When God, Gave the Torah at Sinai, He Revealed Untold Marvels to

"And the LORD said to Aaron, Go to meet Moses" (Exodus 4:27). This is what Scripture says: "God thunders marvelously with His voice; great things does He do, which we cannot comprehend" (Job 37:5). What is the meaning of "God thunders marvelously with His voice"? When the Holy One, blessed be He, gave the Torah at Sinai, He showed Israel wonder upon wonder by His voice. How so? The Holy One, blessed be He, would speak, and the voice would go out and circle through the whole world, and Israel would hear the voice coming to them from the south, and they would run to the south to receive the voice. And from the south it would turn for them to come from the north, and they would run to the north. And from the north it turned for them to the east, and they would run to the east to receive the voice. And from the east it turned for them to the west, and they would run to the west. From the west it turned for them to come from the heavens, and they would lift their eyes to the heavens. And it would turn for them to come from the earth, and they would look to the earth, as it is said: "Out of heaven He made you hear His voice," and so forth (Deuteronomy 4:36). And Israel were saying to one another: "But where shall wisdom be found, and where is the place of understanding? The deep says, It is not in me, and the sea says, It is not with me, and it is hidden," and so forth, "Destruction and Death say, We have heard a report of it with our ears" (Job 28:12-22). And Israel were saying: From where does the Holy One, blessed be He, come -- from the east, or from the west, or from the north, or from the south? As it is said: "And he said, The LORD came from Sinai" (Deuteronomy 33:2). And it says: "God comes from Teman" (Habakkuk 3:3). "And all the people saw the voices" (Exodus 20:15). It does not say "the voice" but "the voices." Rabbi Yochanan said: The voice would go out and divide into seven voices, and from seven voices into seventy languages, so that all the nations would hear. And each and every nation would hear His voice in the language of that nation, and their souls would depart. But Israel would hear and would not be harmed. How would the voice go out? Rabbi Tanchuma said: It had two faces, and it would go out and kill the nations who did not accept the Torah, and give life to Israel who accepted the Torah. This is what Moses said to them at the end of forty years: "For who is there of all flesh that has heard the voice of the living God," and so forth (Deuteronomy 5:23). You heard His voice and lived, but the nations hear and die. Come and see how the voice would go out to Israel, each and every one according to his strength. The elders would hear the voice according to their strength, and the young men according to their strength, and the youths according to their strength, and the children according to their strength, and the nursing infants according to their strength, and the women according to their strength. And even Moses according to his strength, as it is said: "Moses would speak, and God would answer him by a voice" (Exodus 19:19) -- in a voice that Moses was able to bear. And so it says: "The voice of the LORD is with power" (Psalms 29:4). It does not say "with His power" but "with power," meaning that each and every one of them was able to bear it. And even the pregnant women according to their strength. This is to say: each and every one according to his strength. Rabbi Yose bar Chanina said: If you are amazed at this matter, learn it from the manna, which would come down to Israel only according to the strength of each and every one of them. The young men would eat it like bread, as it is said: "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you" (Exodus 16:4). The elders, like a wafer made with honey, as it is said: "And its taste was like wafers made with honey" (Exodus 16:31). And the nursing infants, like milk from their mother's breasts, as it is said: "And its taste was as the taste of fresh oil" (Numbers 11:8). And the sick, like fine flour mixed with honey, as it is said: "My bread also which I gave you, fine flour and oil and honey" (Ezekiel 16:19). And the nations would taste it bitter as coriander, as it is said: "And the manna was like coriander seed" (Exodus 16:31). Rabbi Yose bar Chanina said: Now if the manna, which was a single kind, turned for them into many kinds according to the need of each and every one, then the voice that went out, which had power -- how much more so was it changed for each and every one according to his strength, so that they would not be harmed. And from where do we know that the voice was divided into many voices? As it is said: "And all the people saw the voices" (Exodus 20:15). It is not written here "the voice" but "the voices." This is to say: "God thunders marvelously with His voice."