"And the LORD spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, saying" (Leviticus 25:1). This is what the verse says: "Fear not, O land, be glad and rejoice, for the LORD has done great things" (Joel 2:21). Rabbi Tanchuma said: At the hour when the Holy One, blessed be He, came to give the Torah to Israel and to make the laws heard by Israel, at that hour [the earth] was afraid, as it is said, "From heaven You caused judgment to be heard; the earth feared and was still" (Psalms 76:9). If it feared, why was it still? Rather, thus said the earth before the Holy One, blessed be He: "Master of the world, if Israel keep the Torah, well and good; but if not, I am afraid of You, that You will do to me as in the days of Adam, when You cursed me, as it is said, 'Cursed is the ground because of you' (Genesis 3:17)." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to her: "But did I not thus write, 'And the LORD said: I will not again curse [the ground any more for man's sake]' (Genesis 8:21)?" Immediately the earth was still, when it heard the word of the Name that He would not curse, and heard that Israel said, "We will do and we will hear," as it is said, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do and we will hear" (Exodus 24:7).
Another interpretation: "at Mount Sinai." This is what the verse says: "Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good" (Ecclesiastes 9:18). King Solomon saw in his wisdom that wisdom is better for a person than all the wealth in the world; therefore he asked nothing of his Creator but wisdom, as it is said, "[And] God said: Ask what I shall give you" (1 Kings 3:5), and it is written, "And give to Your servant an understanding heart [to judge Your people]" (1 Kings 3:9). What is the matter? Because the hearts of human beings are not alike, he said, "Who is able to do a thing such that all people will say, 'This is good'?"—in order to make their opinions agree together. And it is written, "Behold, I have done according to your words; behold, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has been none like you before you, and after you none shall arise like you" (1 Kings 3:12). And concerning this the wise one said, "Wisdom is better, etc.," for all the wars that Israel waged until they came to the land of Canaan did not enable them to conquer the whole world under their hand as it was conquered under the hand of Solomon by his wisdom; and so it says, "For he had dominion over all the region beyond the River" (1 Kings 5:4). "But one sinner destroys much good" (Ecclesiastes 9:18), as it is said, "And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD" (1 Kings 11:9), "And the LORD said to Solomon: Because this has been with you, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes which I commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and give it to your servant" (1 Kings 11:11).
Come and see that the Holy One, blessed be He, desired Israel, and gave them a desirable land, "a heritage, the most beautiful of the nations" (Jeremiah 3:19). The Holy One, blessed be He, said: "Sow there and let it rest in the seventh year, so that you may know that the land is Mine, and I have given it to you as an inheritance," as it is said, "When you come into the land which I give you"—not by your sword and not by your bow, but I give it to you. Yet they did not do so, but sinned and did not keep the sabbatical and jubilee years, and brought exile upon themselves, as it is said, "All the days that it lies desolate it shall rest" (Leviticus 26:35). And how many good things did Israel lose—until "the spirit be poured upon us from on high" (cf. Isaiah 32:15), until He returns and establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth (cf. Isaiah 62:7).