They: Master, you tell us. In what merit did he attain to kingship? R. Tarfon: When the tribes were at the sea, each one said: I will not go down first, viz. (Hoshea 12:1) "Ephraim has surrounded me with deceit, etc." Because they tarried in deliberation, Nachshon the son of Aminadav and his tribe after him leapt into the waves of the sea — wherefore he merited kingship.