Moses and the Seventy-Two Slips for the Elders of Israel

Midrash Aggadah, Numbers 11:24

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"And Moses went out" (Numbers 11:24) — from before the Lord. "And he spoke to the people the words of the Lord" — what would become of them, that they had not accepted (the matter) from him. "And he gathered seventy men, etc." Moses said: How shall I do this? The Holy One, blessed be He, did not tell me to assemble any but seventy men; and if I take from each and every tribe six, that is seventy-two, and from two (of them) I would take five each — there would be jealousy among them. What did he do? He took seventy-two slips. On seventy slips he wrote "elder," and two he left blank, and he placed them in a box. And he said to them: Put in your hand and let each and every one take a single slip. Immediately each one of them put in his hand and took slips. The one in whose hand "elder" came up, he said to him: The Holy One, blessed be He, desires you. And the one in whose hand a blank came up, he said to him: The Holy One, blessed be He, does not desire you.

Themes

JealousyAdam EveMosesTribesEnvy

Biblical References

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