Handsome Names and Ugly Deeds in Tanchuma on Shemot

Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Shemot 1:3

Rabbi Yose son of Rabbi Chanina said: There are people [whose names are handsome and whose deeds are ugly]; whose names are ugly and whose deeds are handsome; there are those whose names are handsome and whose deeds are handsome; there are those whose names are ugly and whose deeds are ugly. There are those whose names are handsome and whose deeds are ugly: this is Absalom, as it is said, "And Absalom went in to his father's concubines" (II Samuel 16:22). Those whose names are ugly and whose deeds are handsome: these are the ones who went up from the exile, as it is said, "The children of Barkos, the children of Sisera, the children of Temach" (Ezra 2:53). Those whose names are ugly and whose deeds are ugly: these are the spies; what is written? "From the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael" (Numbers 13:13). Those whose names are handsome and whose deeds are handsome: these are the tribes, as it is said, "And these are the names of the children of Israel… Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah" (Exodus 1:1-2).

Themes

Biblical References