God Spoke All These Words as One Fire Splitting Into Many Sparks

"And God spoke all these words, saying" (Exodus 20:1). He said to them: I conduct judgment between you, and with all the words, for had you not accepted them upon yourselves I would not have exacted punishment from you. One who accepts is not like one who does not accept. Rabbi Yehudah the Patriarch offers a parable. To what is the matter like? To one who married a woman; they say to her [text uncertain: terms of the marriage agreement]. So too you, Israel: you were drawn to Me, you let yourselves be drawn to Me, so that you would do My will. Another interpretation: "And God spoke" teaches that the words spoken here are the very words spoken there; both are to one matter, that which the mouth is unable to speak and the ear is unable to hear. Here it says, "And God spoke all these words," and there it says, "God has spoken once; twice have I heard this" (Psalms 62:12), and it says, "Is not My word like fire, declares the LORD" (Jeremiah 23:29). Just as this fire divides into many sparks, so one utterance goes out into many verses. Another interpretation: "And God spoke": I am the one who exacts punishment by this, and I am the one who pays reward by this, and so it says, "Face to face the LORD spoke with you" (Deuteronomy 5:4). Another interpretation: "And God spoke" teaches that He would tell them the first thing first and the last thing last. Another interpretation: "And God spoke all the words." You might think that at the end they said to Him, "We have accepted upon ourselves"; therefore Scripture teaches, "I am the LORD your God." "I am" was within the general statement, and it went out from the general statement; what departs from the general teaches about the general: just as "I am" had an utterance of its own and an acceptance of its own, [so too every one of the commandments had an utterance of its own and an acceptance of its own]. What does "saying" teach? It teaches that He would say to them concerning each and every commandment, upon a "no" a "no," and upon a "yes" a "yes."