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Midrash RabbahShemot Rabbah 47

Midrash Rabbah

Shemot Rabbah 47

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English · The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah (2022)

“The Lord said to Moses: Write for yourself these matters, as according to these matters I established a covenant with you and with Israel” (Exodus 34:27). “Write for yourself these matters,” that is what is written: “I write for him the many teachings of My Torah, but they are regarded as foreign” (Hosea 8:12). When the Holy One blessed be He revealed Himself at Sinai to give the Torah to Israel, He said it to Moses in order: Bible, Mishna, Talmud, and aggada, as it is stated: “The Lord spoke all these matters” (Exodus 20:1); even what a student asks his teacher, the Holy One blessed be He said to him at that time. After [Moses] learned it from the mouth of the Holy One blessed be He, He said to him: ‘Teach it to Israel.’ He said to Him: ‘Master of the universe, I will write it for them.’ He said to him: ‘I do not wish to give it to them in writing, because it is revealed before Me that idolaters are destined to rule over them, and take it from them, and they will be despised among the idolaters. Rather, I will give them the Bible in writing, and I will give them the Mishna, Talmud, and agadda orally, so if the idolaters come to them and subjugate them, they will be distinct from them.’ He said to the prophet: If I write for them the many teachings of My Torah, they will be regarded as foreign. What will I do for them? I will give them the Bible in writing, and the Mishna, Talmud, and agadda orally [al peh]. “Write,” this is the Bible; “as according to [al pi] these matters” (Exodus 34:27), these are the Mishna and the Talmud, which distinguish Israel from the idolaters.

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English · The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah (2022)

Another matter, “write for yourself,” the Holy One blessed be He said to Moses: ‘I wrote the first tablets, as it is written: “Written with the finger of God” (Deuteronomy 9:10). But the second [tablets], you write and hopefully I will give a hand.’ This is analogous to a king who married a woman and wrote her a marriage document of his own. Sometime later she sinned and he expelled her from his house. Her attendant came and reconciled her with the king. The king said to the attendant: ‘I have reconciled with her. Prepare a marriage document for her and hopefully I will give a hand.’ That is what is written: “I will inscribe on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets” (Deuteronomy 10:2).

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English · The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah (2022)

Another matter, “write for yourself,” on the basis of your merit I am giving them the Torah. Rabbi Shimon ben Ḥalafta said: That it what Moses said to Israel: “He inscribed on the tablets, like the first inscription…and the Lord gave them to me” (Deuteronomy 10:4). He gave them to me, and I conducted myself generously with you and gave it to you. That is why it is stated: “Write for yourself” – it was on the basis of your merit. “As according to these matters [hadevarim],” everywhere that davar, devarim, hadevarim is written, they are curses and rebukes. Rabbi Yoḥanan and Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Yoḥanan said: “Write for yourself these matters, as according to [al pi] these matters” – the written Torah and the Oral Torah – “I established a covenant with you.” If you exchange it and you render what is oral written and what is written oral, you will not receive reward. Why? Because that is the way I gave it, as a written Torah and an oral Torah. Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Shimon says: “Write for yourself…as according to…” the written Torah and the oral Torah, “I established a covenant with you,” so that you read them so, but if you exchange them, know that you are voiding the covenant. That is why it is stated: “Write for yourself these matters.” Likewise, Moses says to Israel: “Only beware, and protect yourself greatly, lest you forget the matters [that your eyes saw]” (Deuteronomy 4:9). What are “the matters”? These are the matters that you see, as they are in writing. “Lest they move from your heart” (Deuteronomy 4:9), these are the matters that I gave you orally. That is why it is stated: “Write for yourself these matters, as according to these matters,” as, were it not for the Torah that you received, I would not have distinguished you and I would not have looked upon you more than other nations. That is why “I established a covenant with you and with Israel.” Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon said in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘In the past, you were called like the rest of the nations, like: “Savta, Rama, and Savtekha” (I Chronicles 1:9). But when you received My Torah, I established a covenant with you and elevated you. Not only Israel, but you, too, their king, I elevated you in the world only due to the merit of the Torah.’ How did the Holy One blessed be He elevate him? Rabbi Yirmeya said in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Rav Yitzḥak: All the honor that Moses experienced in this world was only the profits, but the principal endures for him for the World to Come.

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English · The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah (2022)

Another matter, “As according to [al pi] these matters,” that you must toil in them with your mouth [befikha]. Likewise it says: “In your mouth and in your heart to perform it” (Deuteronomy 30:14). What is “I established a covenant with you and with Israel”? Had you not accepted My Torah, I would have restored the world to emptiness and disorder, as it is stated: “If not for My covenant day and night, [I would not have set the statutes of heaven and earth]” (Jeremiah 33:25). Why? Because it was with the Torah that I created heaven and earth, as it is stated: “The Lord founded the earth with wisdom” (Proverbs 3:19), “with His knowledge the depths were breached” (Proverbs 3:20). If you void the covenant, you cause Me to restore the upper and lower worlds to emptiness and disorder. Therefore, “as according to these matters.”

