CHAPTER XLI THE REVELATION ON SINAI [56B. i.] THE sixth descent [ See supra, pp. 97, 312.] was when He came down on Sinai, as it is said, "And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai" (Ex. 19:20). On the sixth of Sivan [ See infra, p. 359. Jubilees fixes the 15th of Sivan as the Festival of the Giving of the Law (see i. 1) and as the Feast of Weeks (vi. 17, 18); see Charles’ notes on pp. 52, 106. P.R.E. in following Rabbinic tradition opposes this here.] the Holy One, blessed be He, was revealed unto Israel [ According to the Mekhilta, p. 63b, Moses received the Divine Revelation on the 6th of Sivan.] on Sinai, [ The first editions read: “Mount Sinai.”] and from His place was He revealed (on) Mount Sinai, [ The first editions read: “and Mount Sinai was torn from its place.” See T.B. Sabbath, 88a; Jalḳuṭ, Ex. § 284; Pal. Targum, Ex. 19:1; and Mekhilta, p. 65a.] and the heavens were opened, || and the summit of the mountain entered into the heavens. Thick darkness covered the mountain, and the Holy One, blessed be He, sat upon His throne, and His feet stood on the thick darkness, as it is said, "He bowed the heavens also, and came down; [ The quotation ends here in the MS.; in the first editions it is continued.] and thick darkness was under his feet" (2 Sam. 22:10). [ See T.B. Sukkah, 5a, and T.B. Joma, 4a, on the Revelation on Mount Sinai.]
Rabbi Ṭarphon said: The Holy One, blessed be He, rose and came from Mount Sinai [ The first editions read: “rose from Mount Seir.”] and was revealed unto the sons of Esau, as it is said, "And he said, The Lord came from Sinai, and rose [ The quotation ends here in the MS.; in the first editions it is continued.] from Seir unto them" (Deut. 33:2). And "Seir" means only the sons of Esau, as it is said, "And Esau dwelt in Mount Seir" (Gen. 36:8). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: Will ye accept for yourselves the Torah? They said to Him: What is written therein? He answered them: It is written therein, "Thou shalt do no murder" (Ex. 20:13). They replied to Him: We are unable to abandon the blessing with which Isaac blessed Esau, for he said to him, "By thy sword shalt thou live" (Gen. 27:40). Thence He turned and was revealed unto the children of Ishmael, as it is said, "He shined forth from Mount Paran" (Deut. 33:2). "Paran" [ Paran was the abode of Ishmael, Gen. 21:21.] means only the sons of Ishmael, as it is said, "And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran" (Gen. 21:21). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: Will ye accept for yourselves the Torah? They said to Him: What is written therein? He answered them: "Thou shalt not steal" (Ex. 20:15) is written therein. They said to Him: We are not able to abandon the usage which our fathers observed, for they [ The first editions read: “for they stole Joseph and brought him down,” etc.] brought Joseph down into Egypt, as it is said, "For indeed I was stolen away [ The quotation ends here in the MS.; in the first editions it is continued.] out of the land of the Hebrews" (Gen. 40:15). [ Joseph’s statement that he was stolen out of the land of the Hebrews refers to the transaction between his brethren and the Ishmaelites as recounted in Gen. 37:28. On this section see Rabbinic Philosophy and Ethics, pp. 193 ff.] Thence [ The MS. reads: “And Moses.” This is due to an error on the part of the copyist, “Umosheh” standing for “Umesham.”] He sent || messengers to all the nations of the world. He said unto them: Will ye receive for yourselves the Torah? They said to Him: What is written therein? He said to them: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Ex. 20:3). They said to Him: [ The first editions add: “We are unable to abandon the law of our fathers who served idols.”] We have no delight in the Torah, therefore let Him give His Torah to His people, as it is said, "The Lord will give strength [ Strength (Ôẓ) is identified by the Midrash with the Torah.] unto his people; the Lord will bless [ The quotation ends here in the MS.; it is continued in the first editions.] his people with peace" (Ps. 29:11). [ See T.B. Ẓebachim, 116a.] Thence He returned and was revealed unto the children of Israel, as it is said, "And he came from the ten thousands of holy ones" (Deut. 33:2). The expression "ten thousands" means the children of Israel, as it is said, "And when it rested, he said, [ The quotation ends here in the MS.; it is continued in the first editions.] Return, O Lord, unto the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel" (Num. 10:36). With Him were thousands twice-told of chariots, even twenty thousand [ Cf. Ps. 68:17: “The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands upon thousands: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the sanctuary.”] of holy angels, [ Jubilees i. 27 teaches that the “law was given through the ministry of angels.” According to Dr. Charles (Jubilees, p. 8, note 27) the text in Jubilees i. 27 “forms apparently the earliest testimony” to this idea. In the N.T. we have it also; see Gal. iii. 19, Acts vii. 53, and Heb. ii. 2. The idea is not Palestinian, but seems to be Alexandrian. This is perhaps an indication pointing to Alexandria as the home of Jubilees, just as Hebrews, Acts, and Paul’s teaching are all representative of Alexandrine teaching. Our Midrash combats the notion that the Torah was given to Israel by the angels: God Himself gives His law to His people.] and His right hand was holding the Torah, as it is said, "At his right hand was a fiery law unto them" (Deut. 33:2).
