Machir used the following sources in his compilation: the two Talmuds, the Tosefta, the minor treatises, the Sifra, the Sifre, Pesikta Rabbati, Midrash Rabbah on the Pentateuch, Midrash Ḳohelet, Midrash Tehillim, Midrash Mishle, Midrash Iyyob, Midrash Tanhuma, a Midrash quoted as דשחנו"ע, Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer, Seder Olam Rabbah, and Haggadat Shir ha-Shirim, frequently quoting the last-named Midrash in the part on Book of Isaiah. Machir had another version of Deuteronomy Rabbah, of which only the part on the section "Devarim" exists now.Compare S. Buber, Liḳḳutim mi-Midrash Eleh ha-Debarim Zuṭa, Introduction It is difficult to ascertain whether Machir knew of Midrash Yelammedenu; he quotes only Midrash Tanhuma, but the passages which he cites are not found in the present text of that work, so that it is possible that he took these passages from the Yelammedenu.