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English · The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah (2022)

“He was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread, and he did not drink water. He wrote upon the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten precepts” (Exodus 34:28). “He was there with the Lord.” Is it possible for a person to be forty days without food and without drink? Rabbi Tanḥuma says in the name of Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Avin in the name of Rabbi Meir: The proverb says: You went to the city, follow its conventions. Above, where there is no eating and drinking, Moses ascended and was like them. Below, where there is eating and drinking, the ministering angels descended and ate and drank, as it is stated: “He stood over them beneath the tree and they ate” (Genesis 18:8). Rabbi Yoḥanan said: They appeared as though they were eating, and each morsel disappeared. Another matter, “he was there with the Lord,” there was an incident involving Rabbi Yoḥanan who was ascending from Tiberias to Tzippori. His student, Rabbi Ḥiya, was with him. Rabbi Yoḥanan saw a vineyard. He said to Rabbi Ḥiya: ‘Do you not see that vineyard that was mine and I sold it for such and such a sum?’ At that moment Rabbi Ḥiya bar Abba wept and said to him: ‘Did you not leave anything for your old age?’ He said to him: ‘Is it insignificant in your eyes that I sold an item that was created in six days and I acquired an item that was given in forty days? The world and all that it holds was created in six days, but the Torah was given in forty days.’ “He did not eat bread,” but he partook of the bread of Torah. “He did not drink water,” but he drank the water of Torah. He would study Torah by day and would interpret it himself at night. Why did he do so? It was to teach Israel that they should toil in Torah by day and by night. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish would say to his students: ‘Come and study Torah in the daytime and it will become clear at night.’ Rabbi Yoḥanan would say to his students: Come and study Torah for it is daytime. Nevertheless, Rabbi Yoḥanan would concede that the song of Torah is only at night, as it is stated: “Arise, sing at night” (Lamentations 2:19), and likewise it says: “She arises while it is still night” (Proverbs 31:15). The Rabbis say: During the day and at night, as it is stated: “He was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights.” That is why the Sages instituted that the teachers of Mishna would have sessions in the morning and in the evening, to realize what is stated: “This book of the Torah shall not depart [from your mouth, and you shall ponder it day and night]” (Joshua 1:8). Another matter, “he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread, and he did not drink water” in this world, but in the world to come he will partake of the bread of Torah and drink its water. That is why “He did not eat bread.” What, then, did he eat? He was sustained by the aura of the Divine Presence. Do not wonder, as the heavenly beasts that bear the Throne are sustained by the aura of the Divine Presence.

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English · The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah (2022)

“It was, upon Moses’ descent from Mount Sinai, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in the hand of Moses upon his descent from the mountain and Moses did not know that the skin of his face was radiant upon His speaking with him” (Exodus 34:29). “He wrote upon the tablets” – it teaches that the first and the second were identical, Ten Commandments. How were they configured? There were five on this tablet and five on that tablet, in accordance with the statement of Rabbi Yehuda. Rabbi Neḥemya says: Ten on this tablet and ten on that tablet, as it is stated: “It was, upon Moses’s descent from Mount Sinai, [and the two tablets of the Testimony].” The writing was bearing them, but they appeared as though they were in Moses’s hand, as it is stated: “And the two tablets of the Testimony were in the hand of Moses.” “Moses did not know that the skin of his face was radiant.” From where did Moses receive the rays of splendor? The Rabbis say: From the cave, as it is stated: “It will be with the passage of My glory” (Exodus 33:22). Rabbi Berekhya HaKohen said in the name of Rabbi Shmuel: The length of the tablets was six handbreadths and their width six handbreadths. Moses was grasping two handbreadths, the Divine Presence two handbreadths, and there were two handbreadths in the middle. It was from there that Moses received the rays of splendor. Rabbi Yehuda bar Naḥman says in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish: While he was writing with a quill, a bit [of ink] remained. He passed [the quill] over his head and from it the rays of splendor were formed for him, as it is stated: “Moses did not know that the skin of his face was radiant [upon His speaking with him].”

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English · The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah (2022)

