MIDRASH. Like all nouns of a similar form Midrash is the equivalent of the Niph'al participle, and as such yields as many modified meanings as the root Darosh to search, &c., itself has. The practical significations, however, of Midrash, taken in historical order, are as follows:—(1) a book of records; (2) a recension of older, especially historical, materials; (3) search in and explanation of the Scriptures, notably the Pentateuch (in which case the plural is invariably Midrashoth) ; (4) theory as distinguished from practice; (5) a college for study and teaching; (6) an Agadic (that is, a free) explanation, in contradistinction to an llalakhic one; (7) a collection of such free explanations (in which case the plural is Midrashim and occasionally also Midrashoth). Of these seven significations (1) and (2) are to be found in the Bible, (3) and (4) are mentioned for the first time in the Mishnah, (5) is to be met with in the Midrash, while (6) and (7) are to be found in early Rabbinic writings.
The subject of this article will be—(1) the nature of Midrash in the sense of Agadah, to the exclusion of Halakhah (for which see Mishnah), and (2) the development of this Midrash Agadah into books (Midrashim).
The thinking reader of the Scriptures cannot have failed to observe that by the side of their ceremonial element, be it negative or affirmative, permissive or jussive, there is also often to be met with (and sometimes so as to be inseparable from it) a spiritual element. This spiritual element rests chiefly on feeling or emotion, and produces pious works only indirectly. Now the explanation or application of this element, either by the Scriptures themselves or by the rabbis, is traditionally called Midrash Haggadah (recitation, preaching) or Midrash Agadah (binding the soul to God and all that is godly).
This Haggadah or Agadah varies considerably both in nature and form. In its nature it sometimes humours, at other times threatens; it alternately promises and admonishes, persuades and rebukes, encourages and deters. In the end it always consoles, and throughout it instructs and elevates. In form it is legendary, historical, exegetic, didactic, theosophic, epigrammatic; but throughout it is ethical.
And varied as was and is the Midrash Agadah, so varied have been its fortunes. Whilst at times it stood very high in the estimation both of the teachers and the congregations in Israel, it sank at other times very low indeed. Nay, at one and the same time, whilst some rabbis exalted it to the skies, Koħano, Why dost thou tease them? Ask, and they will surely answer thee !” ] other rabbis treated it with hatred, or, worse still, with contempt. There have actually been teachers whose treatment of it differed with the difference of the occasion. The fact is the Jews liked or disliked the Midrash Agadah according to their political condition on the one hand and their proximity to Jewish professors of Christianity on the other. In the hour of prosperity the Jews preferred the Halakhah; in that of adversity they ran to hear the consoling words of the Agadah. u When near Judaeo-Christians, whose religious strength and argument chiefly rested on Agadah, the Jews disliked it; when among themselves, or when dwelling among Gentiles (heathen or Christian), they showed their wonted partiality for it.
But, whatever were the likings or dislikings of the Jews for the Midrashoth, it is certain that these traditions were early the book of Job (in the) Chaldaic paraphrase”; and T. Y., Kilayim, ix. 4: “At that time 1 ran (my) eyes through the whole Book of the Psalms (in the form) of the Haggadah [Agadah of the Psalms].” R. Hiyya Rubboh belonged to the middle of the 2d Christian century. ] committed to writing, and formed into special volumes, known as “Books of Agadah." Such were first some of the Targumim and then the Midrashim. Against writing down the traditional explanations of the Mosaic ceremonial there existed a distinct law, thou oughtest to write down, but thou must not write down Halakhoth. , ” ] which was observed down to near the end of the 6th century. At an earlier period isolated disciples only, in order to refresh their memory, wrote down short Halakhic notes, which, however, they kept in secret. The Targumim and Midrashim, on the other hand, were composed very early and were numerous, while their extensive contents were circulated in public.
