Another matter, “these are the ordinances,” that is what is written: “He declares His words to Jacob” (Psalms 147:19). One time, Aquila said to the emperor Hadrian: ‘I wish to convert and to become a Jew.’ He said to him: ‘That nation you wish [to join]? How much have I demeaned it, how much of its [people] have I killed!
You wish to intermingle with the lowliest of nations. What did you see in them that you wish to convert?’ He said to him: ‘The least among them knows how the Holy One blessed be He created the world, what was created on the first day and what was created on the second day. How long it has been since the world was created and upon what does the world stand.
And, their Torah is truth.’ He said to him: ‘Go study their Torah, but do not circumcise yourself.’ Aquila said to him: ‘Even the wisest man in your kingdom or a one-hundred-year-old elder is unable to study their Torah if he is not circumcised,’ as it is written: “He declares His words to Jacob, His statutes and ordinances to Israel. He did not do so with any other nation” (Psalms 147:19–20). But with whom? With the children of Israel.