<b>And God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the Lord thy God” (Exod. 20:1).</b> R. Isaac said: All the prophets received the inspirations for their future prophesies at Mount Sinai. How do we know this to be so? It is written: <i>But with him that standeth here with us this day before the Lord our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day</i> (Deut. 29:14). <i>That standeth here with us this day</i> refers to those who were already born, and <i>with him that is not here</i> alludes to those who were to be born in the future. Hence they are <i>not with us this day</i>. “Not standing here with us this day” is not written in this verse, but rather <i>Is not here with us this day</i>. This alludes to the souls who were to be created in the future, since <i>standing here</i> could not be said of them. They were included in the general statement. And that is why the verse states: <i>The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi</i> (Mal. 1:1). It does not say “of Malachi,” but merely <i>by Malachi</i>, indicating that the prophecy had been transmitted to him previously at Sinai. Similarly Isaiah said: <i>Come ye near unto Me, hear ye this: From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time that it was, there am I; and now the Lord hath sent me, and His spirit</i> (Isa. 48:16). Isaiah is saying here that at the time the Torah was given I received the prophecy. Hence it says: <i>from the time that it</i> (the Torah) <i>was, there am I; and now the Lord God hath sent me, and His spirit</i>, but until now He did not give me permission to prophesy.
Not only the prophets but also the wise men who were there, and those who were destined to come, received their inspiration at Sinai, as it is said: <i>These words the Lord spoke unto all your assembly … with a great voice, and it went on no more</i> (Deut. 5:19). What is meant by <i>a great voice, and it went on no more</i>? Our sages said: The entire Ten Commandments came forth from the mouth of the Mighty One in sound. This was an extremely difficult procedure. No ordinary individual is able to speak in that fashion nor is any human ear able to endure such a sound. Therefore it is written: <i>My soul failed me when he spoke</i> (Song 5:6). <i>With a great voice, and it went on no more</i>. The voice divided itself into seven different sounds, and then turned into seventy different languages.<sup class="footnote-marker">14</sup><i class="footnote">So that all the world’s nations would hear it.</i>
R. Samuel the son of Nahman stated that R. Jonathan discussed the meaning of the words <i>The voice of the Lord is powerful</i> (Ps. 29:4). Is it reasonable to make this statement? No creature is able to endure the sound of the voice of even a single angel, as it is said: <i>His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as torches of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to burnished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude</i> (Dan. 10:6). How much more, then, is this so of the voice of the Holy One, blessed be He, concerning whom it is written: <i>Do I not fill heaven and earth?</i> (Jer. 23:24). Was it necessary for Him to speak in a powerful voice? (No.) Only in a voice that Moses was able to tolerate.