Moses was sanctified by the cloud and received the Torah at Sinai, as it is stated, And the glory of the Lord abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered him six days.1Ex. 24, 16, E.V. covered it. [It covered Moses] in order to cleanse him, and this occurred after [the proclamation of] the Ten Commandments. So expounded R. Jose the Galilean. R. Aḳiba said: The verse and the cloud covered him six days refers to [the mountain and not to] Moses.2This reading is adopted by all Commentators and has MS. support. The sense of the controversy also requires this reading. The continuation of the verse, And the seventh day He called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud, is to single Moses out for special honour.3The two views represented in this passage originate in the meaning given to the suffix of the verb covered which can signify ‘him’ or ‘it’. R. Jose is of the opinion that immediately after the declaration of the Ten Commandments, which occurred on the sixth day of Sivan, Moses was enveloped by a Divine Cloud and thereby underwent a seven-day period of purification before he could ascend the mount and approach the Divine Presence for his forty days’ stay. A similar purification was prescribed in Temple times for the High Priest before entering upon the ritual of the Day of Atonement. R. ‘Aḳiba, on the other hand, holds that the Cloud covered the mountain and not Moses. Moses was not required to undergo a period of purification, because the call to him to ascend the mount came to him on the seventh day of the month counting from the day on which Israel arrived in the wilderness of Sinai (cf. Ex. 19, 1). The call to Moses from among the assembly of Israel was merely a mark of honour, to show that he stood high above the congregation. Cf. Yoma 4aff (Sonc. ed., pp. 13ff). For the background of this controversy, cf. L. Finkelstein, Mabo le-Massektot Abot ve-Abot d’Rabbi Nathan, English summary, p. XXIX, note 4.R. Nathan said: Why was it that Moses remained on the mountain six whole days without the Word4Dibbur, a Rabbinic term for Divine Revelation. descending upon him? It was that he might be purged of all food and drink which were in his bowels, until such time as he would become holy and be like the ministering angels.5[For the idea of unevacuated food being a bodily defilement, cf. Semaḥot III, 10 (below, p. 338) and A. Büchler, Studies in Sin and Atonement, pp. 328ff.] R. Mathia b. Ḥeresh said to him, ‘Master, surely the only purpose was to impress him so that he should receive the words of the Torah with awe and fear, with dread and trembling, as it is stated, Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.6Ps. 2, 11.It is related that R. Josiah and R. Mathia b. Ḥeresh happened to be sitting engaged in the study of the Torah, when R. Josiah departed to pursue some secular affairs. R. Mathia b. Ḥeresh said to him, ‘Master, why do you forsake the words of the living God and immerse yourself in secular affairs? And though you are my teacher and I your pupil, [I venture to say that] it is not right to forsake the words of the living God and immerse oneself in secular affairs’. It was said of them that while they were engaged together in the study of the Torah they were like foes one towards the other, but when they departed they were like lifelong friends.
By the hand of Moses was the Torah given at Sinai, as it is stated, And He wrote them upon two tables of stone, and gave them unto me;7Deut. 5, 19. and in another passage it is stated, These are the statutes and ordinances and laws, which the Lord made between Him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.8Lev. 26, 46. The Torah which the Holy One, blessed be He, gave to Israel was given solely through Moses, as it is stated, Between Him and the children of Israel. Thus Moses was worthy to become the intermediary between Israel and the All-present. Moses offered the ram of consecration9By which Aaron and his sons were initiated into the priesthood; cf. Ex. 29. and prepared the anointing oil with which he anointed Aaron and his sons during the seven days of consecration. Of that same oil were anointed all subsequent High Priests and kings.10Cf. Hor. 11b (Sonc. ed., pp. 82f). Eleazar burned the heifer of purification11More commonly known as the Red Heifer (cf. Num. 19, 3). As Eleazar, Aaron’s son, acted in this matter on the instruction and under the direction of Moses, the whole ritual is referable to Moses, and on that account it was effective for all future generations. from whose ashes all the unclean of later generations were made clean. R. Eliezer said: Great was this act12lit. ‘measure’, of anointing oil. because it was effective for all future generations, since Aaron and his sons were consecrated with this anointing oil [and their priesthood continued for many generations], as it is stated, And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto Me in the priest’s office.13Ex. 30, 30.
