Another matter, “write for yourself,” on the basis of your merit I am giving them the Torah. Rabbi Shimon ben Ḥalafta said: That it what Moses said to Israel: “He inscribed on the tablets, like the first inscription…and the Lord gave them to me” (Deuteronomy 10:4). He gave them to me, and I conducted myself generously with you and gave it to you. That is why it is stated: “Write for yourself” – it was on the basis of your merit.
“As according to these matters [hadevarim],” everywhere that davar, devarim, hadevarim is written, they are curses and rebukes.6The first tablets were given with the assumption that the Israelites would be free of the evil inclination, and therefore there was no need to warn them that they would be cursed if they would transgress. The second tablets, given after the sin of the Golden Calf, were given along with warnings and curses that would be imposed if the Israelites would transgress (Rabbi David Luria).
Rabbi Yoḥanan and Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Yoḥanan said: “Write for yourself these matters, as according to [al pi] these matters” – the written Torah and the Oral Torah – “I established a covenant with you.” If you exchange it and you render what is oral written and what is written oral, you will not receive reward. Why? Because that is the way I gave it, as a written Torah and an oral Torah.
Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Shimon says: “Write for yourself…as according to…” the written Torah and the oral Torah, “I established a covenant with you,” so that you read them so,7That you study the Written Torah in writing and the Oral Torah orally. but if you exchange them, know that you are voiding the covenant. That is why it is stated: “Write for yourself these matters.” Likewise, Moses says to Israel: “Only beware, and protect yourself greatly, lest you forget the matters [that your eyes saw]” (Deuteronomy 4:9).
What are “the matters”? These are the matters that you see, as they are in writing. “Lest they move from your heart” (Deuteronomy 4:9), these are the matters that I gave you orally. That is why it is stated: “Write for yourself these matters, as according to these matters,” as, were it not for the Torah that you received, I would not have distinguished you and I would not have looked upon you more than other nations.
That is why “I established a covenant with you and with Israel.” Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon said in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘In the past, you were called like the rest of the nations, like: “Savta, Rama, and Savtekha” (I Chronicles 1:9).8These nations were named after their forebears, and so too the name Israel signified only that they were descendants of Israel (Etz Yosef).
But when you received My Torah, I established a covenant with you and elevated you. Not only Israel, but you, too, their king, I elevated you in the world only due to the merit of the Torah.’ How did the Holy One blessed be He elevate him? Rabbi Yirmeya said in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Rav Yitzḥak: All the honor that Moses experienced in this world was only the profits, but the principal endures for him for the World to Come.