Midrash sa Zacarias 5:9: Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Ruth Rabbah, Tanna DeBei Eliyahu Rabbah & Shemot Rabbah

Ten measures of wisdom came down to the world; the land of Israel received nine and one was left for the rest of the world. Ten measures of beauty came down to the world; Jerusalem received nine and one was left for the rest of the world. Ten measures of richness came down to the world; Rome received nine and one was left for the rest of the world. Ten measures of poverty came down to the world; nine fell to the lot of Babylon and one to the rest of the world. Ten measures of haughtiness came down to the world; Elam appropriated nine and one was left to the rest of the world. And haughtiness, you say, was not frequent in Babylon? Behold it is written (Zech. 5, 9) Then did I lift my eyes and looked, and behold, there came out two women, having the wind in their wings, and they had wings like the wings of a stork; and they lifted up the Ephah between the earth and the heaven. Then said I to the angel that spoke to me, whither are these bearing away the Ephah? And he said unto me: 'To build a home for it in the land of Shinar.' R. Jochanan explained: "These two women refer to hypocrisy and haughtiness, which came to Babylon." [Hence haughtiness came to Babylon]? Yea, their intention was to go to Babylon, but they were dragged along to Elam. This could be proved from the passage itself, for it says to build a house in the land of Shinar, [which they had intended]. The inference is sustained. But is then haughtiness not frequent also in Babylon? Behold the master said: "The symptom for haughtiness is poverty," and [nine out of the ten measures of] poverty went to Babylon. The poverty mentioned here refers to the Torah, as it is written (Songs 8, 8) We have a little sister, and she has yet no breasts, whereupon R. Jochanan said: "This refers to Elam, which was successful to [have scholars to] learn, but not to teach others." Ten measures of bravery came down to the world; Persia obtained nine and one was left to the rest of the world. Ten measures of vermin came to the world; nine measures fell to the lot of the Modeans and one to the rest of the world. Ten measures of sorcery came down to the world; Egypt received nine and one was left to the rest of the world. Ten measures of plagues came down to the world; nine measures were assigned to the swine and one was left to the rest of the world. Ten measures of fornication came down into the world; nine of these are in possession of the Arabs and one was left to the rest of the world. Ten measures of impudence came down into the world; Mishan appropriated nine and one was left to the rest of the world. Ten measures of talk came into the world; women possess nine and one was left to the rest of the world. Ten measures of blackness came into the world; nine were assigned to the Ethiopians and one was left to the rest of the world. Ten measures of sleep came down to the world; servants took nine and one was left to the rest of the world.

R. Oshiya said: "What is the meaning of the passage (Zech. 11, 7) And I had taken unto me two staves; the one I called Graciousness (No'am), and the other I called Concord (Choblim): i.e., No'am refers to the scholars of Palestine who are polite to one another while discussing halacha. Choblim, refers to the scholars of Babylon who wounded [each other's feelings] while discussing halacha." (Ib. 4, 14) Then he said to me: 'They are the two sons of Yizhari (clear oil), that stand by the Lord, etc. (Ib., ib. 3) And two olive trees are naer it.' R. Isaac said: "This refers to the scholars of Palestine, who please each other during halachik discussions like olive oil; and the two olive trees near it, refer to the Babylonian scholars who enrage one another with bitterness during halachik discussions," just as an olive tree is bitter." It is written (Ib. 5, 9) Then did I lift up my eyes and looked, and behold, there came out two women, having the wind in their wings, and they had wings like the wings of a stork; and they lifted up the Ephah between the. earth and the heaven. Then said I to the angel that spoke to me, 'Whither are these bearing away the Ephah?' And he said unto me: 'To build a home for it in the land of Shinar.' R. Jochanan said in the name of R. Simon b. Jochai: "These two women refer to cringing submissions [to power] and haughtiness [to the weak], which came to Babylon." Did then haughtiness come to Babylon? Behold the master said elsewhere: "Ten measures of haughtiness came down upon the world of which nine were taken by Elam and the one measure was given to the entire world." Yea, their intention was to go to Babylon, but they were dragged along to Elam. You can also infer this from [the expression] of the passage to build (intended) a house in the land of Shinar. The explanation is sustained. Is then haughtiness not frequent also in Babylon? Behold the master said: "The symptom for haughtiness is poverty and [nine out of ten measures of] poverty went to Babylon." The poverty mentioned here refers to the Torah, as it is written (Songs 8, 5) We have a little sister and she has yet no breasts, whereupon R. Jochanan said: "This refer to Elam, which merited to [have cholars to] learn, but not to teach others." What is the meaning of the word Babel (Babylon)? R. Jochanan said: "A mixture of Scripture, Mishnah and Talmud." (Lam 3, 6) In dark places hath He set ms to dwell. R. Jeremiah said: "This refers to Babylon" [where the scholars are not agreeable to one another].

“She said: Let me find favor in your eyes, my master; for you have comforted me, and you have spoken to the heart of your maidservant, though I will not be like one of your maidservants” (Ruth 2:13).
“She said: Let me find favor in your eyes, my master…though I will not be like one of your maidservants.” He said to her: ‘God forbid,¹⁸³This reading is derived from the fact that the next verse begins: “Boaz said to her.” In all but three places in the Bible “to her” is written as “lah” with a diacritic dot in the heh. This is one of the places where there is no dot in the heh and it is therefore interpreted as though it means “no” [lo] (Etz Yosef). The midrash continues by mentioning the similar interpretations of the other two instances where this occurs. you are not like one of the maidservants, but rather one of the mothers.’ Similarly, “Novaḥ went and captured Kenat and its environs, [and called it [la] Novaḥ, after his own name]” (Numbers 32:42) – this teaches that this name did not hold. Similarly, “He said to me: To build her [la] a house in the land of Shinar” (Zechariah 5:11)¹⁸⁴The Sages explain that no house will be built for the “two women” (Zechariah 5:9), who represent flattery and arrogance. – this teaches that falsehood has no existence.