יֵע֙וֹרוּ֙ וְיַעֲל֣וּ הַגּוֹיִ֔ם אֶל־עֵ֖מֶק יְהֽוֹשָׁפָ֑ט כִּ֣י שָׁ֗ם אֵשֵׁ֛ב לִשְׁפֹּ֥ט אֶת־כָּל־הַגּוֹיִ֖ם מִסָּבִֽיב׃
זאָלן זיך דערװעקן די פֿעלקער און אַרױפֿגײן צום טאָל פֿון יהוֹשָפֿט װאָרום דאָרטן װעל איך זיצן צו משפּטן אַלע פֿעלקער פֿון רונד אַרום.
Midrash Tehillim
Another interpretation regarding the Gittite. Isaiah said (Isaiah 5:16) "And the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in justice". When will the Lord be exalted? When he executes judgment on the nations of the world. What is written above this (Isaiah 5:15)? "And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled". At that time, the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment. Similarly, it is said (Ezekiel 38:18), "And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel..." and Joel says (Joel 4:9-11) "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. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD." (Joel 4:2) "And I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land." What is the valley called Jehoshaphat? It is the valley in which the Lord will judge the nations. Similarly, it is said (Joel 3:14), "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision." The multitudes refer to (Jeremiah 25:33) "And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth". And then (Joel 4:17), "So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain." When will the Lord be seen upon Gath? Similarly, it is said (Micah 1:10), "Declare ye it not at Gath, weep ye not at all: in the house of Aphrah roll thyself in the dust." At that time, victory will be given to Him. "To the chief Musician upon Gittith" - there are four Gittiths: for the sons of Korah (Psalm 8), "For the Chief Musician upon Gittith", "Come down", and "For the Chief Musician, set to the Gittith" (Psalm 81) "Sing aloud unto God our strength, make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob." This one is "upon Gittith."
Bereshit Rabbah
“It was as she had difficulty in her childbirth, the midwife said to her: Fear not; for this too is a son for you” (Genesis 35:17).
“It was as she had difficulty in her childbirth…” – two students of Rabbi Yehoshua changed their outer garment during a time of persecution.20They wore Roman garments so they would not be identified as Jews. A Roman officer21This officer apparently was of Jewish lineage and had studied Torah. encountered them and said to them: ‘If you are sons of the Torah, give your lives for its sake. If you are not its sons, why should you be killed for its sake?’22He was saying, either dress as Jews and take the risk of dying for the sake of Torah, or abandon your faith entirely and cease being Jews (Matnot Kehuna). They said to him: ‘We are its sons, and we are [willing to be] killed for its sake; however, it is not the way of people to commit suicide.’ He said to them: ‘I will ask you three questions. If you answer me, fine. If not, I will subject you to religious persecution.’23I will give you the choice to convert or to die. He said to them: ‘One verse says: “The Lord stands to dispute [and stands to judge the peoples]” (Isaiah 3:13), but it is written: “As there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations” (Joel 4:12).’ They said to him: ‘When the Holy One blessed be He judges Israel, He judges them while standing, He abbreviates the trial and makes compromises in the sentence. But when He judges the nations of the world, He judges them while seated, is scrupulous in judgment, and extends the trial.’ He said to them: ‘That is not what your teacher Rabbi Yehoshua expounded. Rather, both in this [case] and that one, the verse is speaking of the nations of the world: When He judges the nations of the world, He judges them while seated, is scrupulous in judgment and extends the trial, and then he becomes an adversary against them.’24He stands and implements their punishment against them.
He said to them: ‘What is [the meaning] of that which is written: “One who works his land [admato] will be sated with bread…”?’ (Proverbs 28:19). They said to him: ‘One who leases a single field, fertilizes it and hoes it, is preferable to one who leases many fields and leaves them fallow.’ He said to them: ‘That is not what your teacher Rabbi Yehoshua expounded. Rather, one who worships God will be sated with bread until the day of his death.25He expounds admato as a conjunction of the words ad moto – until the day of his death. “And he who pursues vanities will be sated with poverty” (Proverbs 28:19) – these are the idolaters who pursue vanity, their idol worship.’
He said to them: ‘What is [the meaning] of that which is written: “It was as she had difficulty in her childbirth…”?’ They said to him: ‘This is the way that one soothes the soul of the birthing mother. One says to her: Fear not,for you have borne a male offspring.’ He said to them: ‘That is not what your teacher Rabbi Yehoshua expounded. Rather, each and every tribe had a twin sister born with him, in accordance with what Abba Ḥalfoi ben Kureya said: An additional twin sister was born with Benjamin.’26When the first sister emerged, Rachel did not fret because she knew that a sister had been born with all the tribes. When the additional sister emerged, she was concerned that she would not be bearing her second son. That is why the midwife assured her that there was also a son.
“It was as she had difficulty in her childbirth…” – two students of Rabbi Yehoshua changed their outer garment during a time of persecution.20They wore Roman garments so they would not be identified as Jews. A Roman officer21This officer apparently was of Jewish lineage and had studied Torah. encountered them and said to them: ‘If you are sons of the Torah, give your lives for its sake. If you are not its sons, why should you be killed for its sake?’22He was saying, either dress as Jews and take the risk of dying for the sake of Torah, or abandon your faith entirely and cease being Jews (Matnot Kehuna). They said to him: ‘We are its sons, and we are [willing to be] killed for its sake; however, it is not the way of people to commit suicide.’ He said to them: ‘I will ask you three questions. If you answer me, fine. If not, I will subject you to religious persecution.’23I will give you the choice to convert or to die. He said to them: ‘One verse says: “The Lord stands to dispute [and stands to judge the peoples]” (Isaiah 3:13), but it is written: “As there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations” (Joel 4:12).’ They said to him: ‘When the Holy One blessed be He judges Israel, He judges them while standing, He abbreviates the trial and makes compromises in the sentence. But when He judges the nations of the world, He judges them while seated, is scrupulous in judgment, and extends the trial.’ He said to them: ‘That is not what your teacher Rabbi Yehoshua expounded. Rather, both in this [case] and that one, the verse is speaking of the nations of the world: When He judges the nations of the world, He judges them while seated, is scrupulous in judgment and extends the trial, and then he becomes an adversary against them.’24He stands and implements their punishment against them.
He said to them: ‘What is [the meaning] of that which is written: “One who works his land [admato] will be sated with bread…”?’ (Proverbs 28:19). They said to him: ‘One who leases a single field, fertilizes it and hoes it, is preferable to one who leases many fields and leaves them fallow.’ He said to them: ‘That is not what your teacher Rabbi Yehoshua expounded. Rather, one who worships God will be sated with bread until the day of his death.25He expounds admato as a conjunction of the words ad moto – until the day of his death. “And he who pursues vanities will be sated with poverty” (Proverbs 28:19) – these are the idolaters who pursue vanity, their idol worship.’
He said to them: ‘What is [the meaning] of that which is written: “It was as she had difficulty in her childbirth…”?’ They said to him: ‘This is the way that one soothes the soul of the birthing mother. One says to her: Fear not,for you have borne a male offspring.’ He said to them: ‘That is not what your teacher Rabbi Yehoshua expounded. Rather, each and every tribe had a twin sister born with him, in accordance with what Abba Ḥalfoi ben Kureya said: An additional twin sister was born with Benjamin.’26When the first sister emerged, Rachel did not fret because she knew that a sister had been born with all the tribes. When the additional sister emerged, she was concerned that she would not be bearing her second son. That is why the midwife assured her that there was also a son.