No Rock Like Our God Who Forms Life From a Single Drop

Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Tazria 3:2

Curated by Arthur·Translated by Maggid (Beta)·

Another interpretation: "There is no Rock (tzur) like our God" (1 Samuel 2:2). Flesh and blood fashions (tzar) a form: he speaks, yet his form does not speak; and he praises his form. But the Holy One, blessed be He, His form stands and praises before Him. Another interpretation of "There is no Rock like our God": Flesh and blood, when he seeks to fashion a form, how many pigments he must bring before he fashions it! But the Holy One, blessed be He, fashions a form out of a single drop. Come and see the peacock, which has in it three hundred and sixty-five kinds of colors, and it is formed from a single drop of white. And do not say this of a bird only, but even of a human being: from a single drop of white he is formed, as it is said, "When a woman conceives seed and bears a male" (Leviticus 12:2). Thus, "There is no Rock like our God." Another interpretation: A king of flesh and blood fashions a form, but his form does not make a form. But the Holy One, blessed be He, fashions a form, and His form makes a form: for He fashions the woman, and the woman gives birth and makes a form like herself, "When a woman conceives seed" (Leviticus 12:2).

Themes

MusicSinWomenWisdomTruth

Biblical References

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