Midrash Tanchuma, Vayera 5 | Jewish Mythology

And the Lord said: “Shall I hide from Abraham that which I am doing?” (Gen. 18:17). May it please our master to teach us whether one may recite the Aramaic translation (Targum) of the Torah while looking into the Torah scroll. Our masters teach us: One is forbidden to look into the Torah scroll while translating it, lest someone should contend that the translation is contained in the Torah scroll. Conversely, one who reads the Torah is forbidden to turn away from the scroll as he reads, for the Torah was given only in writing, as it is said: And I will write upon the tables the words that were on the first tables (Exod. 34:1). That is why anyone who is translating the Torah in public is forbidden to look into the Torah scroll while doing so. R. Judah the son of Pazzi declared: There is an entire verse in Scripture that deals with this subject: Write thou these words, for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel (ibid., v. 27). Write thou these words alludes to the Pentateuch, which was given in writing, while The tenor of these words refers to the translation of the Torah that was given orally.

R. Judah the son of Simon contended that the verse For after the tenor of these words (I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel) refers to both the Written and the Oral Law. If you should perpetuate the Written Law in written form, and that which was given orally by word of mouth, I will have made a covenant with thee and with Israel, but if you convert the Written Law into oral transmission, and set the Oral Law down in writing, I will not have made an everlasting covenant with you.

R. Judah the son of Shalum maintained: Moses desired to write down the Oral Law (Mishnah) as well, but the Holy One, blessed be He, foresaw that in the course of time nations would translate the Written Law and read it in the Greek language. They would then assert: “We, too, are Israelites.” Hence the Holy One, blessed be He, told Moses: Should I write for him never so many things of My Law (Hos. 8:12), the result being: They (Israel) are accounted as strangers (ibid.). Why to this extent? Because the Oral Law contains the mysteries of the Holy One, blessed be He, and He reveals His mysteries only to the righteous, as it is said: The counsel of the Lord is with them that fear Him (Ps. 25:14). Similarly you find that after the Sodomites angered the Holy One, blessed be He, and He was moved to destroy them, He consulted only Abraham, as it is said: Shall I hide from Abraham that which I am doing?

It is written: So shalt thou find grace and good favor in the sight of God and man (Prov. 3:4). Every person loved by his king is also loved by the king’s courtiers, but if he is loved by the courtiers he is not necessarily loved by the king. The righteous, however, are loved by the Holy One, blessed be He, by the angels, and by all creatures. Whence do we know this to be so? You find that when the angel visited Daniel he called him greatly beloved three times: And he said unto me: Daniel, thou man greatly beloved, give heed unto the words that I speak unto thee (Dan. 10:11); O man, greatly beloved, fear not! (ibid., v. 19); and And I come to declare it, for greatly beloved art thou (ibid. 9:23). Why was he called greatly beloved? Happy indeed is the man who hears an angel calling unto him: O man, greatly beloved, for that man is beloved by the Holy One, blessed be He, extolled by the heavenly bodies, and adored by his generation. Similarly, Bezalel was loved by the Holy One, blessed be He, by those on high, and by those on earth, as is said: See, I have called by name Bezalel (Exod. 31:20), and it is written elsewhere: See, the Lord hath called Bezalel by name (ibid. 35:30). The word see in the latter verse refers to the heavenly beings, and the word see in the former verse alludes to the earthly beings. Hence, Scripture states: So shalt thou find grace and good favor in the sight of God and man (Prov. 3:4).

Another comment on So shalt thou find grace and good favor in the sight of God and man: This refers to Abraham, who was beloved by all creatures, as it is said: Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us (Gen. 23:6). How do we know that he was loved also by the Holy One, blessed be He, and the angels? Because it is said: And the Lord said: Shall I hide from Abraham? (ibid. 18:17).

R. Levi discussed the question: Why did the Holy One, blessed be He, reveal His decision concerning Sodom and Gomorrah to Abraham? He did so because Abraham had previously reflected upon the episode of the generation of the flood and had said to himself: It is impossible that there were not twenty righteous men or perhaps even ten righteous men in that generation for whose sake the Holy One, blessed be He, might have abrogated His decision. Hence, the Holy One, blessed be He, declared: I will disclose the entire matter to him so that he will not contend with me (saying): “Perhaps there are righteous men even in Sodom.” You know that it was so, for no sooner did He finish saying Shall I hide from Abraham? When he had told him all this, how did he respond? Abraham drew near and said: Wilt Thou indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

R. Levi stated that the words spoken by Abraham were also spoken by Job. Job, however, spoke harshly, while Abraham spoke gently.7Lit., “Job swallowed an unripened (hard) fig, and Abraham swallowed a ripe fig,” which accounts for the differences in their responses. Job exclaimed: It is all one—therefore, I say: He destroyeth the innocent and the wicked (Job 9:22). While Abraham, upon learning what was to take place, declared: Wilt Thou indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? and then added (the softening words): But that be far from Thee to do after this manner (Gen. 18:25).

Another comment on why the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed this matter to Abraham: R. Judah the son of Levi stated: This may be compared to a king who made a gift of an orchard to his friend. Subsequently, the king desired to hew five planks from one of the trees in the orchard, but he said to himself: Though this orchard was once mine, I have given it as a gift to my friend; surely it would be improper for me to remove something from it without first consulting him.

When Abraham went up to the land of Israel, the Holy One, blessed be He, had said to him: Lift up thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it (Gen. 13:14–15); therefore, when He desired to destroy the five cities, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: I cannot destroy them without first consulting Abraham. If you should believe that the land was not part of Canaan, observe that it is written elsewhere: And the border of the Canaanite was from Sidon, as thou goest toward Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest toward Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 10:19). That is why, when He wanted to destroy them, He consulted Abraham, as it says: Shall I hide from Abraham, etc.

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