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God Offered Torah to Every Nation Before Giving It to Israel

Before Sinai, God brought the Torah to every nation on earth. Each one asked what was in it, heard one commandment, and walked away.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. The First Nation to Hear the Offer
  2. Nation by Nation, the Same Pattern
  3. Israel Accepted Without Asking
  4. The World Was Made for Torah's Sake

The First Nation to Hear the Offer

God did not go directly to Israel. That is the tradition Rabbi Tarphon preserved, and it is preserved in Midrash Tanchuma as well as in the older stratum of rabbinic literature. The Holy One, blessed be He, went first to Esau's descendants, to Seir. The verse in Deuteronomy (33:2) records it: the Lord came from Sinai, and rose from Seir unto them. God arrived at Seir with the Torah and asked if they would accept it.

They asked what was in it.

God said: You shall not murder.

They declined. Isaac had blessed Esau with the words by your sword you shall live (Genesis 27:40). A law against murder would require abandoning the blessing that constituted their identity. They were not willing.

Nation by Nation, the Same Pattern

God moved through the nations in sequence. The descendants of Ammon and Moab were approached. They too asked what was in the Torah. God said: You shall not commit sexual immorality. They too declined. The sea peoples, the great powers of the ancient world, each found its dealbreaker in a single command. The nations, in the Tanchuma's telling, were not simply wicked. They knew themselves honestly. The Torah would require them to change in ways they had no intention of changing.

The catalog extends beyond what any single source preserves in full, but the structure is the same across each encounter: inquiry, disclosure, refusal, reason. The nations were offered the gift and declined it in full consciousness. They were not deceived. They were not given inadequate information. They heard exactly one commandment that cut against the grain of how they lived, and they chose to keep living that way.

Israel Accepted Without Asking

When God came to Israel, the sequence broke. The people at Sinai said we will do and we will hear (Exodus 24:7). The doing came before the hearing. They committed to obedience before knowing the full content of what they were agreeing to. The nations had asked first and then refused. Israel accepted and then listened for what they had accepted.

That inversion is the pivot on which the Tanchuma places its entire weight. The nations treated the Torah as a transaction, asking to review the terms before agreeing. Israel treated it as a covenant, a relationship that precedes and overrides the specific terms. Acceptance came first because the relationship with the One offering it mattered more than the content of any single command.

The World Was Made for Torah's Sake

The Tanchuma adds a frame drawn from Isaiah (51:16): God planted the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, saying to Zion, You are my people. The rabbinic tradition reads this as the order of creation: the heavens were planted and the earth was founded because there was a people who would receive the Torah. The world exists because the Torah exists, and the Torah found its home in the one nation that accepted without bargaining.

This is a bold claim, built on a bold story. The nations' refusal is not a source of contempt in the rabbinic telling. It simply fixes the meaning of what happened at Sinai. When Israel said yes, they were not capitulating to a coercive power. They were doing what every other nation had been offered the chance to do and had declined. The choice was universal. The acceptance was particular.

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From the tradition

Sources

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The texts this telling draws on, in full. Open a card to read inline, or expand it for a wider, quieter read.

Midrash Tanchuma, Yitro 14Midrash Tanchuma

And God spoke (Exod. 20:1). May it please our master to teach us: What things have their reward in the world-to-come? Thus do our masters teach us: These are the things whose interest a man enjoys in this world but whose principal is stored up for him in the world-to-come: Honoring one’s father and mother, performing good deeds, advancing the laws of peace between man and his fellow man, and the study of the Torah, which is equal to all the others.

Observe that the law is so precious that the world was created for its sake. Hence it says: And I have put My words in thy mouth, and have covered thee in the shadow of My hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion: “Thou art My people” (Isa. 51:16).

You find that when the Holy One, blessed be He, desired to give the law to Israel, He offered it first to the nations of the world, but they would not accept it. Whereupon He determined to return the world to its original state, as it is said: He standeth, and shaketh the earth; He beholdeth, and maketh the nations to tremble (Hab. 3:16). But after Israel accepted the law, the world was permitted to endure. Therefore, And God spoke.

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Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 41:2Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer

Chapter 41 gives us a glimpse into a rather… unique sales pitch, shall we say.

Rabbi Tarphon recounts a scene where the Holy One, blessed be He, doesn't just give the Torah, but actively offers it around. Imagine God, Himself, going door-to-door!

First stop: the descendants of Esau. As (Deuteronomy 33:2) tells us, "The Lord came from Sinai, and rose from Seir unto them." Here, "Seir" refers to Esau, as (Genesis 36:8) states, "And Esau dwelt in Mount Seir." So, God asks them, "Will you accept the Torah?" They want to know what's in it, of course. God replies, "Thou shalt do no murder" (Exodus 20:13).