Joshua received [the Torah] from Moses, as it is stated, And thou shalt put of thy honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may hearken.14Num. 27, 20.The elders received it from Joshua, as it is stated, And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the Lord, that He had wrought for Israel.15Judg. 2, 7.The Judges received it from the elders,16So according to the MSS. and as corrected by GRA. V reads ‘from Joshua’. as it is stated, And it came to pass in the days when the judges judged.17Ruth 1, 1.The prophets received it from the Judges, as it is stated, I have sent unto you all My servants the prophets, sending them daily betimes and often.18Jer 7, 25.Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi received it from the [earlier] prophets.The men of the Great Assembly19Or, ‘Great Synagogue’, a legislative council of one hundred and twenty men traditionally founded by Ezra and his associates. It functioned during the Persian period and later, about 500-300 B.C.E. received it from Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. THEY SAID THREE THINGS: BE DELIBERATE IN JUDGMENT, RAISE UP MANY DISCIPLES, AND MAKE A FENCE ROUND THE TORAH.20Aboth 1:1. Quotations from Aboth are printed in capitals.
BE DELIBERATE IN JUDGMENT. What does this mean? It teaches that a man should be cautious in judgment, because the more cautious a man is in judgment the more confirmed is he in his judgment, as it is stated, These are the proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out21Prov. 25, 1.—they did not merely copy them out but deliberated on them.22The Heb. for copied out (he ‘etiḳu) may also be derived from a root meaning ‘to grow old, to spend much time’; hence the suggested interpretation ‘pondered over, deliberated’. The proverbs were studied for a long time and their meaning elucidated. Abba Saul said: [The meaning is] not that they deliberated on them but brought them to light.23Giving the Heb. verb he’etiḳu the sense of ‘moving from a place’ as in Gen. 12, 8; hence bringing out the work from its place of concealment to the light of day. The interpretation is also borne by the late Heb. verb perash used by Abba Saul; cf. Reifmann in Keneset Hagedolah I, p. 91. According to Finkelstein, op. cit., p. 126, perash here signifies ‘they put aside’ for concealment and burial. At first it was held that the books of Proverbs, Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes were to be stored away24i.e. not regarded as canonical Scriptures. since they merely contained aphorisms and were not part of the [holy] writings. Thereupon they condemned them to be stored away, [and so they remained] until the men of the Great Assembly25All commentators rightly emend to ‘the men of Hezekiah’. came and brought them to light again. For it is stated,26The verses which follow are typical examples of passages from the books mentioned which ostensibly deal with erotic themes and as such are unworthy of a place in the Scriptures. And I beheld among the thoughtless ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding…. And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of a harlot, and wily of heart. She is riotous and rebellious, her feet abide not in her house; now she is in the streets, now in the broad places, and lieth in wait at every corner. So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face she said to him: Sacrifices of peace-offerings were due from me; this day have I paid my vows. Therefore came I forth to meet thee, to seek thy face, and I have found thee. I have decked my couch with coverlets, with striped cloths of the yarn of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning; let us solace ourselves with loves. For my husband is not at home, he is gone a long journey; he hath taken the bag of money with him; he will come home at the full moon.27Prov. 7, 7, 10-20. And it is written in the Song of Songs: Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; [17a] let us lodge in the villages. Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see whether the vine hath budded, whether the vine-blossom be opened, and the pomegranates be in flower; there will I give thee my love.28Cant. 7, 12f. And it is written in Ecclesiastes: Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.29Eccl. 11, 9. And it is further written in the Song of Songs: I am my beloved’s and his desire is toward me.30Cant. 7, 11. Thus they did not deliberate on them but brought them to light.Another interpretation of BE DELIBERATE IN JUDGMENT: What does it mean? It teaches that a man should speak his words calmly and should not speak in anger; for he who speaks in anger will [in the end] cause his words to be forgotten. We find it so in the case of Moses our master that he forgot his words, as it is stated, And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war that went to the battle: This is the statute of the law which the Lord hath commanded Moses.31Num. 31, 21. He commanded Moses but not me; He commanded Moses, my father’s brother, but not me.32Although Moses received the law from God, he had forgotten it on account of his anger, and it was left to Eleazar the priest to instruct the warriors. And where do we find that Moses had spoken in anger? It states, And Moses was wrath with the officers of the Lord…. And Moses said unto them: Have ye saved all the women alive?33ibid. 14f. Why does the verse state all the women?34This sentence is deleted by GRA who reads instead: ‘What is meant by through the counsel of Balaam (ibid. 16)?’ It is because of the advice which the wicked Balaam counselled against Israel, as it is written, And now, behold, I go unto my people; come, and I will announce to thee what this people shall do to thy people in the end of days.35ibid. XXIV, 14. He said to Balak, ‘This people whom you hate is hungry for food and athirst for drink, since they have nothing to eat or drink except the manna alone. Go, then, erect booths for them, set out food and drink for them, and place there beautiful girls of royal station, to the end that the people may stray after Baal of Peor, and they will fall by the hand of the All-present’. Forthwith Balak proceeded to carry out all that the wicked Balaam had counselled. See, now, what calamity that wicked Balaam brought upon Israel, since through him there fell twenty and four thousand of them, as it is stated, And these that died by the plague were twenty and four thousand.36ibid. XXV, 9. Is there not here an argument from the greater to the less? If it happened to Moses, who was the wisest among the wise and the greatest among the great, the father of the prophets, that when he spoke in anger he forgot his words, how much more so [does this apply to us ordinary persons]! It therefore teaches that a man should speak his words calmly and not speak in anger.Ben ‘Azzai said: Beware of idle chatter in your speech.37Do not misuse the gift of speech with empty talk.
AND MAKE A FENCE ROUND THE TORAH. Make a fence to your words as the Holy One, blessed be He, made a fence to His words; and likewise Adam the first man, the Torah, Moses, Job, the Prophets, the Writings,38i.e. the Hagiographa, the third division of the Scriptures. The word is inserted here by GRA and is attested by the MSS. and the Sages all made a fence to their words.39The usual meaning given to the maxim ‘make a fence’ is that the Rabbis added restrictions and further severities to the Torah to avoid the infringement of the commandment. The examples cited, however, as illustrations of those who ‘made fences’, differ in character from each other and do not conform to the pattern of the traditional definition. The older and perhaps original meaning of the maxim was an injunction to the Rabbis to explain and present the reasons for their decision, thereby safeguarding it against ridicule and rejection. It is in this sense that God made a fence to His words. As a development of the original meaning of the maxim was the exhortation to the Rabbis to express the power of God in a form intelligible to human beings; this was the ‘fence’ adopted by the Prophets. The other examples of ‘fences’ are additional prohibitions in the usual sense. For a detailed discussion on this subject, cf. the essays of Finkelstein in Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. LVII (1938), pp. 13-50, and vol. LIX (1940), pp. 455-469.What fence did the Holy One, blessed be He, make to His words? It is stated, Even all the nations shall say; Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land?40Deut. 29, 23. This teaches that it was already revealed to Him Who spoke and the world came into being41[For this designation of God, cf. A. Marmorstein, The Old Rabbinic Doctrine of God, I, p. 89.] that future generations will ask: Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land? Consequently the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, ‘Moses, write [down the answer] and place it on record for generations to come: Then men shall say: Because they forsook the covenant of the Lord … and went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods that they knew not, and that He had not allotted unto them.42ibid. 24f. In this passage there is a vindication of God’s actions. Lest the nations misjudge and deem them tyrannical or arbitrary, it is stated from the beginning what calamities will befall the people in the event of disobedience. Cf. the parallel passage in ’Aboth d’Rabbi Nathan, Recension II, ed. Schechter, p. 3. Hence you learn that the Holy One, blessed be He, made a fence to His words, and recorded in the Torah what people would say in the future; thus bearing witness that the Holy One, blessed be He, pays His creatures their reward in full.43A difficult passage with the text in an uncertain state. The translation follows the text as emended by Finkelstein, op. cit., p. 116, reading dikthab battorah for dikthib bathreh and ‘edin (i.e. ‘edim) for ‘adayin. The Meiri in his commentary on Aboth explains the last sentence to mean that God prescribed in His Torah only such laws as were acceptable to man and within the capacity of human activity, and did not lay upon His creatures impossible demands. In this way mankind was afforded an opportunity of drawing a full reward.What fence did Adam, the first man, make to his words? It is stated, And the Lord God commanded the man, saying: Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.44Gen. 2, 16f. Adam was unwilling to tell this to Eve exactly as the Holy One, blessed be He, had commanded him; he therefore made a fence to his words, over and above the words which the Holy One, blessed be He, had spoken to him, and this is what he said to her, But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said: Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.45ibid. III, 