Hence thou mayest learn that the words of the Torah are like coals of fire. [ Cf. Aboth 2:10: “for all the words of the Sages are like coals of fire.” The first editions add here: “And He gave it to them with an expression of love, as it is said: ‘His left hand is under my head’ (Cant. 2:6), and with an expression of an oath, as it is said: ‘The Lord hath sworn,’” etc. The quotation from Cant. 2:6 continues: “and his right hand doth embrace me.”] Why was it "at his right hand"? Whence do we know (that it was given to them) with expression of love? Because it is said, "The Lord hath sworn by his right hand, [ The quotation ends here in our MS.] and by the arm of his strength" (Isa. 62:8). [ The first editions add: “‘His right hand’ is nought else save an oath, as it is said, ‘ The Lord hath sworn by his right hand’” (Isa. 62:8).]
Rabbi Eliezer said: From the day when the Israelites went forth from Egypt, they were journeying and encamping in smoothness, [ Of tongue. Luria thinks that the text should read “Machalôḳeth,” “strife.” This is also the reading in the Mekhilta, p. 62a, Lev. Rab. 9:9, and Lam. Rab. Proem. The next words, up to “as it is said,” occur in the MS. only.] they were journeying in smoothness and they were encamping in smoothness, as it is said, "And they journeyed (from Rephidim, and they came to the wilderness of Sinai), [ The MS. and the first editions read: “they journeyed and they encamped.”] and they encamped in the wilderness" (Ex. 19:2); until they all came to Mount Sinai, and they all encamped opposite the mountain, like one man with one heart, as it is said, "And there Israel encamped [ The verb here is in the singular number; the Israelites were united as though they were a single man, see Pal. Targum, Ex. 19:2.] before the mount" (ibid.). The Holy One, blessed be He, spake to them: Will ye receive for yourselves || the Torah? Whilst the Torah had not yet been heard they said to Him: We will keep and observe all the precepts which are in the Torah, as it is said, "And they said, All that the Lord hath spoken will we do, and be obedient" [ The first editions quote Ex. 24:3.] (ibid. xxiv. 7).
Rabbi Elazar of Modein said: From the day when the heavens and the earth were created, the name of the mountain was Horeb. [ See Ex. 3:1 and xxxiii. 6; cf. 1 Kings 8:9.] When the Holy One, blessed be He, was revealed unto Moses out of the thorn-bush, because of the word for the thorn-bush (S'neh) it was called Sinai (Sinai), and that is Horeb. And whence do we know that Israel accepted the Torah at Mount Horeb? Because it is said, "The day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb" (Deut. 4:10). [ This is followed by the words: “And he drew near and stood at the foot of the mountain”; and there the Torah was given.]
Rabbi Phineas said: On the eve of Sabbath [ See infra, p. 359.] the Israelites stood at Mount Sinai, arranged with the men apart and the women apart. [ See T.B. Sukkah, 52a. The separation of the sexes was observed in the ark of Noah according to Jewish and Christian legend (see supra, p. 169), and it is observed to this day in some of the churches as well as in the synagogue.] The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Go, speak to the daughters of Israel, (asking them) whether they wish to receive the Torah. Why were the women asked (first)? Because the way of men is to follow the opinion of women, [ See Ex. Rab. xxviii. 2; T.B. Sabbath, 87a, and Mekhilta, p. 62b.] as it is said, "Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob" (Ex. 19:3); these are the women. "And tell the children of Israel" (ibid.); these are the men. They all replied (as) with one mouth, and they said: "All that the Lord hath spoken we will do, and be obedient" (ibid. xxiv. 7). (The Scripture also says,) "They that sing [ i.e. the men.] as well as they that dance [ i.e. the women.] (shall say), All my fountains are in thee" (Ps. 87:7). [ See Shocher Ṭob. in loc., p. 190b, and Cant. Rab. to Cant. 1:12.]
