killer consoles him and returns the sword to his sheath. But the arrow, once shot and even if the shooter regrets it, cannot be returned. Therefore it is said, "Half a hero who is skilled with a bow, etc." This ember is one whose coals are not extinguished. There was a story of two people who went into the desert and sat under a broom tree. They collected some wood from the broom tree, cooked their food, ate, and then left. After a year, they came back to the same place in the desert and found ash from what they had lit. They said, "We have been here for twelve months and we ate in this place. Let us eat from the ash." So they ate from it and their feet were burned by the coals under the ash because they could not be extinguished. Therefore, the evil tongue is compared to the coals of broom trees, as it is said, "Half a hero who is skilled with a bow, etc." Similarly, this wicked person kills people with his tongue. Just as the arrow does not know its target until it reaches it, so too the evil tongue does not know its target until suddenly its words come out to kill or prohibit. This person is in his place, and they write about him where he is and kill him. Therefore, it is said, "Half a hero who is skilled with a bow, etc." And so Moses said to Israel (Psalms 91:5), "You shall not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, from the babble of the heathen." Therefore, it is said, "Half a hero who is skilled with a bow, etc."Woe to me that I have sojourned in Meshech. What woe is mine that I have sojourned in Meshech, where they led me from Babylon to Media, from Media to Javan, and from Javan to Edom. As it says (Isaiah 18:7), 'With a prolonged and prolonged pull.' What is the meaning of prolonged that I was drawn with them? I dwelt among the tents of Kedar. What are the tents of Kedar, whose faces are darkened like the edges of a sackcloth? What is it that I lived among those who are drawn to Gehenna? I dwelt among the tents of Kedar, who have neither a place to sit nor stand, but today they pitch their tent here and tomorrow there and elsewhere. Thus, the wicked will be like the tents of Kedar, dwelling here today and tomorrow going to another place. My soul has much dwelt among them, etc. Is there anyone who hates peace? Esau hates peace, as it says (Leviticus 26:6), 'And I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down and none shall make you afraid.' When will this be so? 'And I will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land' (ibid.). And there is no evil beast except the pig, as it says (Psalms 80:14), 'The boar out of the wood doth ravage it.' This is what the wicked do. 'I am peace, and when I speak, they are for war' (Psalms 120:7). What is the meaning of 'I am peace'? The Holy One, blessed be He, said to the Messiah, 'May your advent be for peace,' as it is said, 'Proclaim ye this among the nations: prepare war; stir up the mighty men; let all the men of war draw near, let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say: "I am strong" ' (Joel 4:9, 10). Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to the Messiah, 'By peace alone do I desire to begin speaking with the nations; hence it is said, "But I am peace, and when I speak, they are for war" ' (Zechariah 9:10). Isaiah also says, 'Peace, peace, to him that is far off and to him that is near' (Isaiah 57:19). In its literal sense, it means that I do not repulse any creature; if a man has given his heart to repent, I will no longer remember his sins. Hence it is said, 'Peace, peace to him that is far off and to him that is near.' And all who come to me, I go to him and heal him, as it is said, 'And I will heal him' (Jeremiah 33:6). 'But the wicked are like the troubled sea, for it cannot rest, and its waters cast up mire and dirt' (Isaiah 57:20). Such are the wicked, who do not desire peace, as it is said, 'For there is no sincerity in their mouth' (Psalm 55:22). Why don't they seek peace? Therefore it is said, "I am peace; when I speak, they are for war" (Psalm 120:7).