Rabbi Yanai said: The Torah need have been taught only from: “This month shall be for you” (Exodus 12:2). Why, then, did the Holy One blessed be He reveal to Israel what was on the first day, and what was from the second day to the sixth day? In the merit of their saying: “Everything that the Lord had said, we will perform and we will heed” (Exodus 24:7), He immediately revealed it to them. Rabbi Berekhya said: It is written: “He told you His covenant [berito]” (Deuteronomy 4:13); He told you the book of Genesis, which is the beginning of the creation [beriyato] of the world.
“That He commanded you to perform, the ten precepts” (Deuteronomy 4:13), these are the Ten Commandments, ten for the Bible and ten for the Talmud.173The Ten Commandments are to be understood as they are written, and are also to be expounded in the manner of Talmudic analysis. From where, then, will Elihu ben Berekhel the Buzite174One of Job’s friends (see Job 32:2). come and reveal to Israel the secrets of [ḥadrei] Behemoth and Leviathan,175Some suggest that the text of the midrash should be emended.
Elihu discussed with Job aspects of the creation of the world (See Job 37:6–11), but the secrets of the Behemoth and Leviathan were mentioned by God Himself (see Job 40:15, 25) (Rabbi David Luria; Etz Yosef). and from where will Ezekiel come and reveal the secrets [ḥadrei] of the Divine Chariot?176Had God not detailed the creation of the world in the Torah, and hinted in its text to further secrets of creation, they could not have been expounded upon and revealed in greater detail later in history. That is what is written: “The king has brought me to his chambers [ḥadarav].”