Rabbi Chanina [ The first editions read “Chakhinai.”] said: || In the third month the day is double the night, [ This is one of the most interesting expressions in the whole of our book. The longest day is twice as long as the shortest in latitude 49° in Northern Asia; see Eth. Enoch lxxii. 14, and see Charles’ note on p. 153 of the second edition of this book. Can we locate the place where this fact applies in connection with P.R.E.? Or is it merely a further instance of the dependence of P.R.E. upon the Pseudepigrapha?] and the Israelites slept until two hours of the day, for sleep on the day of the (feast of) 'Azereth [ Pentecost. Jubilees uses the term for the day following the seven days of Tabernacles; see Jubilees xxxii. 27, with Charles’ note in loc.] is pleasant, [ The reading “pleasant” agrees with the reading in Cant. Rab., loc. cit.: “sleep at ‘Azereth is pleasant and the night is long”; see T.B. Sabbath, 147a, and cf. Tosephta ‘Arakhin 1:9, p. 543. Luria reads: “for the period of the days at ‘Azereth is long and the night is short.”] the night being short. And Moses went forth and came to the camp of the Israelites, and he aroused the Israelites from their sleep, saying to them: Arise ye from your sleep, [ The first editions omit the rest of the sentence.] for behold, your God desires to give the Torah to you. Already the bridegroom wishes to lead the bride and to enter the bridal chamber. The hour has come for giving you the Torah, [ The first editions add here: “The best man came and led forth the bride just like a man who acts as best man to his companion.”] as it is said, "And Moses brought forth the people [ In the MS. the quotation ends here; it is continued in the first editions.] out of the camp to meet God" (Ex. 19:17). And the Holy One, blessed be He, also went forth to meet them; like a bridegroom who goes forth to meet the bride, so the Holy One, blessed be He, went forth to meet them to give them [ The Amsterdam edition omits “them.”] the Torah, as it is said, "O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people" (Ps. 68:7).
Rabbi Joshua ben Ḳorchah said: The feet of Moses stood on the mount, [ Sinai.] and all (his body) was in the midst of the heaven, like a tent [ Our MS. reads “Denda.” The first editions read “Ṭendos.” Jastrow, T.D. 541a, suggests that the reading should be “Ṭorus” (bolster or sofa). The word in our printed editions is taken by the ‘Arukh, ed. Kohut, iv. p. 47b, to be the late Latin tenta; Greek τέντα. The word occurs in Pal. Targum, Lev. 25:31. See supra, p. 16, note 6.] which is spread out, and the children of men stand [ ‘Arukh, loc. cit., reads “stand”; the first editions read “sit.”] inside it, but their feet stand on the earth, [ ‘Arukh, loc. cit., reads “stand outside.”] and all of them are inside the tent; so was it with Moses, his feet stood on the mountain, and all his (body) was in the heavens, beholding and seeing everything that is in the heavens. The Holy One, blessed be He, was speaking with him like a man who || is conversing with his companion, as it is said, "And the Lord spake unto Moses face [ In the MS. the quotation ends here; it is continued in the first editions.] to face" (Ex. 33:11). [ “Face to face” means that the Divine word was as a man’s speech as far as Moses was concerned.] The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Go and sanctify the Israelites for two days, as it is said, "And the Lord said unto Moses, [ This part of the verse is omitted by our MS.; it occurs in the first editions.] Go unto the people, and sanctify them to-day and to-morrow" (ibid. xix. 10). What then was the sanctity of Israel in the wilderness? There were no uncircumcised people [ Luria reads: “people with uncircumcised hearts.”] in their midst; the manna descended from heaven for them; they drank water out of the Well; [ On the Well see supra, pp. 124 and 218.] clouds of glory surrounded them. What then was the sanctity of Israel in the wilderness? It refers to their avoidance of sexual intercourse.
Moses argued with himself. Moses said: A man of Israel may have gone to his wife, and they will be found to be prevented from receiving the Torah. [ See The Clementine Homilies, xi. 30.] What did he do? He added one day (more) for them on his own account, so that if a man of Israel went to his wife [ On the eve preceding the day before the two days of prohibition; see T.B. Sabbath, loc. cit.; T.B. Jebamoth, 62a; and Aboth de R. Nathan (a) ii. p. 5a.] they would be found to be clean for two (complete) days; therefore he added one day for them on his own account.
The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Moses! How many souls of the children of men would have come forth from Israel in that night? What thou hast done has been (rightly) accomplished. [ The first editions read: “Thou hast done well.”] The Holy One, blessed be He, approved his action. [ The first editions add here: “as it is said, ‘And let them be ready against the third day’” (Ex. 19:11). See Mekhilta, p. 64a; Tanna de bê Elijahu Rab. 18 p. 101; and cf. Jalḳuṭ, Ex. § 282. Luria reads in place of “as it is said,” etc., “Be ready for three days and do not touch any man his wife.”]