3. By so doing he meant to keep both himself and Eve away from the tree, even to the extent of not touching it. At that moment the wicked serpent reasoned to himself saying, ‘Since I cannot bring about the fall of Adam, I will bring about the fall of Eve’. Thereupon he went and seated himself beside Eve and entered into much conversation with her. He said, ‘If you think it is the touching [of the tree] that the Holy One, blessed be He, has forbidden us, behold I will touch it and not die; so you, too, will not die if you touch it’. What did the wicked serpent then do? He arose, touched the tree with his hands and feet, and shook it violently so that its fruit fell to the ground. There are some, however, who say that he did not actually touch it, but that as soon as the tree saw him it cried out, ‘O wicked one, do not touch me’; as it is stated, Let not the foot of pride overtake me, and let not the hand of the wicked shake me.46Cf. Ps. 36, 12. E.V., let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.
Another interpretation of the verse, Let not the foot of pride overtake me,47This was the cry of the altar when Titus entered the Temple. refers it to Titus, may his bones rot! For he raised his hand in contempt and struck the altar exclaiming, ‘Lukos! Lukos!48A Greek word meaning ‘wolf’, here applied opprobiously to the altar. Cf. Suk. 56b (Sonc. ed., p. 276). You are a king just as I am a king, come and engage in battle with me. How many oxen have been slain upon you! How many birds have been killed upon you! How much wine has been poured out upon you! How much incense has been burned upon you! It is you who are destroying the whole world’, as it is stated, Ah, Ariel, Ariel,49A poetical name for the altar. the city where David was encamped! Add ye year to year, let the feasts come round!50Is. 29, 1. The reference is to the countless sacrifices offered on the altars at every season because of the many sins of the people.Furthermore the serpent said to her, ‘If you think it is the eating [of the fruit of the tree] that the Holy One, blessed be He, has forbidden us, behold I will eat of it and will not die; so you, too, will not die if you eat of it’. Eve then began to think to herself, ‘All that my master has commanded me from the beginning is false’—for Eve used to address Adam as ‘master from the beginning’. She immediately took of the fruit and ate it, and also gave some to Adam, which he ate, as it is stated, And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, etc.51Gen. 3, 6.
With ten curses was Eve cursed at that time, as it is stated, Unto the woman He said: I will multiply and multiply thy pain and thy travail; in pain thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.52ibid. 16, so lit. E.V., I will greatly multiply. I will multiply and multiply—these are the two discharges of blood [which cause pain to women], the menstrual and [at the termination of] virginity. [Thy pain—this is the anxiety connected with the rearing of children.]53Inserted by GRA in accordance with ‘Erub. 100b (Sonc. ed., p. 697). And thy travail—this is the pain associated with conception. In pain thou shalt bring forth children—this is to be understood in its literal meaning. And thy desire shall be to thy husband—this teaches that a woman particularly yearns for her husband when he is about to set out on a journey. And he shall rule over thee—for the man solicits by word of mouth whereas the woman solicits in her heart. [Furthermore, during her periods] she is wrapped up like a mourner, shut up as in a prison and banished from the company of all men. Now what brought about the act of touching? The answer is the fence which Adam had made to his words.54Adam’s fault was that he had attached as great importance to the ‘fence’ as to the original command. Hence [the Sages] said: When a man makes a fence to his words, he is not always able to stand by his words. They further said: Hence let not a man add to the words which he has heard. R. Jose said: A firm [wall] of ten hand-breadths is better than a tottering [wall] of a hundred cubits.What was in the mind of the wicked serpent at that time? ‘I will go,’ he thought, ‘slay Adam and marry his wife; then I will be king over the whole world. I shall also walk erect and eat all the dainties of the world.’ Whereupon the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, ‘You reckoned [17b] to slay Adam and marry Eve; therefore I will put enmity between thee and the woman.55ibid. 15. You reckoned to be king over the whole world; therefore Cursed art thou from among all cattle.56ibid. 14. You reckoned to walk erect; therefore Upon thy belly shalt thou go. You reckoned to eat all the dainties of the world; therefore Dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.R. Simeon b. Menasia said: Alas for the most useful servant that was lost to the world! For had not the serpent been cursed, every Israelite would have been provided with two serpents for his personal use at home; one he would send to the west and the other to the east, to bring him thence gems, precious stones, pearls and every desirable thing in the world, and no creature could ever injure them.57Or, according to another reading: ‘could ever hold them back’. Moreover, they could have been employed in the place of camels, asses and mules to provide manure for gardens and orchards.
