Midrash Tanchuma, Bereshit 7

And the Lord said: Behold, man has become one of us (Gen. 3:22). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: Behold, this only have I found, that God made man upright (Eccles. 7:29); that is, the Holy One, blessed be He, who is called righteous and upright, created man in His own image so that he might be upright and righteous like Him. However, if you should ask: Why did He create the evil inclination, concerning which it is written: The inclination of man’s heart is evil from his youth (Gen. 8:21)?, you say thereby: Since man is evil, who can make him good? The Holy One, blessed be He, contends: You make him evil! Why is it that a child of five, six, seven, eight, or nine years of age does not sin, but only after he reaches the age of ten and upward does the evil inclination begin to develop in him?

Furthermore, if you should insist that no man is able to guard himself from the evil inclination, the Holy One, blessed be He, replies: That is not so. You caused yourself to become evil. When you were a child, you did not sin, but when you grew up, you did sin.25Midrash Tanhuma is the only source which states that the evil inclination does not appear at birth. A response to the notion of original sin. There are many things in this world that are harsher and more bitter than the evil inclination, yet you know how to alter them. For instance, there is nothing more bitter than lupine, yet when you boil it in water seven times it becomes sweet and edible. Similarly, you sweeten mustard and capers and numerous other things. If you are able to sweeten the bitter things that I have created to satisfy your needs, how much more so are you able to control the evil inclination within you.

Thus you find that though I created Hiram, king of Tyre, righteous and upright, as it is said: Perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created (Ezek. 28:15), wickedness finally appeared in him and he was banished.

It is written of the generation of the separation: And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech (Gen. 11:1), but later they sought to ascend into the firmament, as is said: Come, let us build us a city and a tower with its top in heaven (ibid., v. 4). Hence it is written: The Lord came to see the city and the tower which the children of men had builded … so the Lord scattered them (ibid., v. 5). What a strap from such a hide!26A popular proverb expressing the thought: Such a poor product from such good material.

To what may this be compared: To a king who fashioned a golden statue of himself and had it erected in the courtyard of his palace. Soon thereafter, a bird lighted upon it and defaced it. Similarly, the Holy One, blessed be He, fashioned man righteous, but the evil inclination arises within him and despoils him. Hence we read: Ye are godlike beings, and all of ye sons of the Most High; nevertheless, you shall die like men (Ps. 82:6–7).

Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyre: Thus saith the Lord God: Because thy heart is lifted up, and thou hast said: I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the heart of the seas; yet thou art man, and not God (Ezek. 28:2). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter a word before God; for God is in the heavens and thou art upon the earth; therefore, let thy words be few (Eccles. 5:1). It says also: He loveth transgression that loveth strife, he that lifteth his gate seeketh destruction (Prov. 17:19). Should this verse not state that “he who lowereth his gate27Thereby placing temptation before others. seeketh destruction,” since everyone who lowers his gate causes people to stumble and to be destroyed: What then is the meaning of he that lifteth his gate seeketh destruction? This means that one who opens his mouth and utters words that are unseemly brings on his own destruction, for the Holy One, blessed be He, will destroy him. Therefore, it is said: Be not rash with thy mouth (Eccles. 5:1).

Observe that the weakest of the weak above vanquished the mightiest person below, as it is written: And a certain woman cast an upper millstone upon Abimelech’s head and broke his skull (Judg. 9:53).28According to tradition, the upper millstone used to kill Abimelech fell to the earth for that purpose alone. How much more so is that true of our God in heaven.

After Hadrian, the king of Edom, conquered the entire world, he returned to Rome and told his courtiers: “I command you to acclaim me a divine being, for I have subjugated the entire world.” Whereupon they replied: “You do not rule the Holy City and the Temple.” He went there, conquered the Holy City, demolished the Temple, and exiled the Israelites. Upon his return to Rome he said: “Now I have destroyed His house, burned down His holy palace, and exiled His people; worship me as a divine being.”

R. Berechiah tells us that three philosophers resided in Hadrian’s court. The first one said to him: “Surely a man is unable to revolt against a king while he resides in the king’s palace. Depart from his palace and then proclaim yourself a god. He fashioned the heavens and created the earth; now depart from them and you shall be a divine being.” The second one told him: “You are not able to become a god, because He has already informed his prophets: Thus you shall say unto them: The gods that have not made the heaven and the earth, these shall perish from the earth, and from under the heavens (Jer. 10:11)”. The third one said to him: “Help me, I implore your assistance.” “What is the trouble?” he inquired. “I have a ship three miles out at sea,” the philosopher replied, “and it is stranded, and all my possessions are in it.” Hadrian answered: “I will send my legions and my ships to rescue it.” Thereupon the philosopher declared: “Sire, why send your ships and legions? Send forth a blast of wind and save it.” “From whence should I have a blast of wind to send?” asked Hadrian. To this the philosopher replied: “If you are unable to send forth a blast of wind, how can you call yourself a god, since it is written of God: Thus saith God the Lord: He that created the heavens and stretched them forth, He that spread forth the earth and that which cometh out of it, He that giveth breath to the peoples upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein (Isa. 42:5)?”