The Midrash, from whatever point of view it may be regarded, is of the highest value. It is of the highest value, of course, to the Jew as Jew first, inasmuch as he finds there recorded the noblest ideas, sayings, and teachings of his venerable sages of early times. In the next place it has value to the Christian as Christian, since only by these ideas, teachings, reasonings, and descriptions can the beautiful sayings of the Founder of Christianity, the reasonings of the apostles, and the imagery of the sublime but enigmatic Apocalypse be rightly understood. But its importance appeals also to the general scholar, because of the inexhaustible mines of information of all kinds it contains. The philologist will find here numerous hints on lexicography and grammar, chiefly, of course, of the Semitic languages, but also of other tongues, notably Greek and Latin. The historian will gather here a rich harvest on geography, chorography, topography, chronology, numismatics, (tc. The philosopher will find here abundant and valuable notices on logic, psychology, metaphysics, theology, theosophy, aesthetics, rhetoric, poetry, mathematics, geometry, astronomy, zoology, botany, biology, morphology, chemistry, medicine, physics, &c. The statesman—particularly if he be inclined to follow the Psalmist’s advice— “from the ancients I gather understanding” (cxix. 100)— will find here valuable information on ancient ethnography in the full sense of the term—politics, political economy, law, military science, naval affairs, &c. The true scholar will find out by the study of the Agadah that many a discovery thought to belong to a recent age was well known to these ancient doctors.
The sources of the Agadah are five :—(1) the Targumim and especially those on the Prophets and Hagiographa; (2) the non-canonical Mishnah ^Mathnitho Boraitho∙, see Mishnah), which contains many valuable pieces, the age of which is often anterior, in essence if not in form, not only to those contained in the canonical Mishnah, but also to the sayings of the New Testament; (3) the canonical (officially recognized) Mishnah, which contains several entire treatises of an Agadic nature, as Aboth ?· Middoth, &c., and numerous pieces scattered here and there among the Halakhah∙, (4) both Talmudiιn (the Palestinian and Babylonian), which have thousands of Agadic notices interspersed in their Halakholh; and (5) the Midrashim, κατ' έξοχήν. It is of the last alone, as represented by their principal collections, that we give an historical enumeration here :—
(1) Mcgillath Ta'anith is an historical Midrash consisting of twelve Perakim, and is called so on the principle of lucus a non lucendo, seeing that in it are enumerated the days of the year on which a Jew must not fast. The Aramaic part of it alone constitutes the real Megillah, and belongs to the beginning of the 2d Christian century. The editio princeps came out at Mantua, 1513, 4to; but cheap editions have been printed at Warsaw and elsewhere.
(2) Sepher Yezirah is a philosophico-cabbalistic Midrash divided into six Perakim, which, in their turn, are subdivided into Mishniyyoth. It is variously ascribed to the patriarch Abraham and to R. 'Akibah, the illustrious teacher, who suffered martyrdom under Hadrian. To this rabbi the book, no doubt, belongs both in substance and form. It has gone through numerous editions, the ed. princ. being of 1562 (Mantua, 4to), and has been translated into Latin, German, and English (New York, 1877).
(3) Othiyyoth de-Rabbi 'Akibah is a g , w<m-cabbali'tic Midrash on the alphabet, belonging, in essence if not in form, to the aforesaid teacher and martyr. Ed. princ., Constantinople, 1520, 4to.
(4) Massekheth Hekhaloth is an astronomico-cabbalistic Midrash in seven Perakim. It is ascribed to R. Yishma'el the high priest.
Judging from internal evidence on the one hand, and from what is known of R. Yishma'el in the Talmudim and Midrashim {Babli Bcrakhoth, 7a and elsewhere) on the other hand, there seems to be no valid reason for doubting that he is the author of this small but sublime book. This Midrash is printed in the collection Areze Lebanon (Venice, 1601, 4to) under the title of “Pireke Hekhaloth" and “Massekheth Hekhaloth," and a MS. of it is preserved in the University Library of Cambridge (Dd. 10. 11. 7. 2). The work, however, called “The Greater and the Lesser Hekhaloth," in thirty Perakim, printed in this century, somewhere in Poland, contains, besides the ancient literature, a good deal of matter which is of much later date.
(5) Seder '0lam (the Greater and the Lesser) are two historical Midrashim, the former of which belongs to the 2d century, whilst the latter (which is a mere extract of the former) belongs to a late age indeed (the Gaonaic). They have been repeatedly printed, always together, the ed. princ. being Mantua, 1513, 4to.
(6) Haggadah shel Pcsah is a liturgical Midrash of the middle of the 2d century, as far as its main portions go. It exists now in three principal and several minor recensions in accordance with the various rituals (see Mahzor), and is recited at the domestic service of the first two Passover evenings. The editions are too numerous to be mentioned, the ed. princ. being Constantinople, 1505, folio.