R. Judah b. Bathyra said: Adam, the first man, was reclining in the Garden of Eden with ministering angels at his service, roasting meat and cooling wine for him. Then the serpent came and, seeing him in all his glory, at once grew envious of him.58The two paragraphs are quoted from Sanh. 59b (Sonc. ed., p. 405), but the second is there given in the name of R. Judah b. Tema.How was Adam, the first man, created? In the first hour his dust was gathered together, in the second his outline was shaped, in the third he was made into solid substance, in the fourth his limbs were articulated, in the fifth his orifices were opened, in the sixth a soul was infused into him, in the seventh he stood on his feet, in the eighth Eve became his mate, in the ninth he was brought into the Garden of Eden, in the tenth he received his command [concerning the tree], in the eleventh he sinned, and in the twelfth he was driven out, thus fulfilling what is stated, Man tarrieth not overnight in his glory.59Ps. 49, 13, indicating that Adam forfeited his glory within a day before the oncoming of night. E.V., man abideth not in honour.Which Psalm did Adam recite on the first day?60Cf. R.H. 31a (Sonc. ed., pp. 145f) where the same Psalms are selected for recital by the Levites in the Temple on the successive days of the week. The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein;61Ps. 24, 1. because He created the world, assigned it to mankind, and is the sole Judge of the world. Which did he recite on the second day? Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised, in the city of our God, His holy mountain;62ibid. XLVIII, 1. because He divided the work of creation and became Sovereign in His universe. Which did he recite on the third day? God standeth in the congregation of God; in the midst of the judges He judgeth;63ibid. LXXXII, 1. because He then created the sea and the dry land, the earth was rolled64lit. ‘was folded’. into position, and a place was set apart for His people. Which did he recite on the fourth day? O Lord, Thou God to whom vengeance belongeth, Thou God to whom vengeance belongeth, shine forth;65ibid. XCIV, 1. because He then created the sun, the moon, the stars and the planets, which give light on earth, and He will in the future punish those who worship them. Which did he recite on the fifth day? Sing aloud unto God our strength; shout unto the God of Jacob;66ibid. LXXXI, 2. because He then created the birds, the fishes and the sea-monsters, which sing aloud His praises in the world. Which did he recite on the sixth day? The Lord reigneth; He is clothed in majesty; the Lord is clothed, He hath girded Himself with strength; yea the world is established, that it cannot be moved;67ibid. XCIII, 1. because He then completed all His works, was exalted and sat enthroned in the heights of the universe. Which did he recite on the seventh day? A Psalm, a Song. For the Sabbath day;68ibid. XCII, 1. because of the day which will be all Sabbath, when there will be neither eating nor drinking nor worldly affairs, but the righteous will sit with crowns on their heads enjoying69Or, according to another reading: ‘feasting on’. the brilliance of the Divine Presence, as it is stated, And they beheld God, and did eat and drink,70Ex. 24, 11. The food and drink on that occasion were not of the material kind. like the ministering angels. And why was this so?71i.e. why was Adam created last of all, on the sixth day just before the commencement of the Sabbath? In order that [Adam] might immediately partake of the Sabbath meal.R. Simeon b. Eleazar said: I will expound this to you with a parable. To what might Adam be compared? To a man who married a proselyte and used to give her instruction, saying, ‘My dear, do not eat bread when your hands are defiled, do not eat untithed produce, do not profane the Sabbath, do not make vows rashly, and do not associate with another man. If you break one of these rules, you will die’. Now what did a certain man do?72So according to GRA, the reference being to a stranger who came to tempt her. V reads ‘what did that man do’, apparently referring to the husband. He arose and ate in her presence bread although his hands were defiled, he ate before her untithed produce—he profaned the Sabbath and made vows rashly—and also offered her some [of the food].73Adopting the reading of MS. E, lit. ‘he handed her with his hands’. V ‘and