(The Holy One, blessed be He, said: [ The words in brackets are found in the first editions and are needed. They are wanting in our MS.] ) Let Moses descend to the camp, and afterwards will I cause My Torah to be proclaimed. [ The first editions add here: “to Israel, so that one should not say: Moses was speaking to us out of the midst of the cloud.”] He said to him: "Go down, charge the people" (ibid. 21). Moses was wishing to be || there, [ See T.B. Joma, 4b; Lev. Rab. 1:1; T.B. Berakhoth, 45a; and Mekhilta, p. 66a.] and he said to Him: I have already charged the people. He said to him: Go, and call thy Rabbi. [ Or “teacher.” The first editions read: “Call Aaron.”] Moses descended to the camp to call Aaron, and the Holy One, blessed be He, proclaimed His Torah unto His people, as it is said, [ The first editions add: “And the Lord said to him, Go, get thee down” (Ex. 19:24).] "So Moses went down unto the people, [ In the MS. the quotation ends here; in the first editions it is continued.] and told them" (ibid. 25). What is written after this? "And God spake all these words, saying, I, the Lord, am (to be) thy God, [ In the MS. the quotation ends here; in the first editions it is continued.] who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" (ibid. xx. 1, 2).
The voice of the first (commandment) went forth, [ See Pal. Targum on Ex. 20:2.] and the heavens and earth quaked thereat, [ Cf. Judg. 5:4.] and the waters and rivers fled, [ Luria reads “dried up” (cf. Nahum 1:4, and see Ex. Rab. xxix. 3) instead of “fled.”] and the mountains and hills were moved, [ See Hab. 3:6 and Nahum 1:5. These prophets recall the revelation at Sinai, believing firmly in this fundamental fact of the history of Israel. They would have smiled at some of the latest theories of the Higher Critics, who propose to date the Pentateuch as a production of the times of Hezekiah. They would have ridiculed the notion that some late writer had “invented” the Sinaitic theophany in order to account for the Decalogue, which he held to be divinely inspired. One is tempted to ask, Why is not Lev. 19 also set in a theophanic background?] and all the trees fell prostrate, [ Cf. Ps. 29:5: “The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars.” This Psalm is interpreted by the Midrash as referring to the Giving of the Law. Luria thinks that we should read “hinds” in P.R.E. instead of “trees”; cf. Job 39:1.] and the dead who were in Sheol revived, and stood on their feet till the end of all the generations, [ The words “till the end of all generations” do not occur in all the texts.] as it is said, "But with him that standeth here with us this day" (Deut. 29:15), [ See the rest of the verse.] and those (also) who in the future will be created, until the end of all the generations, there they stood with them at Mount Sinai, as it is said, "And also with him that is not here [ The quotation ends here in the MS.; in the first editions it is continued.] with us this day" (ibid.). [ See Ex. Rab. xxviii. 8, and cf. Tanchuma Nizabim, § ii.] The Israelites who were alive (then) fell upon their faces and died.
The voice of the second (commandment) went forth, and they were quickened, [ See Ex. Rab. xxix. 4, and Rabbinic Philosophy and Ethics, pp. 196 ff.] and they stood upon their feet and said to Moses: Moses, our teacher! We are unable to hear any more the voice of the Holy One, blessed be He, for we shall die even as we died (just now), as it is said, [ The first editions add here: “‘My soul went forth when he spake’ (Cant. 5:6), and it is written:”.] "And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, [ The quotation ends here in the MS.; in the first editions it is continued.] and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die" (Ex. 20:19). And now, why should we die as we died (just now)? The Holy One, blessed be He, heard the voice of Israel, and it was pleasing to Him, and He sent for Michael || and Gabriel, and they took hold of the two hands of Moses against his will, [ Cf. T.B. Joma, loc. cit.] and they brought him near unto the thick darkness, as it is said, "And Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was" (ibid. 21).
It is only written here (in the text concerning) Moses (that) "he drew near." [ According to Luria, the Midrashic text is to be explained thus: “He drew near” is not written here, but “He was drawn near.” The first editions seem to have the correct reading: “‘was approaching’ is not written, but ‘he approached.’”] The rest of the commandments He spake through the mouth of Moses, [ See Mekhilta, p. 71b, as to whether the children of Israel heard the first two Commandments of the Decalogue, or more. Cf. Cant. Rab. on Cant. 1:2.] and concerning him the text says, "As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, [ The quotation ends here in our MS.; it is continued in the first editions.] so is a faithful messenger to them that send him" (Prov. 25:13).
