738 passages in Rabbinic Midrash
Individual passages from Midrash Tanchuma, shown in source order. Page 15 of 16.
(Numb. 25:6:) “Just then one of the Children of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman unto his brothers [before the eyes of Moses and the eyes of the whole congregation of the ...
And God did prove Abraham (Gen. 22:1). Observe this difference between the earlier generations and the later generations: The earlier generations were tested by the Holy One, bless...
This midrash from Midrash Tanchuma on the portion of Shemot reads a fine distinction into the words of blessing that Jethro gave Moses. When Moses sought leave to return to Egypt, ...
And Moses said unto Aaron: “Take a jar and put an omerful of manna therein” (Exod. 16:33). I would not know of what substance the jar was fashioned, whether of silver or of gold or...
Go, get thee down (Exod. 32:7). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Mankind has already compelled Me to descend from this place to witness its degradation, as is said: And ...
Midrash Tanchuma on the portion of Emor takes up the commandment of the four species: "And you shall take for yourselves on the first day" of the festival of Sukkot (Leviticus 23:4...
Another interpretation (of Numb. 3:40), “enroll every first-born male.” But look, we find two hundred and seventy-three first-born, who were found to be in excess of the [number of...
"And it was on the day that Moses had finished" (Numbers 7:1). The midrash hears in this verse a quiet puzzle and answers it with a verse from Kohelet. Scripture there observes, "t...
(Numb. 21:17:) “Then Israel sang.” For what reason is Moses not mentioned there? For the reason that he was being punished because of the waters; and no person praises his executio...
(Numb. 25:7:) “When Phinehas [ben Eleazar ben Aaron the priest] saw.” But did they all not see it? And is it not written (in vs. 6), “before the eyes of Moses and the eyes of the w...
And He said unto him: “Abraham”; and he said: “Here am I” (Gen. 22:1). What does the expression hineni (“here am I”) signify? It signifies meekness and piety. The meekness of pious...
And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass (Exod. 4:20). This is one of the ten verses our rabbis altered when they translated the Torah into Greek for King Pto...
Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb (Exod. 17:6). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Wherever you find the imprint of a man’s foot, there I stand b...
Go, get thee down (Exod. 32:7). The sages said: Moses was actually excommunicated by the heavenly court at that time. Here it is said: Get thee down (red) as a rebuke, for the peop...
(Lev. 23:40:) “And you shall take for yourselves on the first day.” Is it the first [day]? Is it not the fifteenth day? So how is it the first? It is simply the first for the recko...
(Numb. 4:17-18:) “Then the Lord spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, ‘Do not cut off the tribe of the Kohathite families [from the Levites].’” This text is related (to Prov. 22...
"And it was on the day that Moses had finished" (Numbers 7:1). Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, a first-generation Amora of the Land of Israel, reads the completion of the Tabernacle not a...
(Numb. 21:21:) “Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon […].” This text is related (to Ps. 34:15), “Depart from evil and do good; [seek peace and pursue it].” The Torah did not comman...
The story of Abraham and Isaac, the Akeidah (the binding), grapples with these very questions. Abraham and Sarah, living in the Land of Israel, yearned for a child. Their lives wer...
And he saw the place from afar off (Gen. 22:4). Abraham said to Isaac: “Do you see what I see?” “I behold a glorious mountain encircled by a cloud,” he replied. Then he asked his y...
And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass (Exod. 4:20). The singular form ass is employed here, as when a man says: “Lead out the animal” (though he may have m...
Our sages of blessed memory said: “Observe that the way of the Holy One, blessed be He, is not the way of man.” It is not man’s way to heal with what he wounds. If he wounds with a...
Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants (Exod. 32:13). May our masters teach us: Until what time may the morning prayers be recited? Thus our masters teach us that the mo...
(Lev. 24:10:) “Now there went out the son of an Israelite woman.” From where did he go out? R. Levi says, “He went out from his world, just as it is stated (in I Sam. 17:4), ‘And t...