brought out to her’. What could that proselyte have thought to herself? All that my husband forbade me in the beginning was without foundation. She thereupon went and transgressed them all.R. Simeon b. Yoḥai said: I, too, will explain this to you by a parable. To what might Adam be compared? To a man who had his wife at home with him. Now what did that man do? He went and brought a cask into which he put an exact number of figs and nuts. He also caught a scorpion, placed it in the mouth of the cask, covered the cask with a tight-fitting lid and put it away in a corner. He then said to his wife, ‘My dear, all that I possess in this house is at your disposal except this cask which you may not touch under any circumstances’. What did this woman do? No sooner had her husband gone off to market than she arose, opened the cask, put her hand in it and was bitten by the scorpion. Immediately she went and flung herself on her bed. When her husband returned from market he asked her what had happened, and she replied, ‘I put my hand in the cask and was bitten by a scorpion, and now I am dying’. He said to her, ‘Did I not tell you in the beginning that everything I had in the house was at your disposal except that cask which you were not to touch under any circumstances?’ He at once became furious with her and drove her out. So it was with Adam, the first man, when the Holy One, blessed be He, charged him, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.74Gen. 2, 16f. No sooner had Adam eaten of it than he was driven out [of Eden], to fulfil that which is stated, Man tarrieth not overnight in his glory; he is like the beasts that perish.75Ps. 49, 13. See above, p. 10, n. 59On the same one day he was formed, created, his outline was shaped, he became solid substance, his limbs were articulated, his orifices opened, a soul was infused into him, he stood on his feet, Eve became his mate, he named [all creatures], was brought into the Garden of Eden, given a command, sinned and was driven out, to fulfil that which is stated, Man tarrieth not overnight in his glory. On that same day two went upon the bed and four came down.76The four are: Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel. R. Judah b. Bathyra said: On that day two went upon the bed and six came down.77The six are: Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, each of the last two with a twin sister. According to GRA and MS. E seven came down, since two twin sisters were born with Abel; cf. Midrash Rabbah, Genesis, XXII, §2 (Sonc. ed., p. 180).On that day three decrees were pronounced upon Adam, as it is stated, And unto Adam He said: Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife … cursed is the ground for thy sake; in toil shalt thou eat of it … thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.78Gen. 3, 17f. When Adam heard that the Holy One, blessed be He, had decreed against him, Thou shalt eat the grass of the field, his limbs forthwith began to tremble and he exclaimed, ‘Lord of the universe! Am I and my beast to eat from one manger?’ Whereupon the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, ‘Since your limbs trembled [at the prospect]’79This was considered by God as an act of penitence. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.80ibid. 19.Just as three decrees were pronounced upon Adam so were three decrees pronounced upon Eve, as it is stated, I will greatly multiply thy pain and thy travail; in pain thou shalt bring forth children.81ibid. 16. [I will greatly multiply]—for when a woman begins to experience her monthly flow she suffers pain; I will greatly multiply82The Heb. is lit. ‘multiply I will multiply’ indicative of two pains; cf. above, p. 8, n. 53 [thy pain]—for when a woman experiences intercourse for the first time it is painful to her; thy pain [and thy travail]—for during the first three months of pregnancy a woman’s features become coarsened and pallid.As [his first] evening set in and Adam saw the world darkening in the west, he exclaimed, ‘Woe is me! Because I have sinned, the Holy One, blessed be He, is darkening the world upon me!’ He was unaware that such was the course of nature; but in the morning when he saw the world becoming light in the east he was exceedingly happy. He arose and built an altar, he took a bullock whose horns came into being before its hoofs83Since at the creation the first bullock came up from the ground fully grown and in erect posture (cf. Ḥul. 60a, Sonc. ed., pp. 329f), its horns necessarily appeared first and its hoofs last. and offered it as a burnt-offering, as it is stated, And it shall please the Lord better than a bullock that hath horns and hoofs.84Ps. 69, 32.The bullock which Adam offered, the bull which Noah offered,85Cf. Gen. 8, 20. This verse, however, does not mention that Noah offered a bull. Since the word quoted from Ps. 69, bullock is lit. ‘ram bullock’, it has been suggested that one was Adam’s and the other that of Noah. and the ram which our father Abraham offered on the altar instead of his son, were all beasts whose horns came into being before their hoofs, as it is stated, [18a] And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught.86Gen. 22, 13. Tradition tells that Abraham’s ram was created on the eve of the first Sabbath at twilight (Aboth 5:6, Sonc. ed., p. 64), and as all the animals of the creation were brought forth in their full-grown stature, their horns must have appeared before their hoofs.Then and there87Immediately Adam had brought his offering. three bands of ministering angels came down with harps and lyres and other musical instruments in their hands and joined with him in a song of praise, as it is stated, A Psalm, a Song. For the Sabbath day. It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord…. To declare Thy lovingkindness in the morning, and Thy faithfulness in the night seasons.88Ps. 92, 1-3. To declare Thy lovingkindness in the morning—this refers to the world to come which is likened to the brightness of the morning, as it is stated, They are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness.89Lam. 3, 23. By reason of God’s faithfulness the righteous will be renewed in the morning, i.e. they will be revived in the world to come. And Thy faithfulness in the night seasons—this refers to this world which is likened to [the darkness of] night, as it is stated, The burden of Dumah. One calleth unto me out of Seir: Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?90Is. 21, 11. The faithful who watch and wait for God’s deliverance cry out: How long will the sorrows and sufferings of this world continue?At that time the Holy One, blessed be He, said, ‘If I do not inflict punishment upon the serpent I will be destroying the whole world’. He also said, ‘As for man whom I made lord and king over the world, how he has become entangled [in the wiles of the serpent] and eaten of the [forbidden] tree!’ Thereupon He turned His attention to him and cursed him, as it is stated, And the Lord God said unto the serpent, etc.91Gen. 3, 14. R. Jose said: Had the curse of the serpent been deferred to later,92lit. ‘had the curse of the serpent been written in the end’. He would in the meantime have destroyed the whole world.When the Holy One, blessed be He, created Adam, the first man, He formed him behind and before,93i.e. with two faces, in front and behind, from one of which Eve was formed. Cf. Ber. 61a (Sonc. ed., p. 381). as it is stated, Thou hast formed me behind and before, and laid Thy hand upon me.94Ps. 139, 5. E.V., Thou hast hemmed me in. Ministering angels descended to adore him,95Or, to worship him. According to MS. E: ‘to destroy him’, because they were jealous of him; this is also the view of GRA. whereupon the Holy One, blessed be He, took him up and placed him beneath His wings, as it is stated, And laid Thy hand upon me.Another interpretation of And laid Thy hand upon me: when Adam sinned, the Holy One, blessed be He, removed one [of His hands] from him. From this it may be inferred that when Adam and the Temple were created, they were each created by His two hands. Whence do we know that man was created by His two hands? For it is stated, Thy hands have made me and fashioned me.96ibid. CXIX, 73. The noun is plural. And whence do we know that the Temple was created by His two hands? For it is stated, The sanctuary, O Lord, which Thy hands have established.97Ex. 15, 17. And it is also said, And He brought them to His holy border, to the mountain which His right hand had gotten;98Ps. 78, 54. and further it is written, The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.99Ex. 15, 18. The last two verses which are quoted have no connection with the theme of the passage and are deleted by GRA. They are found in the original context at the conclusion of tractate Aboth.