Their response? A polite, but firm, "No, thank you." They explain that they can't abandon the blessing Isaac gave Esau: "By thy sword shalt thou live" (Genesis 27:40). Essentially, violence is in their DNA, or at least, they believe it is.

Next, God turns to the children of Ishmael. (Deuteronomy 33:2) says, "He shined forth from Mount Paran." "Paran," we learn, signifies the sons of Ishmael, as (Genesis 21:21) says, "And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran." Again, the offer: "Will ye accept for yourselves the Torah?" They ask the crucial question: "What's written therein?" The answer: "Thou shalt not steal" (Exodus 20:15).

And their response? Another polite rejection! They can't abandon the "usage which our fathers observed," referring to the story of Joseph being sold into Egypt, as Joseph himself laments in (Genesis 40:15): "For indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews." So, stealing is… a family tradition? Yikes.

At this point, God sends messengers to all the nations of the world. He asks them the same question: "Will ye receive for yourselves the Torah?" They, too, want to know the contents. This time, God says, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3).

Their answer is pretty blunt: "We have no delight in the Torah." They suggest He give it to His own people, quoting (Psalm 29:11): "The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace." Ouch!

Finally, God turns to the children of Israel. (Deuteronomy 33:2) tells us, "And he came from the ten thousands of holy ones." The expression "ten thousands," we discover, refers to the children of Israel, supported by (Numbers 10:36): "Return, O Lord, unto the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel." The text goes on to paint a majestic picture: "With Him were thousands twice-told of chariots, even twenty thousand of holy angels, and His right hand was holding the Torah, as it is said, 'At his right hand was a fiery law unto them' (Deut. 33:2)."

So, what does this all mean? Is it a literal account? Probably not. But it’s a powerful way of illustrating that accepting the Torah requires a willingness to change, to let go of ingrained habits and beliefs. It highlights the unique relationship between God and the Jewish people. Perhaps it wasn't just that God chose us, but that we were the only ones willing to choose Him, and the challenging path of the Torah. It's a humbling thought, isn't it?

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Sifrei Devarim 343:1Sifrei Devarim

Sifrei Devarim turns to God Came from Sinai and Shone Forth from Seir.

It’s in Devarim (Deuteronomy) 33:2, part of Moses' final blessing to the tribes. The verse says, "The L-rd came from Sinai, and He shone forth from Seir to them." Now, At first, this might seem like a straightforward recounting of God's presence. But according to Sifrei Devarim 343, there's a deeper message here, a lesson in how to approach the Divine. And maybe even how to approach anyone you need to ask for something!

The passage points out that Moses doesn't launch directly into the needs of the Israelites. He begins with praise of God. Why?

The Sifrei Devarim uses a brilliant analogy to explain. Imagine you've hired an advocate to speak on your behalf. What's the first thing a smart advocate would do? They wouldn't immediately launch into your list of demands! Instead, they’d begin by praising the king. "How exalted is our king!" they’d exclaim. "How exalted is our master! The sun has shone upon us! The moon has shone upon us!" Getting everyone on board with acknowledging the king’s greatness. Only then, after setting the stage with proper respect and admiration, would they present your case. And even then, they'd conclude by circling back to the king's praise. It's a beautiful structure, isn't it?

Moses, our teacher, does the same thing. He doesn't just barge in with the Israelites' needs. First, he acknowledges God's presence and glory: "The L-rd came from Sinai, and He shone forth from Seir." Only after this preamble does he get to the heart of the matter, proclaiming in verse 5, "And He was a King in Yeshurun (Israel)." Yeshurun is a poetic name for Israel, by the way, emphasizing their righteousness. And then, at the very end, he concludes with more praise: "There is none like the Almighty, Yeshurun" (Deuteronomy 33:26).

So what does this tell us? It suggests that when we approach God, or anyone in a position of authority or power, we should begin by acknowledging their greatness, their positive attributes. It's not about being manipulative, but about recognizing the good that already exists. It's about showing respect and appreciation before presenting our needs. in your own life. When you need to ask a favor, do you lead with the request, or do you first acknowledge the other person's qualities, their contributions, their inherent worth?

Maybe Moses, in his final moments, was teaching us not just about prayer, but about the very nature of human interaction. Maybe he was showing us that by starting with praise, we not only honor the Divine, but also open the door to connection, understanding, and ultimately, to having our needs met. Food for thought.

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