GEN1290 Seven things are [typical] in a clod, and seven in a wise man; about something that he has not learned [the wise man] says, “I have not learned it” Pirkei Avot V:9  … “Teach your tongue,” advises the Talmud, “to say I do not know” [when you do not] lest you be led to lie and then be caught out.” Derech Eretz Zuta iii, cited in Berakoth 4a.  Nor will wisdom and Torah dwell in health and comfort in one who lies and boasts to raise his prestige. The spirit of a “status-climbing’ mendacious braggart is not a good vessel in which Torah will keep. It thrives in the honest and the modest. … In Scripture itself, as Avoth d’R. Nathan (B40) notes, we can already find examples of such candor: When Jacob journeyed to Haran to stay with his uncle Laban, he met some shepherds at a well, and asked about Laban: “Is it well with him?” And they said [briefly], “Well; and here comes Rachel his daughter with the sheep.” [this verse] In other words: If you want more information, ask her—she knows; we do not.  Again, we read that a group of Israelites approached Moses in the wilderness for advice: All were commanded to offer the Passover sacrifice on the proper day; but they could not, being ritually unclean. Moses simply replied, “Stand, and I will hear what the Lord will command about you.” Numbers 9:8 He was not ashamed to thus admit that he did not know the answer. Similarly, when the daughters of Zelophehad brought their plea before Moses – their father had died leaving no son; should they inhere? – we read, “Moses brought their cause before the Lord.” Numbers 27:5 He did not pretend to more knowledge than he had. SINAI3 108-9