Moses Pleads the Oath to the Patriarchs After the Spies

Midrash Aggadah, Numbers 14:11

Curated by Arthur·Translated by Maggid (Beta)·

"How long will this people spurn Me... I will strike them with pestilence" (Numbers 14:11-12). Moses said before the Holy One, blessed be He: "If You kill them, what will You do about the oath that You swore to the Patriarchs, that You said You would multiply their seed like the stars of the heavens?" The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: "But are you not from among their descendants? From you I will fulfill 'a great nation,' and behold, I have fulfilled the oath that I swore to the Patriarchs."

Themes

CovenantMoses

Biblical References

Continue Reading

Book of JubileesSinai — Moses's TransgressionBook of Jubilees turns to Sinai, Moses's Transgression. The scene: Moses is up on the mountain, forty days and forty nights. The man is communing with the DivinThe Book of Maccabees ITrial of Judas MaccabeusIt's a story that still resonates, a evidence of courage and faith against all hope, found in the Book of Maccabees I. The scene is almost overwhelming. ImagineThe Assumption of MosesMoses the Great Intercessor Who Prayed for IsraelJoshua's deepest fear is not military. It is spiritual. Once Moses is gone, who will stand in the gap when Israel sins? The Amorite kings, he frets, will grow bLegends of the JewsJacob Demanded Joseph Swear by the Covenant of CircumcisionJacob, nearing the end of his life in Egypt, makes a request of Joseph: to be buried in the ancestral land, the land of Canaan. But Jacob wasn't content with juLegends of the JewsDeath of Joseph of PharaohJust as he was gentle with them, he became a helper and counselor to the Egyptians. And when Pharaoh passed away, the old king had one final request: that JosepLegends of the JewsMoses Searched Three Days for Joseph's Sunken CoffinLegends of the Jews turns to Moses Searched Three Days for Joseph's Sunken Coffin. Moses knew something crucial: the Israelites couldn't truly be free until the