(Numb. 4:18:) “Do not cut off.” Let our master instruct us: In the case of one who commits a transgression punishable with excision according to the Torah, how do they receive pard...
(Numb. 7:1:) “So it came to pass on the day that Moses had finished.” R. Johanan said, “What is the meaning of ‘on the day that [Moses] had finished (rt. klh)?’ [Finished is] a wor...
(Numb. 21:21:) “Then Israel sent messengers.” All the words of Torah are necessary to each other, for what one covers over the other opens up. It is stated here (in Numb. 21:21), “...
And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel (Exod. 4:29). He told them: The Holy One, blessed be He, has said: I have surely remembered ...
Then Moses sang (Exod. 15:1). May our master teach us whether one may place a plaster upon a sore on the Sabbath? Thus do our masters teach us: It is forbidden to place a plaster u...
Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel (Exod. 32:13). It is written elsewhere in reference to this verse: And when they shall say to you: “Seek unto the ghosts and the familiar spirit...
(Lev. 24:10:) “Now there went out the son of an Israelite woman, [whose father was Egyptian].” From where did he go out? R. Hiyya bar Abba said, “He went out from the Parashah on g...
(Numb. 4:18:) “Do not cut off.” This text is related (to Ps. 33:18), “Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him….” The text speaks along many lines of thought. For what ...
"And it was on the day that Moses had finished" (Numbers 7:1). So did Rabbi Tanchuma bar Abba open [his discourse from] (Proverbs 30:4), "Who has ascended heaven and come down": Th...
(Numb. 21:25:) “Israel took all these towns….” This text is related (to Is. 61:8), “Because I the Lord love justice, I hate robbery with a burnt offering.” The Holy One, blessed be...
And the Lord said to Aaron: “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses” (Exod. 4:27). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: God thundereth marvelously with His voice; gr...
Then came Amalek and fought with Israel in Rephidim (Exod. 17:8). R. Eliezer the son of Hisma said: This verse should be understood and interpreted in relation to the verse quoted ...
The passage from Midrash Tanchuma opens on the verse where, after Israel makes the Golden Calf, (Exodus 32:7) "And the Lord spoke unto Moses: Go, get thee down." In the manner of t...
(Numb. 4:18) “Do not cut off.” See how well the text has said (in II (Kings 14:2)7), “And the Lord did not resolve to blot out the name of Israel from under the heavens.” The Holy ...
(Numb. 7:1:) “So it came to pass on the day that Moses had finished.” R. Judah bar Simon said, “On the day that the Tabernacle was erected, Moses entered and heard a majestic voice...
(Numb. 21:34:) “But the Lord God said unto Moses, ‘Do not fear him.’” This text is related (to Prov. 28:14), “Fortunate is the one who is always afraid […].” Such is the nature of ...
You'd expect a pretty epic location. But did you know there was a whole competition to be that mountain? The story goes that when the mountains caught wind that God was planning a ...
The Midrash Tanchuma reads Job's praise, "God thundereth marvelously with his voice" (Job 37:5), as a clue to a hidden wonder, and asks when the Holy One performed such a marvel wi...
And Moses said unto Joshua: “Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek” (Exod. 17:9). From this verse it is apparent that Moses treated his disciple Joshua as his equal. Thi...
And the Lord spoke unto Moses: “Depart, go up hence” (Exod. 33:1). This is what Scripture says in allusion to this verse: For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee ...
(Numb. 4:18) “Do not cut off.” This text is related (to Nahum 1:7), “The Lord is good, a shelter in the day of trouble; He knows those who trust in Him.” The nature of the Holy One...
(Numb. 7:1:) “So it came to pass on the day that Moses had finished.” R. Berekhyah the Priest Berabbi said, “Before the Tabernacle was erected, when Israel stood before Mount Sinai...
Another comment upon the verse And the Lord said to Aaron: “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses” (Exod. 4:27). Scripture says elsewhere in reference to this verse: O that thou wer...
17:10–11). Could the hand of Moses actually wage war or cause a war to cease? This indicates that whenever the Israelites glanced upward and directed their hearts to their Father i...
