The Pure Sayings of the LORD and the King Who Never Awoke

Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Chukat 5:1

Curated by Arthur·Translated by Maggid (Beta)·

Another interpretation of "This is the statute of the Torah" (Numbers 19:2). Rabbi Tanchum bar Hanilai opened: "The sayings of the LORD are pure sayings" (Psalms 12:7). Are the sayings of the LORD "sayings," but the sayings of flesh and blood are not "sayings"? Rather, by the custom that is in the world, a king of flesh and blood enters a province, and the inhabitants of the province praise him, and their praise is pleasing to him. He says to them: Tomorrow I will build public buildings for you; tomorrow I will build bathhouses for you; tomorrow I will bring in the aqueduct of water for you. He goes to sleep and does not arise. Where is he, and where are his sayings? But the Holy One, blessed be He, is not so. Rather, "But the LORD God is truth" (Jeremiah 10:10). And why is He truth? Rabbi Abin said: Because He is a living God and an everlasting King.

Themes

KingsAdam EvePurityHumorWit

Biblical References

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