“Behold, I am sending an angel before you to protect you along the way and to take you to the place that I have prepared” (Exodus 23:20). “Behold, I am sending an angel” – that is what is written: “I had said: You are divine beings” (Psalms 82:6). Had Israel waited for Moses and not performed that act,1The sin of the Golden Calf. there would have been no exiles, and the angel of death would not have had dominion over them.
Likewise it says, “[The tablets were the work of God] and the script was the script of God, engraved [ḥarut] on the tablets” (Exodus 32:16). What is ḥarut? Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Neḥemya: Rabbi Yehuda said: Freedom [ḥerut] from exiles. Rabbi Neḥemya said: Freedom from the angel of death.
When Israel said: “Everything that the Lord spoke, we will perform and we will heed” (Exodus 24:7), the Holy One blessed be He said: Adam the first man, I commanded one mitzva for him so that he would fulfill it, and I likened him to the ministering angels, as it is stated: “Behold, the man has become like one of us” (Genesis 3:22); these, who perform and fulfill the six hundred and thirteen mitzvot besides the generalizations, the specificities, and the details, is it not logical that they live and endure forever?
Likewise it says: “And from Matana to Naḥaliel” (Numbers 21:19)2Matana and Naḥaliel are generally understood as the names of places, but the midrash is interpreting the verse to mean that through the gift [matana] of the Torah, Israel received from God [naḥalu El] eternal life. – they received it from the Holy One blessed be He so they would be alive and enduring forever. When they said: “This is your god, Israel” (Exodus 32:8), death came upon them.
The Holy One blessed be He said: You followed the approach of Adam the first man who did not withstand his ordeal for three hours, and at nine hours he was sentenced to death.3The text in Vayikra Rabba (29:1) states that Adam was commanded in the ninth hour, he sinned in the tenth hour, and his punishment was pronounced in the eleventh hour (see Maharzu). “I had said: You are divine beings,” but you followed the attribute of Adam the first man; “indeed, as men you will die” (Psalms 82:7).
What is: “As one of the princes you will fall” (Psalms 82:7)? Rabbi Yehuda said: Either like Adam or like Eve.4Each received the punishment that was appropriate for him or for her. Another matter: “As one of the princes you will fall” – Rabbi Pinḥas HaKohen ben Rabbi Ḥama said: The Holy One blessed be He said to them: You have toppled yourselves. In the past, you were served by means of the Divine Spirit; now, you are served only by means of an angel. That is, “behold, I am sending an angel before you.”