Numbers 11:16

Gather for Me. Here is the reply to your complaint when you said, “I am unable, alone . . .” But where were the original elders? Had they not sat with them even in Egypt, as it says: “Go, gather the elders of Israel”? Evidently, they died at the fire of “Tav’erah.” They deserved this at Sinai, as it is written, “they gazed at God.” Because they acted frivolously, like someone munching his loaf while speaking before the king. And this is [the meaning of] “They ate and drank.” But the Holy One, Blessed is He, did not want to cause grief during the giving of the Torah, so he punished them here.

Whom you know to be, etc. Those whom you recognize, as they were appointed officers over them in Egypt for the body breaking labor. They took pity on them, and were beaten for their sake, as it says, “The Israelite officers were beaten.” Let them be appointed now, in their greatness, just as they suffered when they were oppressed.

You shall take them. Take them verbally. “How fortunate you are to have been appointed as leaders over the Omnipresent’s children.”

And they shall stand there with you. So that the Israelites will see, and treat them as great men, reverently, saying: ‘How precious are those who entered with Moshe to hear the word from the mouth of the Holy One, Blessed is He.’

Then spake the Lord unto Mosheh, Gather together in My name seventy righteous men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be elders of the people, and who were set over them in Mizraim, and bring them to the taberncle to stand there with thee.

AND THE ETERNAL SAID UNTO MOSES: GATHER UNTO ME SEVENTY MEN OF THE ELDERS OF ISRAEL. Our Rabbis have already mentioned that there are seventy nations with seventy languages, each one having a constellation in the heavens with a prince above it, as it is said in the Book of Daniel, and the prince of the kingdom of Persia, and it is [further] written with reference to the kings of Greece, lo, the prince of Greece shall come; and it is about this that Scripture states, And the Eternal will punish the host of the high heaven on high. The Rabbis have also said that the [seventy] bullocks [brought as offerings on the seven days] of the Festival of Tabernacles allude to them. [A similar reference to the seventy princes we find, in connection with the Tower of Babel] in the Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer: “Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to the seventy kings that surround the throne of His Glory: ‘Let us come and confound their language.’” It was for this reason that the number of those who went down to Egypt was seventy,, 46:27. and that He commanded that there should be this number of judges in Israel [as is stated in the verse before us], for this number includes all opinions [that are possible in a given case] since it comprises all powers, and there will not be anything too hard for them. etc. — and go to the judges of the Great Sanhedrin and they will answer you. The point is thus clear: there will not be anything “too hard” for them. Similarly at the Giving of the Torah [special prominence was given to] seventy elders of Israel, and it is fitting that the Glory of the Divine Presence should rest upon [a group of] this perfect number, since it is [comparable to] the camp on high, for Israel are the hosts of the Eternal, 12:41. See also Vol. I, p. 393. on earth, just as the ark and its cover and the Tabernacle were all made in the likeness of those that minister [before Him] on high. So also were the [four] standards made in the image of the Divine Chariot which Ezekiel saw, in order that the Divine Presence should rest upon them on earth as it is present in the heavens.
Now Moses was above the seventy elders [in authority], thus alluding to Israel, a nation one in the earth. And our Rabbis have received by tradition that every Sanhedrin (Great Court) that sits in G-d’s House in the place which He shall choose on which to rest His Presence, should consist of this number, seventy, with the head …

אספה לי שבעים איש, “assemble seventy men for Me.” Why did G–d say: “for Me,” and why did He say: איש, “man,” singular mode, instead of אנשים, “men,”? In both instances the wording implies that the men selected were to be especially outstanding people. G–d Himself is described by Moses in his song of gratitude for the Israelites’ deliverance from the armies of Pharaoh as איש מלחמה, “man of war.” (Exodus 15,3) and when the Torah wishes to compliment his humility, it does so by calling him: והאיש משה עניו מאד, “and the man Moses, was exceedingly humble.” We did not need to be told that Moses was a man; the Torah wished to add this word as a mark of Moses’ outstanding distinction. The Talmud, in tractate Sanhedrin, folio 36, understands Numbers 11,16: והתיצבו שם עמך, “so that they may stand there with you,” as meaning that these men should be of a stature similar to that of Moses. [The word עמך in that verse was not really necessary, as it would have been understood automatically that these men were to stand there alongside Moses. Ed.] An alternate interpretation: the word לי, refers to the fact that the whole universe belongs to Hashem. The function of the seventy men to be selected by Moses is to ensure that the universe and its people created by G–d will endure, i.e. that His rules for it should be observed. We have a verse in Amos 9,6: הבונה בשמים מעלותו ואגודתו על ארץ יסדה, “He Who builds His chambers in the heavens, and founded His vault on the earth.” The prophet means that G–d’s creative work regarding the earth, was conditioned on people helping Him to keep it in shape. If earth were to collapse due to man’s failings, G–d would have no reason to keep the heavens going either. Bamidbar Rabbah, on Numbers 15,24 illustrates this by the following parable. When palaces have been built on the decks of ships, as long as these palaces are connected to their bases, the ships, all is well, once the palaces have been detached from the ships, these ships have no reason for further existence.

אשר ידעת כי הם זקני העם, “whom you have known to be the elders of the people;” they allowed themselves to be beaten rather than to impose more hardships on their fellow Jews. Compare Exodus 5,14, regarding this. We have a tradition that anyone who deliberately suffers in order to spare fellow Jews suffering, will eventually be rewarded by being appointed to an important position, and will be granted a measure of Holy Spirit.