Thereupon, Hadrian entered his home greatly distressed. His wife said to him: “Surely these philosophers are mocking you; certainly you are able to make yourself a god. You are a mighty and powerful king, and everything belongs to you. Let me suggest one thing to you: Return His deposit to Him and then you will have made yourself a god.” “What is His deposit?” he asked. “Your soul,” she replied. “But if my soul departs from me, how shall I survive?” he retorted. Thereupon, she answered: “If you can not control your soul, as it is written: There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power over the day of death (Eccles. 8:8), how can you call yourself a god? You are merely a mortal and not a god.”

The Holy One, blessed be He, declared: I restore the dead to life, and Elijah likewise restored the dead to life, but he did not say: “I am a god”; I caused the rain to descend, and so too did Elijah; I withheld the rain, and Elijah did likewise, as it is said: There shall not be dew nor rain these years but according to my word (I Kings 17:1); I caused fire and brimstone to descend upon Sodom, and Elijah did the same, as it is said: If I be a man of God, let fire descend from heaven (II Kings 1:10). Nevertheless, he did not say “A god am I,” yet you say: A god am I: In the dwelling-place of God I sit (Ezek. 28:2). If you would claim “A god am I” because you have lived for so many years, He lives and will live until the dead are revived. Concerning the Holy One, blessed be He, it is written: His throne was fire and flames (Dan. 7:9), and of Elijah it is said: There appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire (II Kings 2:11). It is written elsewhere concerning the Holy One, blessed be He: The Lord is in the whirlwind, and in the storm is His way (Nahum 1:3), and about Elijah Scripture says: And Elijah went up in a whirlwind to heaven (ibid. 2:11); nevertheless Elijah implored: O Lord, take away my life (I Kings 19:4). Yet you claim: A god am I, in the dwelling place of gods, I sit in the midst of the sea (Ezek. 28:2). Jonah descended into the deep, as it is written: Thou didst cast me into the depth, into the heart of the seas (Jonah 2:4). Finally, he (changed his mind) and pleaded for death, saying: Therefore, now, O Lord, take, I beseech Thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live (ibid. 4:4). Yet you presume to say: A god am I; in the dwelling-place of gods I sit, in the midst of the sea (Ezek. 28:2).

Observe that everyone who desired to be worshipped as a divine being constructed a palace for himself in the midst of the sea. Pharaoh erected a palace in the midst of the water and dammed up the water of the Nile to keep it from flowing into the Mediterranean. However, the water rose, undermined the foundations of the palace, lifted it up, and bore it away, as it is said: Speak, and say: “Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great crocodile that lieth in the midst of his rivers, that hath said: My river is my own” (Exod. 29:3). The Holy One, blessed be He, rebuked him: O wicked one, you were proud upon the waters; through the waters you shall perish, as it is written: But overthrew Pharaoh and his hosts in the Red Sea (Ps. 136:15).

Sennacherib erected his palace in Lebanon with certain protective devices, between two lofty mountains, but wells sprang forth out of the mountains, tore the palace from its foundations, and bore it away, as it is said: Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowy shroud, and of a high stature, and its top was among the thick boughs. The water nourished it; the deep made it grow (Ezek. 31:3–4). And it says also: Thus was it fair in its greatness, in the length of its branches; for its root was by many waters (ibid., v. 7), and it states: I have digged and drunk waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of Egypt (Isa. 37:25). What was his ultimate end? Thus said the Lord God: in the day when he went down to the netherworld I caused the deep to mourn and cover itself for him (Ezek. 31:15).

Hiram constructed his palace between the Adriatic and the Mediterranean Sea with certain protective devices (but to no avail), as it is said: And they shall take up in lamentation for thee and say to thee: How art thou destroyed, that was peopled from the seas, the renowned city, that was strong in the sea (ibid. 26:17). Still, you claim: A god am I; in the dwelling-place of gods I sit, in the midst of the sea (ibid. 28:2). Whereupon the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: For thus saith the Lord God: And I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; and I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and the great waters shall cover thee (ibid. 26:19). (This will be your fate, and) you will descend to your comrades, as it is written: Then I will bring thee down with them that descend into the pit to the people of old times, and will make thee to dwell in the nether parts of the earth (ibid., v. 20). The nether parts of the earth refers to Gehenna. Hence we read in Scripture: Thou wast the far-covering cherub; and I set thee, so that thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou has walked up and down in the midst of stones of fire … and I have destroyed thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire (ibid. 28:14–16). Concerning Israel, however, Scripture states: When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, etc. (Isa. 43:2).

Themes

Original Sources

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