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Sifre Numbers

Halakhic Midrash

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Chapter 106

(Bamidbar 12:14) "And the L-rd said to Moses: Now if her father had spat in her face, etc." R. Achi b. R. Yoshiyah said: There were "two rebukes," viz.: If her father of flesh and blood had rebuked her, she would (sit) in shame (sequestered) for seven days, does it not follow that if (her Father) He who spoke and brought the world into being (rebuked her), (she should be sequestered) fourteen (days)! But "it suffices that what is derived from an argument a fortiori be as that which it is derived from" — Just as her father, seven; so, He who spoke and brought the world into being, seven. (Ibid.) "Let her be sequestered seven days outside the camp, and then let her be gathered in.": The Holy One Blessed be He sequestered her, and the Holy One Blessed be He declared her tamei and the Holy One Blessed be He declared her clean. (Ibid. 12:15) "And the people did not journey until Miriam had been gathered in": to teach that "with the measure that a man measures, so is he measured."⁠ Miriam waited for Moses a short while, viz. (Shemot 2:4) "And his sister stationed herself at a distance, etc."; therefore, the Shechinah, the ark, the Cohanim, the Levites, and the seven clouds of glory did not journey until Miriam had been gathered in. Joseph merited taking the bones of his father (for burial), and there were none among his brothers greater than he, viz. (Bereshit 50:7-9) "And Joseph went up to bury his father … and there went up with him both chariots and riders." Who was greater among us than Joseph, only Moses meriting bringing him to burial. And there is none in Israel greater than he, viz. (Shemot 13:19) "And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him." Who is greater among us than Moses, none but the Holy One Blessed be He bringing him to burial, viz. (Devarim 34:6) "And He buried him in the valley of the land of Moav": R. Yehudah says: If it (the above) were not an explicit verse, it would be impossible to say it. Where did Moses die? In the portion of Reuven, viz. (Ibid. 1) "And Moses went up from the steppes of Moav to Mount Nevo." This is the territory of the sons of Reuven, viz. (Bamidbar 32:37-38) "And the sons of Reuven built Cheshbon and Elalei and Kiryathayim and Nevo." And he was buried only in the territory of Gad, viz. (Devarim 33:20-21) "And to Gad he said: Blessed be he who broadens Gad … and he saw the best for himself. For there the portion of the lawgiver (Moses) is hidden." From the portion of Reuven to that of Gad is four mils. Those four mils — Who carried him"? We are hereby taught that Moses was (carried) in the "hand" of the Holy One Blessed be He the four mils from the portion of Reuven to that of Gad, while the ministering angels extolled him in song, (Ibid.) "He wrought the righteousness of the L-rd and His judgments with Israel." And He thus gathers in not only Moses, but all of the righteous, as it is written (Isaiah 58:8) "And your righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of G-d will gather you in." (Bamidbar, Ibid. 16) "And afterwards the people journeyed from Chatzeiroth": This journey was after Miriam was gathered in.

Texts in conversation

Compare Matthew 7:2 and Sifre Numbers 106:1

New Testament · Rabbinic

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Summary

In Matthew, Jesus warns that the way you judge others will be used to judge you in return, reflecting a common Jewish tradition of “measure for measure” which is also expressed in Rabbinic tradition, such as in Sifre Numbers.

Passages

Matthew 7:2

New Testament
1 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 2 For by the standard you judge you will be judged, and the measure you use will be the measure you receive. 3 Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to see the beam of wood in your own? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ while there is a beam in your own?
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

Sifre Numbers 106:1

Rabbinic · Halakhic Midrash
But "it suffices that what is derived from an argument a fortiori be as that which it is derived from" — Just as her father, seven; so, He who spoke and brought the world into being, seven. (Ibid.) "Let her be sequestered seven days outside the camp, and then let her be gathered in.": The Holy One Blessed be He sequestered her, and the Holy One Blessed be He declared her tamei and the Holy One Blessed be He declared her clean. (Ibid. 12:15) "And the people did not journey until Miriam had been gathered in": to teach that "with the measure that a man measures, so is he measured." Miriam waited for Moses a short while, viz. (Shemot 2:4) "And his sister stationed herself at a distance, etc."; therefore, the Shechinah, the ark, the Cohanim, the Levites, and the seven clouds of glory did not journey until Miriam had been gathered in.
200 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Sifre Numbers

References

"... Jesus' famous statement concerning those who take up swords (Matthew 26:52) may allude to the Targumic form of Isaiah 50:11, and the identification of Gehenna in Mark 9:48 as the place "where their worm does not die and their fire is not quenched" (compare Isaiah 66:24) accords with the interpretation of the Targum. Jesus' proverb, 'in the measure you measure it will be measured to you' (Matthew 7:2; Mark 4:24), finds an echo in the Targum, as well (27:8). Examples of this sort help to substantiate the finding that the Targum in its Tannaitic level reflects Jewish traditional thinking in the first century A.D. They should also be appreciated by students of the New Testament as clues to the meaning and impact of Jesus'teaching ..."
Bruce D. Chilton, The Isaiah Targum: Introduction, Translation, Apparatus and Notes, ArBib 11 (Wilmington, DE: Michael Glazier, 1987), xxvi.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Matthew 7:2 and Sifre Numbers 106:1

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