The Adulterer Who Forces the Shekhinah to Withdraw and Reshape the Fetus

Another interpretation: "IF ANY MAN'S WIFE GO ASTRAY" (Numbers 5:12). This is what Scripture says: "The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me" (Job 24:15). For so does the adulterer say: No creature knows about me. Yet the Holy One, blessed be He, His eyes range over all the earth, and He says: "Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him?" (Jeremiah 23:24). Such is the way of those who commit a transgression: they wait for a dark hour, so that no person should see them. Therefore it is said: "The eye of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight." And likewise thieves wait for a dark hour, as it is said: "In the dark they dig through houses" (Job 24:16). And so it says: "Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, [and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?]" (Isaiah 29:15). Grievous are the thief and the adulterer, for they remove the Shekhinah. As it were, the Holy One, blessed be He, fills the upper worlds and the lower worlds, as it is said: "Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD" (Jeremiah 23:24). And in the place where the adulterer comes to commit adultery, is not the Holy One, blessed be He, there in His glory? As it is said: "The whole earth is full of his glory" (Isaiah 6:3). And the adulterer says to the Holy One, blessed be He: Remove Yourself and give me room for a while. The matter is exceedingly grievous. As it were, He is full of mercy, long-suffering, and gives him room, "for he knoweth vain men: [he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it?]" (Job 11:11). And it says: "And disguiseth his face" (Job 24:15). Thus, "the eye of the adulterer waiteth," etc. And what does the Holy One, blessed be He, do? "And disguiseth his face": He sets the face of the adulterer upon that fetus. For the adulterer and the adulteress do not seek that she become pregnant, but only to do their desire alone; yet the Holy One, blessed be He, publicizes them in the world. Thus, "And disguiseth his face," so that the creatures may know and say: Surely the face of this one resembles the face of an adulterer—for He fashioned the form of the fetus in the likeness of the adulterer. Thus, "And disguiseth his face." Therefore it is called lewdness (zimmah): for the two of them deny it and say, We do not know what you are saying; and the creatures say, If so, what is this (zeh mah)? Rabbi Isaac said: Grievous is the power of the adulterer, for he weakens the power of the Shekhinah. How so? The fetus that is conceived from the man—the Holy One, blessed be He, fashions its form over forty days, for so our Rabbis taught: At forty days the form of the fetus is recognizable. After forty days the adulterer comes upon her, and the Holy One, blessed be He, stands and is bewildered and says: After whom shall I fashion it—the form of the husband, or the form [of the adulterer]? As it were, "of the Rock that begot thee thou art unmindful (teshi)" (Deuteronomy 32:18)—with a small yod: you have weakened (tash) the hand of the Fashioner. Rabbi Abbahu said: To what may the matter be compared? To a painter who is painting the portrait of a king. He came to finish the face; they said: The king has died, and another king has arisen. When the painter heard this, his hands grew slack. He began to say: What shall I do with these pigments which are in my hand? Shall I fashion the form of the first king, or the form of the second king? He began to wonder. And so it is when the man has relations with his wife: the Holy One, blessed be He, fashions the fetus in the likeness of its father. The adulterer returns and comes upon her—behold, the pigments have been mingled, as it is said: "Swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood" (Hosea 4:2). What does He do? As it were, He returns and turns the form into the likeness. Thus, "And disguiseth his face."