## Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Ki Tisa

###### Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Ki Tisa 3:1
[Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Ki Tisa 3:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Midrash%20Tanchuma%20Buber/s/Ki%20Tisa/r/3:1)

[כי תשא]. זש"ה רבים אומרים לנפשי וגו' (תהלים ג ג), זה דוד כשהגיע לידו אותו מעשה, אמרו מה אדם ששבה הכבשה והרג את הרועה והפיל את ישראל בחרב יש לו תשועה, אין ישועתה לו באלהים (שם), אמר דוד, ואתה ה' הסכמת עמהם, וכתבת בתורה מות יומת הנואף והנואפת (ויקרא כ י), אלא מגן בעדי (שם), שהגנת עלי בזכות אבותי, שהחזרתי אותי למלכות, ומרים ראשי (שם), תחת אשר הייתי חייב לך הרמת ראש, נתת לי תלוי ראש, על ידי נתן הנביא, [שאמר לי] גם ה' העביר חטאתך לא תמות (ש"ב יב יג).

**Midrash Tanhuma, S. Buber Recension; trans. by John T. Townsend, 1989.:**
[(Exod. 30:12): WHEN YOU TAKE A CENSUS.] This text is related to Ps. 3:3 [2]): MANY SAY TO MY SOUL….. This refers to David, when that deed (of II Sam. 11) took place at his hand.¹¹., Exod. 9:4; *PRK* 2:1; *PR* 10:10; M. Pss. 3:5/6. They said: What person is there who has carried off the ewe lamb, killed the shepherd, and made Israel fall by the sword?¹² Is there salvation for him? (Ibid., cont.:) THERE IS NO SALVATION FOR HIM THROUGH HIS GOD. David said (in vs. 3 [2]): AND YOU, O LORD, have concurred with them and have written in the Torah (at Lev. 20:10): THE ADULTERER AND THE ADULTERESS SHALL SURELY BE PUT TO DEATH. Still (according to Ps. 3:4 [3]) YOU, O LORD, ARE A SHIELD ABOUT ME. You are the one who shielded me through the merit of my ancestors, the one who restored me to the kingship, AND (ibid. cont.:) THE ONE WHO RAISES UP MY HEAD. Instead of that which I owed you, namely the lifting off of the head, you gave me an uplifted head at the hands of the prophet Nathan, [who said to me] (in II Sam. 12:13): THE LORD HAS ALSO REMITTED YOUR SIN; YOU SHALL NOT DIE.

footnotes:
¹¹ Tanh
¹² The ewe lamb was Bathsheba, and the shepherd was Uriah the Hittite.


###### Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Ki Tisa 3:2
[Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Ki Tisa 3:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Midrash%20Tanchuma%20Buber/s/Ki%20Tisa/r/3:2)

ד"א אמר דוד כנגד מעשה העגל היה העולם אומר אומר זו ששמעה מפי אלהיה לא ייה לך (שמות כ ג), ולסוף ארבעים יום אמרו לעגל אלה אלהיך ישראל (שם לב ד), יש להם ישועה, אין ישועתה לו באלהים סלה, אין רבים אלא אומות העולם, שנאמר הוי המון עמים רבים (ישעיה יז יב), אמרו ישראל ואתה הסכמתה עמהם ואמרת למשה רבינו הרף ממני ואשמידם (דברים ט יד), אלא מגן בעדי שהגנת עלינו בזכות אבותינו, וזכרת לנו זכותו של אברהם, שאמרת לו אנכי מגן לך (בראשית טו א), עד שלא עשיתי אותו מעשה לא השרית שכינתך בקרבינו, אבל משעשיתי אותו מעשה ואמרת ועשו לי מקדש וגו' (שמות כה ח), ומרים ראשי, תחת אשר היינו חייבין לך הרמת ראשינו ונתת לנו תלוי ראש, על ידי משה רבינו כי תשא את ראש.

**Midrash Tanhuma, S. Buber Recension; trans. by John T. Townsend, 1989.:**
Another interpretation: David spoke with respect to the event of the golden calf. The world said: This is the people who heard from the mouth of its God (in Exod. 20:3): YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BESIDE ME. Then at the end of forty days they said of the calf (in Exod. 32:4): THIS IS YOUR GOD, O ISRAEL. Is there salvation for them? (Ps. 3:3 [2]:) MANY SAY TO MY SOUL: THERE IS NO SALVATION FOR HIM THROUGH HIS GOD. SELAH. The word MANY (in Ps. 3:3 [2]) can only mean the peoples of the world, since it is stated (in Is. 17:12): HERE IS THE ROAR OF MANY PEOPLES. Israel had promised (to have no other gods) and you agreed with them; so you said to Moses our Teacher (in Deut. 9:14): LET ME ALONE, AND I WILL DESTROY THEM. However, (in Ps. 3:4 [3]:) YOU, O LORD ARE A SHIELD ABOUT ME. You are the one who shielded me through the merit of our ancestors and recalled for us the merit of Abraham, in that you had said to him (in Gen. 15:1): I AM A SHIELD FOR YOU. Before I committed that sinful act, you had your Divine Presence dwell in our midst, but after I had committed that act, you said (in Exod. 25:8): AND MAKE ME A SANCTUARY THAT I MAY DWELL AMONG THEM. (Ps. 3:4 [3]): THE ONE WHO RAISES UP MY HEAD. Instead of that which we owed you, namely the lifting off of our head, you gave us an uplifted head at the hands of Moses our Teacher, [to whom you said] (in Exod. 30:12): WHEN YOU TAKE A CENSUS OF (literally: LIFT UP THE HEAD OF) THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL….