Midrash sa Mga Kawikaan 17:1: Midrash Tanchuma, Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Midrash Mishlei & Bamidbar Rabbah

(Numb. 22:39:) “Then Balaam went unto³⁸The Masoretic text reads both this and the following UNTO as WITH. Balak, and they came unto Kiriath-Huzoth (literally: city of markets),” where he had made market places for buying and selling.³⁹Numb. R. 20:17. He had [also] made a bazaar.⁴⁰’TLS. Cf. Gk.: katalusis (“settlement,” “resting place”). [His purpose was] to show him crowds⁴¹Gk.: ochloi. and say, “See what those [people] are coming to kill, people and infants who have done them no wrong.” (Numb. 22:40:) “Then Balak sacrificed an ox and a sheep.”⁴²Bible translations usually render “OX” and “SHEEP” as plurals, but the midrash is interpreting them as singular. The righteous say little and do much.⁴³BM 87a; ARN, A, 13; ARN, B, 23; see Ned. 21b. It is written of Abraham (in Gen. 18:5), “Let me bring a piece of bread that you may refresh your souls.” But after that (in vs. 6-7), “’Hurry up with three se'ah [of fine meal]….’ Then Abraham ran unto the herd.” But the wicked say a lot and do not even do a little. Balak said (in Numb. 22:17), “For I will surely honor you greatly….” When [Balaam] came, he only sent him an ox and a sheep. Balaam began gnashing his teeth at him, for he was greedy. He said [to himself], “Is this what he sent me? Tomorrow I will deliver a curse through his [own] property,” as stated (in Numb. 23:1), “Then Balaam said [unto Balak], ‘Build [seven altars] for me here, [and make ready for me here seven bulls and seven rams]….’” (Numb. 22:41:) “So it came to pass in the morning that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to the high places of Baal, [and from there he saw the edge of the people].” Balak was a more of a master of divinations and auguries than Balaam, for Balaam was being dragged along after him like a blind man.⁴⁴Numb. R. 20:18. What did the two of them resemble? Someone who had a knife in his hand but did not know [where to find] the [animal] joints, while his companion knew the joints but did not have a knife in his hand. Balak saw the places in which Israel would fall and (ibid.) “brought him up into the high places of Baal.” This was Baal Peor, where he saw that Israel would fall. (Numb. 23:1:) “Then Balaam said unto Balak, ‘Build seven altars for me here.’” Why seven altars? [They] corresponded to seven righteous ones from Adam to Moses, who built seven altars and had been accepted: Adam, Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. Then [Balaam] said, “Why did you accept these? Was it not because of the service (the sacrifices) which they performed before you that you accepted them? Is it not [more] suitable for you to be served by seventy nations and not by [merely] one nation?” As it were, the holy spirit [answered him] (in Prov. 17:1), “Better a dry morsel with tranquility than a house full of quarrelsome feasting.” Better (in the words of Lev. 7:10) “a grain offering mixed with oil or dry” than (in Prov. 17:1) “a house full of quarrelsome feasting”;⁴⁵The words HOUSE and FEASTING can also mean “temple” and “sacrifice” respectively. for you want to introduce strife between Me and Israel. (Numb. 23:2-3:) “Then Balak did as Balaam had [spoken…]. And he said to Balak, ‘Stand beside your burnt offerings [...]’; so he went alone (rt.: shph).” [Balaam] had been at ease (rt.: shph) to curse. Thus he had been at ease until that moment, but from that moment on he was troubled.

(Numb. 23:1:) THEN BALAAM SAID [UNTO BALAK]: BUILD <SEVEN ALTARS> FOR ME HERE, <AND MAKE SEVEN BULLS AND SEVEN RAMS READY FOR ME HERE>…. Why seven altars? <They> corresponded to seven righteous ones from Adam to Moses, who built seven altars and had been accepted: Adam, Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. Then <Balaam> said: Why did you accept these? Was it not because of a liturgy which they performed before you that you accepted them? Is it not <more> suitable for you to be served by seventy nations and not by <merely> one nation? The Holy Spirit answered him (in Prov. 17:1): BETTER A DRY MORSEL WITH TRANQUILITY THAN A HOUSE FULL OF QUARRELSOME FEASTING. Better (in the words of Lev. 7:10) A GRAIN OFFERING MIXED WITH OIL OR DRY than (in Prov. 17:1) A HOUSE FULL OF QUARRELSOME FEASTING;⁵³The words HOUSE and FEASTING can also mean “temple” and “sacrifice” respectively. for you want to introduce strife between me and Israel.

“Better is a dry morsel with quietness than a house full of feasting with strife” (Proverbs 17:1). Rabbi Yochanan said: This refers to Eretz Yisrael—for even if a person eats only bread and salt yet dwells within it, he is assured a place in the World to Come. “Than a house full of feasting with strife”—this refers to foreign lands, which are full of violence and robbery. Rabbi Yochanan said: Anyone who walks four cubits in Eretz Yisrael is assured a place in the World to Come. Rabbi Levi said: Anyone who dwells in Eretz Yisrael even for a single hour and dies within it, is assured a place in the World to Come. What is the scriptural basis? "And His land will atone for His people" (Deuteronomy 32:43). Rabbi Nehemiah said: Eretz Yisrael itself atones for the sins of its dead. Rabbi Zevida said: All the righteous who died outside of the Land, what do you do for them? Rather, one must say that Eretz Yisrael atones for its own dead, but as for the righteous who are outside of the Land, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will command the ministering angels in the future, and they will bring them through underground tunnels from outside of the Land to Eretz Yisrael, and there they will receive atonement, as it is said: "And I shall purify them upon their land, etc." Rabbi Abbahu said: Would you say that even the wicked within Eretz Yisrael receive atonement? Scripture states: "That the wicked might be shaken out of it" (Job 38:13). To where does He shake them? Rabbi Levi said: From the Land to outside of the Land. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: He does not let them stand, so that they may know there is judgment and a Judge. And to where does He shake them? To Gehenna, as it is said: "The leech has two daughters: 'Give, give!'" (Proverbs 30:15) — Gehenna is destined to command in the future and say before the Holy One, Blessed be He: "Give me the wicked." There we have learned: The judgment of the wicked in Gehenna is twelve months. Rabbi Eliezer asked Rabbi Yehoshua, saying to him: What should a person do to be saved from the judgment of Gehenna? He said to him: Let him go and occupy himself with good deeds. He said to him: If so, even the nations of the world perform commandments and good deeds; can they also be exempted from the judgment of Gehenna? He said to him: My son, the Torah did not speak of the dead [the spiritually detached], but only of the living. Rabbi Eliezer said to him: I will tell you the reasoning based on what you yourself taught me. He said to him: Speak. He said to him: Once I heard you expounding in the House of Study, saying... (Continued in Chapter 19).