It is written: “The secret of the Lord is [revealed] to those who fear Him, and His covenant to inform them” (Psalms 25:14). What is “the secret of the Lord”? This is circumcision,7Often referred to as brit, the covenant. as He did not reveal it from Adam the first man until twenty generations, until Abraham arose, and He gave it to him, as it is stated: “I will establish My covenant between Me and you” (Genesis 17:2).
The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘If you become circumcised, you will receive the secret [sod] of the Lord.’ What is the secret of the Lord? Samekh is sixty, vav is six, dalet is four, yielding seventy. Due to the merit of circumcision, I will bring forth out of you seventy, as it is stated: “With seventy people, your ancestors descended” (Deuteronomy 10:22).
I will bring forth from them seventy elders, as it is stated: “Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel” (Numbers 11:16). I will bring forth from them Moses, who pronounced the Torah in seventy languages, as it is stated: “Moses undertook to expound [be’er]8The midrash interprets be’er as being as explicit as possible, i.e. saying it in all languages. [this Torah]” (Deuteronomy 1:5). By whose merit?
It is by the merit of circumcision, as it is stated: “The secret [sod] of the Lord is [revealed] to those who fear Him.” The Holy One blessed be He said to Abraham: ‘It is sufficient for the disciple to be similar to his master.’9This is a new interpretation of: “The secret [sod] of the Lord is [revealed] to those who fear Him, and His covenant to inform them,” interpreting sod as inner circle. Through circumcision, Abraham became part of God’s inner circle, as it were.
He [Abraham] said before Him: ‘Who will circumcise me?’ He said: ‘You, yourself.’ Thereupon, Abraham took a knife and held his foreskin, and he was about to cut, but he was afraid, because he was so old. What did the Holy One blessed be He do?
He extended his hand and held it with him as Abraham was cutting, as it is stated: “You are the Lord the God, who chose Abram […and made the covenant with him]” (Nehemiah 9:7–8). “And He made the covenant to him” is not written here, but rather, “made with him.” This teaches that the Holy One blessed be He was holding on to him. Another matter, “the secret of the Lord is [revealed] to those who fear Him.”
At first, “the secret of the Lord” was [revealed] to those who fear Him. Then it was [revealed] to the upright: “And his secret is to the upright (Proverbs 3:32). Then it was to the prophets: “For the Lord God will do nothing without revealing His secret to His servants, the prophets” (Amos 3:7).10At first, in succeeding generations, “the secret of the Lord,” meaning His plans for the future, was available to all who feared Him; subsequently, it was restricted to those who were on the higher level of uprightness, and then finally to the prophets alone.
The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘This Abraham is God fearing, as it is stated: “For now I know that you are God fearing” (Genesis 22:12). This Abraham is the most upright of the upright, as it is stated: “The upright love you” (Song of Songs 1:4).11This verse is a reference to the Patriarchs. This Abraham is a prophet, as it is stated: “Now, restore the man's wife, as he is a prophet” (Genesis 20:7).
Shall I, then, not reveal to him [what I am about to do]?’ Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: This is analogous to a king who gave an estate to his friend. Some time later, the king sought to chop down five non-fruit-bearing trees from inside it. The king said: ‘Even if I had asked [to cut down trees] from his own ancestral property, he would not have refused.
So what of it?’12What would be wrong if I cut down those trees without his permission? [Nevertheless,] he consulted with him [first]. So, the Holy One blessed be He said: ‘I have already granted the land to Abraham as a gift, as it is stated: “To your descendants I have given this land” (Genesis 15:18), and these five cities belong to him. Even if I had I sought to do so [to destroy areas] from his own ancestral property he would not have refused.
So what of it?’ [Nevertheless,] He consulted with him first. Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon said: This is analogous to a king who had three close friends, and he would never do anything without their knowledge. One time he wanted to do something without their knowledge. He took the first one and banished him and expelled him from the palace.
The second one he incarcerated in a prison cell and placed his royal seal upon it. Regarding the third, who was exceedingly beloved to him, he said: ‘I will not do anything without consulting him.’ So, too, Adam the first man – “He banished the man” (Genesis 3:24); Noah, “the Lord shut him in” (Genesis 7:16). Regarding Abraham, who was exceedingly beloved to him, he said: ‘Could I do anything without his knowledge?’
Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: This is analogous to a king who had a senior adviser, and he would not do anything without his knowledge. The king said: ‘Did I not appoint him as my adviser specifically so that I would not to do anything without his knowledge?’ Rabbi Yudan said: The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘His brother’s son, Lot, is there; shall I not reveal it to him?’ The Rabbis say: [God said:] ‘I have already called him their father, as it is stated: “For I have rendered you the father of a multitude of nations” (Genesis 17:5).13Including Sodom and Gomorrah.
Does one judge a son without [notifying] the father? I revealed the giving of the Torah to him. I revealed Gehenna to him.14See Bereshit Rabba 44:21. The sentence of Sodom is tomorrow, shall I not reveal it to him?’
Rabbi Aḥa said in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman in the name of Rabbi Natan: Abraham knew even the laws of the joining of courtyards [on Shabbat].15Even though they are of rabbinic, not biblical origin. Rabbi Pinḥas said in the name of Rabbi Shmuel: He knew even the new name that the Holy One blessed be He is destined to call Jerusalem, as it is stated: “At that time, they will call Jerusalem the Throne of the Lord” (Jeremiah 3:17).
Rabbi Berekhya, Rabbi Ḥiyya, and the Rabbis from over there16In Babylon. in the name of Rabbi Yehuda: There is not a single day that the Holy One blessed be He does not introduce a new halakha in the supernal court. What is its source? “Hear the fury of His voice, the sound [hegeh] that emerges from His mouth” (Job 37:2). Hegeh is nothing other than Torah, as it is stated: “You shall speak of [vehagita] it day and night” (Joshua 1:8). Even those laws Abraham knew.