## Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Chukat

###### Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Chukat 46:1
[Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Chukat 46:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Midrash%20Tanchuma%20Buber/s/Chukat/r/46:1)

ויבא העם אל משה ויאמרו חטאנו (שם שם ז). ידעו שדיברו במשה ונשתטהו לפניו, ואמרו התפלל אל ה' ויסר מעלינו את הנחש (שם), להודיעך את ענותנותו של משה, שלא נשתהה לבקש עליהם רחמים, ולהודיעך כח התשובה, כיון שאמרו חטאנו, מיד נתרצה להם, ללמדך שאין המוחל נעשה אכזרי, ומנין שאם סרח אדם לחבירו ואמר לו חטאתי, ואינו מוחל לו שנקרא חוטא, שנאמר (וגם) [גם] אנכי חלילה לי מחטא לה' מחדול להתפלל בעדכם (ש"א יב כג), אימתי כשבאו ואמרו לו חטאנו, [שנאמר] ויאמרו (העם אל שמואל) חטאנו וגו' (שם שם י).

**Midrash Tanhuma, S. Buber Recension; trans. by John T. Townsend, 1989.:**
(Numb. 21:7:) THEN THE PEOPLE CAME UNTO MOSES AND SAID: WE HAVE SINNED. They knew that they had spoken against Moses, so they fell prostrate before him and said (ibid., cont.): PRAY UNTO THE LORD TO REMOVE THE SERPENT¹⁷⁸ FROM US. The passage serves to make Moses' humility known to you, in that he did not hesitate to seek mercy for them and to make the power of repentance known to you. As soon as they said: We have sinned, he was immediately reconciled to them. The passage serves to teach you that there is no one who forgives that becomes cruel. And where is it shown that, if one has sinned against his companion and says to him: I have sinned, without the companion forgiving him, that the unforgiving one is called a sinner? Where it is stated (in I Sam. 12:23): {AND} AS FOR ME ALSO, FAR BE IT FOR ME TO SIN AGAINST THE LORD BY CEASING TO PRAY ON YOUR BEHALF. When? When they came and said to him: We have sinned, [as stated] (in I Sam. 12:10): AND [THEY] {THE PEOPLE] SAID {UNTO SAMUEL}: WE HAVE SINNED….

footnotes:
¹⁷⁸ The use of the singular here may be suggesting to midrashic interpreter that this was the same serpent that sinned in the Garden of Eden. See the parallel in Numb. R. 19:23.


###### Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Chukat 46:2
[Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Chukat 46:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Midrash%20Tanchuma%20Buber/s/Chukat/r/46:2)

ויאמר ה' אל משה עשה לך שרף [וגו'] והיה כל הנשוך (במדבר כא ח). לא נשוך נחש בלבד, אלא כל הנשוך, אפילו נשו פתן ועקרב וחיה רע וכלב.

**Midrash Tanhuma, S. Buber Recension; trans. by John T. Townsend, 1989.:**
(Numb. 21:8): AND THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES: MAKE A SERAPH, AND PUT IT ON A POLE. THEN IT SHALL COME TO PASS THAT, WHEN ANYONE BITTEN LOOKS AT IT, HE SHALL LIVE, not only one bitten by a serpent, but ANYONE BITTEN, even one bitten by an adder, by a scorpion, a wild beast, or a dog.


###### Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Chukat 46:3
[Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Chukat 46:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Midrash%20Tanchuma%20Buber/s/Chukat/r/46:3)

ויעשה משה נחש נחושת (שם שם ט). זרקו לאויר ועמד.

**Midrash Tanhuma, S. Buber Recension; trans. by John T. Townsend, 1989.:**
(Numb. 21:9:) SO MOSES MADE A BRONZE SERPENT AND SET IT UP BY A MIRACLE.¹⁷⁹ The usual rendering would read: AND SET IT UP ON A POLE (*nes*). However, since *nes* can also mean “miracle,” the midrash is understanding it in the latter sense. He tossed it into the air and it remained there.

footnotes:
¹⁷⁹ Nes.


###### Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Chukat 46:4
[Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Chukat 46:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Midrash%20Tanchuma%20Buber/s/Chukat/r/46:4)

ויסעו בני ישראל ויחנו באובות (שם שם י). שנעשו אויבים למקום.

**Midrash Tanhuma, S. Buber Recension; trans. by John T. Townsend, 1989.:**
(Numb. 21:10:) THEN THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL JOURNEYED ON AND CAMPED IN OBOTH (*ovot,* rt: '*WB*), because they had become enemies (*oyevim,* rt: '*YB*) to the Omnipresent.¹⁸⁰

footnotes:
¹⁸⁰ Numb. R. 19:24.


###### Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Chukat 46:5
[Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Chukat 46:5](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Midrash%20Tanchuma%20Buber/s/Chukat/r/46:5)

ויחנו בעיי העברים (במדבר כא יא). שהיו מלאים עבירות.

**Midrash Tanhuma, S. Buber Recension; trans. by John T. Townsend, 1989.:**
(Numb. 21:11:) AND THEY CAMPED AT IYE-ABARIM ('*avarim,* rt.: '*BR*), because they were full of transgressions ('*averot,* rt.: '*BR*).


###### Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Chukat 46:6
[Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Chukat 46:6](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Midrash%20Tanchuma%20Buber/s/Chukat/r/46:6)

ויחנו בנחל זרד (שם שם יב). שלא היה הנחל אלא כמלא זרת, ולא יכלו לעבור שלשים ושמונה שנה, [שנאמר] עתה קומו ועברו [לכם] את נחל זרד [וגו'], והימים אשר הלכנו מקדש ברנע עד אשר עברנו את נחל זרד שלשים ושמונה שנה (דברים ב יג יד).

**Midrash Tanhuma, S. Buber Recension; trans. by John T. Townsend, 1989.:**
(Numb. 21:12:) AND THEY CAMPED IN THE WADI ZERED, because the wadi was only about a full span (*zeret*) in width; but they were unable to cross it for thirty-eight years. [Thus it is stated] (in Deut. 2:13–14): NOW THEN ARISE AND CROSS THE WADI ZERED…. AND THE TIME THAT WE TRAVELED FROM KADESH-BARNEA UNTIL WE CROSSED THE WADI ZERED WAS THIRTY-EIGHT YEARS.


###### Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Chukat 46:7
[Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Chukat 46:7](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Midrash%20Tanchuma%20Buber/s/Chukat/r/46:7)

משם נסעו ויחנו מעבר ארנון וגו' (במדבר שם יג), שנתרצה להם המקום.

**Midrash Tanhuma, S. Buber Recension; trans. by John T. Townsend, 1989.:**
(Numb. 21:13:) FROM THERE THEY JOURNEYED AND CAMPED ON THE OTHER SIDE OF (*M'BR*) THE ARNON (rt.: *RNN*) …, because the Omnipresent was reconciled to them.¹⁸¹ is close to *M‘BRH*, which means, “away from transgression” or, with different voweling, “away from wrath”; while the root, *RNN,* means “sing” or “rejoice.”

footnotes:
¹⁸¹ The argument seems to depend on the following: M‘BR