And it came to pass, "When ye hear the sound of the trumpet" [ The first editions read: “And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness” (Deut. 5:23).] (2 Sam. 15:10). Why did the Holy One, blessed be He, cause His voice to be heard out of the midst of the [ The first editions read here: “fire and darkness.”] darkness, and not out of the midst of the light? A parable: to what is the matter to be likened? To a king [ The first editions add: “who was an astrologer.” See Tosephta ‘Arakhin 1:10, p. 543. Cf. Ziegler’s Die Königsgleichnisse des Midrasch, p. 353. See also Jalḳuṭ, Deut. § 831. אסמרלגוס, ἀστρóλoγoς, astronomer or astrologer. The reading, as emended by Luria, is based on the Jalḳuṭ, loc. cit. Ziegler’s remarks on p. 352 (op. cit.) on astrology and marriage are interesting.] who was having his son married to a woman, and he suspended in the wedding chamber of his son black curtains, [ See ‘Arukh, ed. Kohut, vii. p. 427a, s.v. פרכיות.] and not white curtains. [ The first editions add here: “The officials of the palace said to him: Our lord, O king! Nobody suspends in his son’s wedding chamber anything except white curtains.”] He said to them: I know that my son will not remain with his wife except for forty days; so that on the morrow they should not say the king was an astrologer, but he did not know what would happen to his son. So with the King, who is the Holy One, blessed be He, and His son is Israel, and the bride is the Torah. [ Our book is noteworthy here in referring to God as the “Father” of Israel assisting at the wedding of His Son “Israel” and the bride “the Torah.” The usual poetry of the Midrashim is to unite God with Israel, His bride.] The Holy One, blessed be He, knew that Israel would not remain (loyal) to the commandments except for forty days, therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, caused them to hear His voice out of the midst of [ The first editions read here: “fire and darkness.”] darkness, and not out of the midst of light, therefore it is said, "And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice" (Deut. 5:28).
Rabbi Jehudah said: When a man speaks with his companion, he || hears the sound of his voice, but he does not see any light with it; [ Our text agrees with Jalḳuṭ, Ex. § 299. The first editions read: “When a man speaks with his companion he is visible, but his voice is invisible.”] the Israelites heard the voice of the Holy One, blessed be He, on Mount Sinai, and saw [ See Ex. 20:18.] the voice [ Our MS. reads Hakkol, “everything”; it should be Haḳḳol, “the voice.”] going forth from the mouth of the Almighty [ On “Gebburah” see Rabbinic Philosophy and Ethics, p. 177.] in the lightning and the thunder, [ But otherwise they saw nothing.] as it is said, "And all the people saw the thunderings and the lightnings" (Ex. 20:18). All the precepts which are in the Torah [ The first editions add here: “Therefore is this code called Torah. And whence do you know (this)? Because Torah has the value of 611 and the two (precepts) which the Lord spake.”] number 611, and two, which the Holy One, blessed be He, spake, [ The first editions read: “number 613 precepts, and two, which the Holy One, blessed be He, spake.”] as it is said, "God has spoken once, [ The quotation ends here in the MS. The first editions read: “He has spoken once, two have we heard.” This is a mutilated form of the quotation Ps. 62:12, and clearly proves that the Venice edition copied the first edition (the Constantinople text). After the quotation the first editions add “behold 613.”] two have I heard thus" (Ps. 62:12). [ See Num. Rab. 11:7; Jalḳuṭ, in loc., Pss. § 783. According to the Midrash the Decalogue was proclaimed in one utterance; see also Mekhilta, 41b, and cf. Ex. Rab. xxviii. 4.]
Rabbi Phineas said: All that generation who heard the voice of the Holy One, blessed be He, on Mount Sinai, were worthy to be like the ministering angels, [ Cf. Ps. 82:6. According to the Book of Jubilees ii. 17–21, Israel is like the “angels of the presence and the angels of sanctification,” chosen to observe the Sabbath with God “in heaven and on earth.”] so that insects had no power over them. [ See T.B. Baba Bathra, 15a; and cf. Ezek. 34:25 and Prov. 1:33; these two verses are applied by the Midrash to the generation of those who received the Torah in the wilderness.] They did not experience pollution in their lifetime, and at their death neither worm nor insect prevailed over them. Happy were they in this world and happy will they be in the world to come, [ See T.B. Synhedrin, 90a ff., for discussion on the “future life.”] and concerning them the Scripture says, "Happy is the people, that is in such a case" (ibid. cxliv. 15).