Twenty-Two Thousand Chariots of Angels Descend at Sinai

"I am the LORD your God, etc." (Exodus 20:2). This is what Scripture said: "The chariots of God are myriads, thousands of shinan" (Psalms 68:18[17]). Rabbi Avdimi of Haifa said: I have learned in my teaching that twenty-two thousand chariots of ministering angels descended with the Holy One, blessed be He, to Sinai. Rabbi Berekhyah the priest said: like the camp of the Levites. The Holy One, blessed be He, foresaw that none would stand firm despite their blemishes except the tribe of Levi; therefore He descended with twenty-two thousand, like the camp of the Levites. Another interpretation: "The chariots of God are myriads, thousands of shinan" — this teaches that twenty-two thousand chariots descended with the Holy One, blessed be He. And each and every chariot was like the chariot that Ezekiel saw. "The chariots of God" — Rabbi Eleazar ben Pedat said: and they all descended with sharpened swords to destroy the enemies of Israel, for had they not accepted the Torah, they would have destroyed them. Rabbi Levi said: rather, it is that they beheld the face of the Divine Presence, and whoever beholds the face of the Divine Presence does not die, as it is said, "In the light of the king's face there is life" (Proverbs 16:15).