(7) Megillath Antiokhos treats ostensibly, as its name indicates, of the sufferings of the Jews under Antiochus Epiphanes, and their deliverance from his tyranny, but in reality of their sufferings under Hadrian and their deliverance under Antoninus Pius. The Aramaic text, with the exception of a few interpolations, belongs to the middle of the 2d century. This little “roll” was for the first time published by Filipowsky (London, 1851, 32mo). A MS. copy of the Hebrew is preserved in the University Library of Cambridge (Dd. 8. 34).
(8) Zohar {Midrash Hazzohar, Midrasho shel Rabbi Shim'eon b. Yohai, Midrash Yehi Or, &c. ) is a cabbalistic Midrash on the Pentateuch, Canticles, Ruth, and part of Lamentations. It is variously ascribed to the famous R. Shim'eon (disciple of R. 'Akibah, &c ) and to R. Mosheh b. Shemtob of Leon (a second-rate cabbalist of the time of Nahmanides and Ibn Addereth). The Zohar belongs, strictly speaking, to neither of these, whilst, ina certain sense, it belongs to both. The fact is—the nucleus of the book is of Mishnic times, and R. Shim'eon b. Yohai was the author of the Zohar in the same sense that R. Yohanan was the author of the Palestinian Talmud, i.e., he gave the first impulse to the composition of the book. But R. Mosheh of Leon, on the other hand, was the first not only to copy and disseminate the Zohar in Europe, but also to disfigure it by sundry explanatory interpolations. For more details see Lumby, “Introduction to the Epistle of Jude,” in the Speaker's Commentary, vol. iv. p. 388. The first two editions of the Zohar on the Pentateuch came out simultaneously (Mantua, 1558-60, 4to, and Cremona, 1558, folio), and the ed. princ. on Canticles, Ruth, and part of Lamentations came out at Salonika (1597, 4to) The best, though by no means critical, edition on the Pentateuch is that of Brody, 1873, 8vo. Of translations, such as they are, there exist those of Knorr v. Rosenroth, Kabbala dcmιdata (vol. i., Sulzbach, 1677, and vol. ii., Frankfort, 1684, 4to), and Tholuck, Wichtige Stellen, &c. (Berlin, 1824, 8vo), &c.
(9) Pesikotho (commonly, but by mistake, called Pcsikta) dcrab Kohano is a homiletic Midrash consisting of thirty-two Pcsiktoth for the principal festivals and fasts, and the historically noted sabbaths and other days. It is of the end of the 3d or the beginning of the 4th century. Having been but rarely quoted since the 12th century, so that most scholars knew of it only indirectly, it was long considered lost, till, in 1868, Salomon Buber of Lemberg, a man of learning, wealth, and love for the ancient literature of his nation, edited it from four MSS., one of which (formerly in possession of Carmoly) is now preserved in the University Library of Cambridge (Add. 1497). The printed edition appeared at Lyck, 8vo.
(10) Pesikto Rabbathi, consisting in the latest edition of eighty-four Piskoth, is a Midrash of the same nature, and, in its main part, almost of the same date, as (9). Both drew from the same sources. This Midrash has been edited five times,—the latest, best, and cheapest edition being that of Friedmann (Vienna, 1880, 8vo).
(11) Tanna debe Eliyyahu consists of two parts, the Greater (Rabbo) and the Lesser (Zutto),—the former in thirty-one and the latter in twenty-five Perakim. It is an exegetical Midrash, the name of which is already known to the Bereshith Rabbah (c. liv. ) and the Babylonian Talmud (Kcthuboth, 10 c ia'). It is only uncritical criticism that can declare it a Gaonaic work, although, like all other old books of the Jews, it is not without later additions. Ed. princ., Venice, 1598, 4to. There are modern and cheap Polish editions.
