Another matter, “The number of the children of Israel will be…” (Hosea 2:1), Rabbi Avin HaLevi bar Rabbi began: “Everything by number and by weight…” (Ezra 8:34). Rabbi Avin said: All matters have a measure. Water has a measure, as it is stated: “Who measured the water in the hollow of his hand?” (Isaiah 40:12). The heavens have a measure, as it is stated: “And gauged the heavens with a span” (Isaiah 40:12).
The dust has a measure, as it is stated: “And meted the dust of the earth with a measure” (Isaiah 40:12). The mountains have a measure, as it is stated: “And weighed mountains with scales” (Isaiah 40:12). Hills have a measure, as it is stated: “And hills with a balance” (Isaiah 40:12). All matters have a measure, as it is stated: “Everything by number and by weight.”
The one who has neither weight nor measure is Israel, who have neither weight nor measure, as it is stated: “The number of the children of Israel will be like the sand of the sea [which cannot be measured and cannot be counted].” Just as the sand of the sea has no measure, the same is true for Israel. To what is this matter comparable? It is to one who knew three crafts; he was a goldsmith, a potter, and a glazier.42Of these types of craft, a goldsmith is considered the most sophisticated, the potter the lowest, and the glazier the middle.
Anyone who was fond of him called him son of a goldsmith. Anyone who hated him called him [son] of a potter. Anyone who neither loved him nor hated him would call him [son] of a glazier. So it was with Moses; because he loved Israel, he likened them to stars, as it is stated: “Behold you are today as the stars of the heavens in abundance” (Deuteronomy 1:10).
But Bilam, who hated them, likened them to dust, as it is stated: “Who has counted the dust of Jacob?” (Numbers 23:10). Hosea, who was neutral, he neither loved nor hated, likened them to sand, as it is stated: “The number of the children of Israel will be like the sand of the sea.” Another matter, “like the sand of the sea,” Israel was likened to sand and the nations to lime, as it is stated: “Peoples will be burnings of lime” (Isaiah 33:12).
If you do not place sand with the lime, it has no endurance. So, if there is no Israel, the nations of the world would be unable to endure. So you find that were it not for Joseph, Egypt would have been lost in the famine. Likewise, were it not for Daniel, the wise men of Babylon would have been lost.
Rabbi Menaḥma in the name of Rabbi Beivai, Rabba in the name of Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov: Israel was likened to sand; just as this sand, you make a hole in it in the evening and in the morning, you find that it is filled, so all the thousands that were lost in the days of David were restored in the days of Solomon, as it is stated: “Judah and Israel were numerous, like the sand that is by the sea in abundance” (I Kings 4:20).
Rabbi Elazar in the name of Rabbi Yosei ban Zimra: Any time that Israel was counted for a purpose, they did not suffer a loss; for no purpose, they suffered a loss. Which is the time that they were counted for a purpose? It was in the days of Moses, with the banners and in the distribution of the land. For no purpose, it was in the days of David.