Another matter, “the Lord said to Moses: Write for yourself these matters” (Exodus 34:27) – that is what is written: “It is good for me that I was afflicted, so I might learn Your statutes” (Psalms 119:71). It was for Moses’s benefit that he fasted the one hundred and twenty days that he received the Torah. From what would Moses eat? It was from the aura of the Divine Presence, as it is stated: “And You sustain them all” (Nehemiah 9:6). Another matter, from what did he eat? It was from the Torah, as it is stated: “Son of man, eat what you find, [eat this scroll]…I ate it” (Ezekiel 3:1, 3). Why? It is because the Torah is sweet, as it is stated: “And sweeter than honey and the nectar of ripe fruit” (Psalms 19:11). Another matter, it was from the bread of Torah, as it is written: “Come, partake of my bread” (Proverbs 9:5). From where is it derived that he did not sleep and did not doze? This is analogous to a king who was fond of his treasurer. He said to him: ‘Weigh gold dinars for yourself.’ In his joy, he sought neither to eat nor to drink. He sought to sleep. He said: ‘If I sleep, I will lose these.’ So too, Moses was assessing the Torah, and he forgot and neither ate nor drank. He sought to sleep. He said: ‘If I sleep, I will lose, as He told me only forty days.’ The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘You afflicted yourself; by your life, you will not lose. On the first tablets there were only the Ten Commandments. Now that you afflicted yourself, I will give you halakhot, midrashim, and aggadot,’ as it is stated: “Write for yourself these matters” (Exodus 34:27). Why did the Holy One blessed be He say: “Write for yourself”? Is it not written: “The script was the script of God” (Exodus 32:16) and it is written: “He inscribed on the tablets, like the first inscription” (Deuteronomy 10:4)? Rather, this is what the Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Write the Torah, Prophets, and Writings, as they shall be in writing, but the halakhot, midrashim, aggadot, and Talmud, will be oral.’ When Moses knew this, he began saying: “It is good for me that I was afflicted” (Psalms 119:71); “The Torah of Your mouth is better for me [than thousands of gold and silver pieces]” (Psalms 119:72).

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English · The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah (2022)

Another matter, how did Moses know how many days he had spent? It is written: “He was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights.” From where is it derived that there is no night On High? As it is stated: “Even darkness does not darken for You. The night, as day, illuminates. Darkness and light are the same” (Psalms 139:12). How did he know? As it is stated: “I stood on the mountain like the first days” (Deuteronomy 10:10), and it is written: “I sat on the mountain” (Deuteronomy 9:9). Say, now, when He was speaking with him he was standing, and when He would depart from him, he would sit and review what he had learned. You thus uphold [both verses:] “I stood on the mountain” and “I sat on the mountain.” When He spoke with him, he would know it was day, and when He said to him: ‘Study your Torah,’ he would know it was night. Likewise, David said: “Day to day gives utterance; night to night renders understanding” (Psalms 19:3).

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English · The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah (2022)

Another matter, “write for yourself” – all the righteous came to the Holy One blessed be He with craftiness. Regarding Abraham, it is written: “How fair are your steps in sandals…the handiwork of a craftsman” (Song of Songs 7:2). He came with craft: “Abraham approached, [and he said: Will You destroy even the righteous with the wicked?]” (Genesis 18:23). Likewise, David says: “I acknowledged my sin to You; [I did not hide my iniquity]” (Psalms 32:5). Initially he presented it as one sin and one iniquity, but ultimately he said: “[I said: I will confess my transgressions to the Lord] and You forgave the iniquity of my sin, Selah” (Psalms 32:5). Likewise, Moses maligned Israel, as it is stated: “Please; this people has sinned a great sin” (Exodus 32:31). When the angels of destruction saw that he was maligning them, they said: ‘We will not need to be involved in maligning. As long as this one is maligning they will fall by his hand, and their patriarchs will not confront us [saying]: Why are you maligning our children.’ The angels of destruction departed. When Moses saw that they had departed, he said to the Holy One blessed be He: “Now, if You will bear their sin…” (Exodus 32:32). He said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘The entire Torah that You gave is [addressed] to me: “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,”; “speak to the children of Israel”; “command the children of Israel”; “say to the children of Israel.” If they are eradicated, what will I do with Your Torah?’ That is why he said: “And if not, please erase me from Your book that You have written” (Exodus 32:32). Another matter, Moses said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Why are You angry at them? Not that they engaged in idol worship, for You did not command them.’ The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Did I not say in the second commandment: “You shall not have [other gods before Me]”?’ (Exodus 20:3). He said before Him: ‘You did not command them, You commanded me. Did You perhaps say to them: You [lakhem] shall not have? You commanded me. If I engage in idol worship, “please erase me from Your book.”’ When the Holy One blessed be He saw that he was giving his life on their behalf, He said: ‘For your sake I am giving them the Torah,’ as it is stated: “Write for yourself these matters.” Another matter, “write for yourself” – the ministering angels began saying before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Are You giving Moses license to write whatever he wishes, such that he will say to Israel: I gave you the Torah; it is I who wrote and gave it to you?’ The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘Heaven forfend that Moses would do such a thing. And even if he were to do so, he is trustworthy,’ as it is stated: “Not so My servant Moses, in all My house he is trustworthy” (Numbers 12:7).

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English: The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah (2022), CC BY. Hebrew: Torat Emet text, public domain. From Sefaria (sefaria.org). · Source ↗

English: The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah (2022), CC BY. Hebrew: Torat Emet text, public domain. From Sefaria (sefaria.org). · Source ↗

English translation: The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah, 2022, via Sefaria (sefaria.org). Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). Changes: footnotes and HTML formatting removed.

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