(12) Midrash Rabbah (Π3Ί) or Rabboth (ΓΠ3^I) is chiefly an exegetical and homiletical Midrash on the Pentateuch and the “Five Rolls” {Hamesh Mcgilloth, i.e., Canticles, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther). It is called Rabbah either from the third (the first distinctive) word of its beginning *3∏
. · - ∏ 31) or from its being the most voluminous Midrash ; hence also Rabbo (K3*1). The Midrash on Canticles (and Ecclesiastes) is now and then also called Midrash Hazitha (from the first distinctive word of the beginning Π*TΠ). These ten Midrashim are, certainly, of various styles and ages; yet none of them is, interpolation excepted, later than the beginning of the 5th century. It is remarkable that, although the Mcgilloth themselves had been early attached to the Pentateuch (since they were long before the 10th century, and still are, read through the synagogal year, even as was and still is the Pentateuch itself), the Rabboth had no common editio princcps i — that on the Pentateuch appearing for the first time in 1512 (Constantinople, folio), and that on the Megilloth in 1519 (somewhere in Italy, ΠK*⅛*K Π2*1D3. also in folio). The latest and best edition is that of Vilna, 1880, folio. A translation in German is now coming out at Leipsic, by Dr A. Wünsche.
(13) Pireke de-Rabbi Eli'ezer (also called Boraitho de-Rabbi El·iezcr) is an astronomico-theosophical Midrash consisting of fifty-four Perakim. It goes through the so-called “eighteen benedictions,” the signs of the zodiac, &c., but is unfinished. It belongs, no doubt, to the 5th century. The fact that the name “Fatima " occurs in it is no proof whatever that the book is post-Mohammedan, as that name must have been already known to the idolatrous Arabs. Ed. prin., Constantinople, 1514, and with a Latin translation, Leyden, 1644, both editions being in 4to. There arc also now to be found cheap editions (Lemberg, Warsaw).
(14) Tanhuma is an exegetical and homiletical Midrash on the whole Pentateuch. It is quoted according to the Parshiyyoth of the week. Although originally of the end of the 5th or the beginning of the 6th century, it has now two principal additions, which form part of the book :—(1) several of the Shcctloth of Rab Ahai Gaon (of the 8th century), and (2) several pieces of the Yesod of R. Mosheh Haddarshan, of Narbonne (of the 11th century). On its relation to the “Yclammcdenu” (often quoted in the 11th century, but supposed to be lost) light will soon be thrown by the before-mentioned Salomon Buber, who is now preparing a critical edition of it. The ed. princ. of the Tanhuma is Constantinople, 1522, folio; and a very valuable MS. copy of it is in the Cambridge University Library (Add. 1212).
(15) Bahir is a small cabbalistic Midrash ascribed to the pre-Mishnic teacher, R. Nehunyah b. Hakkanah,—no doubt from its beginning with the words - · ∙∙ ΓDp∏'j3 ΠΌΙΠΙ *3 - ∣ ΊΌΧ-Nahmanides (oδ. c. 1268) quotes this book often in his commentary on the Pentateuch, under the names of Sepher Habbahir, or of Midrasho shel Rabbi Nehunyah b. Hakkanah. Some have pronounced this work a late fabrication, but others, who have thoroughly studied it, justly describe it as “old in substance if not in form.” Ed. princ., Amsterdam, 1651, 4to. A cheap edition appeared at Lemberg (1865, 8vo), and a MS. of this work is preserved in the University Library of Cambridge (Dd. 10. 11. 4).
(16) Yalkut is the only existing systematic if not exhaustive collection of the Agadoth on the whole Bible. Its author drew not only from most of the Midrashim named in this article, but also from the Boraithoth (see Mishnah), both Talmudim, and the Midrashic works now lost (as the Abkhir, Hasshekhem, or Hashkem, &c.). s This fact constitutes one of the principal points of its value. The author was R. Shim'eon, brother (and not son) of R. Helbo, and father of the distinguished grammarian, critic, and divine R. Yoseph Kara. He lived somewhere in the north of France in the 11th century. The ed. princ. of the Yalkut on Ezra, Nehemiah, and the books of Chronicles came out at Venice, 1517, folio (in the first Rabbinic Bible); that on the Prophets and Hagiographa in 1521, and that on the Pentateuch in 1526-27, both at Salonika, and in folio. An English translation of the whole work has been undertaken by a band of Rabbinic scholars in Cambridge. The first instalment, “The Yalkut on Zechariah,” by E. G. King, B.D., Hebrew lecturer of Sidney Sussex College, appeared in 1882. This specimen, besides giving a correct translation, contains many valuable notes.
(17) Lekah Tob is a Midrash on the Pentateuch and the five Mcgilloth,' by R. Tobiyyahu b. Eli'ezer of Greece, who lived during the crusade of 1096. This work draws, certainly, upon the old and well-known Midrashim, and as such it would have thoroughly deserved the censure passed upon it by the witty but somewhat irreverent Abraham Ibn 'Ezra (in his preface to his commentary on the Pentateuch). But the Lekah Tob has also most valuable explanations both by the collector himself and by his lather (R. Eli'ezer), a fact passed over by Ibn 'Ezra in silence. The Lekah Tob on Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy came out for the first time at Venice, in 1546, folio, under the title of Pcsikto Zuttarto (see leaf 93⅛ in the postscript by the editor, KΠp*DDΓΙ NΓI^ltDlt, which explains the somewhat vague title on the titlepage ΚΠ3Ί IN XJW)T Knp*DB). In 1753—54 it was republished at Venice, with a Latin translation, by Blasius Ugolinus in his Thesaurus Antiquitatum Sacrarum (xv.-xvi. ) under the name of Pesictha. The Lekah Tob on Genesis and Exodus was published, with a critical commentary, at Vilna, by Salomon Buber (1880, 8vo), where also simultaneously a third edition of this Midrash on the last three books of Moses, with a short commentary on it, came out by Aharon Mosheh Padova, of Carlin. The Lekah Tob on the five Megilloth is as yet unpublished; there exist, however, several good MSS. of it, both in public and private libraries, the finest copy in every respect being that preserved in the University Library, Cambridge (Add. 378. 1).
(18) Mcnorath Hammaor is a scientific, though incomplete, collection of the principal Agadoth of the Talmudim and Midrashim, by R. Yizhak Abohab the elder( flourished 13th century). The editions, with and without translations, are very numerous,— the ed. princ. being Constantinople, 1514, folio. There are translations in Spanish, Judaeo-German, and German, but not in English.
We append two specimens of Midrashim,— the first from Pesikotho, leaf 127δ, and the second from Midrash Shemoth Rabbah, cap. ii.
First Specimen. —The Holy One (blessed be He!) said to the Prophets, ι Go ye and comfort ye Jerusalem!
Then went Hosea to comfort her and said, The Holy One (blessed be He!) sent me to thee to comfort thee. She said, What hast thou in thine hand to comfort me? The Prophet said (xiv. 6[5]), “I will be as the dew unto Israel!” But Jerusalem said to him, Only yesterday thou toldest me (ix. 16), “Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb!” and now thou speakest to me thus. Which shall we believe, the first or the second prophecy?
Then went Joel to comfort her and said, The Holy One (blessed be He!) sent me to thee to comfort thee. She said to him. What hast thou in thine hand to comfort me? The Prophet said (iv. 18), “And it shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, <fcc.!” But Jerusalem said to him, Only yesterday thou toldest me (i. 5), “Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth!” and now thou speakest to me thus. Which shall we believe, the first or the second prophecy?
Then went Amos to comfort her and said, The Holy One (blessed be He !) sent me to thee to comfort thee. She said to him, What hast thou in thine hand to comfort me? The Prophet said (ix. 11), “In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen !” But Jerusalem said to him, Only yesterday thou toldest me (v. 2), “The Virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise!” and now thou speakest to me thus. Which shall we believe, the first or the second prophecy?
Then went Micah to comfort her and said, The Holy One (blessed be He!) sent me to thee to comfort thee. She said to him, What hast thou in thine hand to comfort me? The Prophet said (vii. 18), “Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?” But Jerusalem said to him, Only yesterday thou toldest me (i. 5), “For tlιe transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel, &c. !” and now thou speakest to me thus. Which shall we believe, the first or the second prophecy?
Then went Nahum to comfort her and said, The Holy One (blessed be He !) sent me to thee to comfort thee. She said to him, What hast thou in thine hand to comfort me? The Prophet said (ii. 1 [i. 15]), “For the wicked shall no more pass through thee! " But Jerusalem said to him, Only yesterday thou toldest me (i. 11), “There is one come out of thee that imagineth evil against the Lord, a wicked counsellor!” and now thou speakest to me thus. Which shall we believe, the first or the second prophecy,?
Then went Habakkuk to comfort her and said, The Holy One (blessed be He !) sent me to thee to comfort thee. She said to him, What hast thou in thine hand to comfort me? The Prophet said (iii. 13), “Thou wentest forth for the salvation of Thy people, even for the salvation with Thine Anointed One !” But Jerusalem said to him, Only yesterday thou toldest me (i. 2), “0 Lord, how long shall I cry and Thou wilt not hear, even cry out unto Thee of violence and Thou wilt not save !” and now thou speakest to me thus. Which shall we believe, the first or the second prophecy?
Then went Zephaniah to comfort her and said, The Holy One (blessed be He!) sent me to thee to comfort thee. She said to him, What hast thou in thine hand to comfort me? The Prophet said (i. 12), “And it shall come to pass at that time that I shall search Jerusalem with lights!” But Jerusalem said to him, Only yesterday thou toldest me (i. 15), “A day of darkness and gloominess!” and now thou speakest to me thus. Which shall we believe, the first or the second prophecy?
Then went Haggai to comfort her and said, The Holy One (blessed be He !) sent me to thee to comfort thee. She said to him, What hast thou in thine hand to comfort me? The Prophet said (ii. 19), “Is the seed yet in the barn! Yea, as yet the vine and the fig tree and the pomegranate and the olive tree hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you!” But Jerusalem said to him, Only yesterday thou toldest me (1 6), “Ye have sown much and bring in little, <fcc.! " and now thou speakest to me thus. Which shall we believe, the first or the second prophecy.
Then went Zechariah to comfort her and said, The Holy One (blessed be He !) sent me to thee to comfort thee. She said to him, What hast thou in thine hand to comfort me? The Prophet said (1. 15), “And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased and they helped forward the affliction !” But Jerusalem said to him, Only yesterday thou toldest me (i. 2), " The Lord hath been sore displeased with your fathers !” and now thou speakest to me thus. Which shall we believe, the first or the last prophecy?
Then went Malachi to comfort her and said, The Holy One (blessed be He!) sent me to thee to comfort thee. She said to him, What hast thou in thine hand to comfort me? The Prophet said (iii. 12), “And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land !” But Jerusalem said to him, Only yesterday thou toldest me (i. 10), “I have no delight in you!" and now thou speakest to me thus. Which shall we believe, the first or the last prophecy?
Then went all the Prophets to the Holy One (blessed be He!) saying to Him, Lord of the Universe, Jerusalem will not accept consolation at our hands. Then the Holy One (blessed be He!) said to them, “I and you will together go to comfort her; and this is why it says (Isaiah xl. 1), Comfort ye, comfort ye mt people, comfort her with me. Comfort her, ye celestial ones! comfort her, ye terrestrial ones! Comfort her, ye living ones! comfort her, ye dead ones! Comfort her in this world! comfort her in the world to come!
Second Specimen. —And whom does He try? The righteous one; for it says (Ps. xi. 5), “The Lord trieth the righteous.” And by what does He try him? By the feeding of sheep. David He tried by sheep and found him a good shepherd, for it says(Ps. lxxviii. 70), “And He took him from the , restraints ’ of sheep.” What is the meaning of i Mimmikhleoth f ’ The root is the same as that of 'vayyik-kale [haggeshem} (Gen. viii. 2), “And the rain was restrained.” David restrained the big sheep in favour of the small ones. He brought out first the young ones, so that they should feed on the tender herbs; then he brought out the old ones that they should feed on the less tender herbs; and, finally, he brought out the strong sheep that they should feed on the coarser herbs. Upon this the Holy One (blessed be He!) said, He who understandeth to feed sheep according to their strength, let him come and feed My people! And this it is what is written (Ps. lxxviii. 71), “From following the ewes great with young He brought him to feed Jacob His people!” And the same was the case as regards Moses, whom the Holy One (blessed be He !) tried by sheep. Our rabbis say, When Moses our teacher (peace be upon him!) was feeding the sheep of Jethro in the wilderness, a kid ran away from him, and Moses ran after it till they came to a mountain-hollow. When it had reached the mountain-hollow there was a pool of water, and the kid stood still in order to drink. When Moses reached the kid he said to it, I did not know that thou didst run away from me because thou wast thirsty and faint. Thereupon he put it on his shoulders and walked back with it to the flock. Then said the Holy One (blessed be He!), Thou art compassionate in the feeding of sheep belonging to mere flesh and blood (man); as thou livest, thou shalt feed My flock, even Israel! Behold, this it is that is written (Exod. iii. 1), “And Moses was feeding the flock, <fcc." (S. Μ. S.-S.)
