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R. Eliezer says: The Holy One Blessed be He said to Moses: I am the one who spoke and brought the world into being. I am the one who draws near and not the one who distances, viz. ...
The Mekhilta offers a striking interpretation of the phrase "from the hand of Egypt and from the hand of Pharaoh" (Exodus 18:10). Why does the verse mention both Egypt and Pharaoh ...
Yithro warned Moses with a vivid and frightening prophecy (Exodus 18:18): "You will languish." The Hebrew word used here prompted two different interpretations from the rabbis, and...
Jethro watched his son-in-law Moses judging the entire nation of Israel alone, from morning until evening, and he gave him a piece of advice wrapped in a parable. "Look at that bea...
Yithro told Moses to select judges from among the people, but he specified five qualities they must possess (Exodus 18:21). R. Yehoshua explained what each qualification meant in p...
(And thus we find, when R. Yochanan b. Zakkai died, that his wisdom was lost with him.) They went and settled with Yaavetz, it being written of them (I Chronicles 2:55) "the dwelle...
The Mekhilta preserves a remarkable story about the descendants of Rechav — also known as the Rechabites, a family that had taken a perpetual vow to drink only water, never wine, a...
R. Nathan made a bold comparison between two of the most important covenants in Jewish history — and declared that the covenant with an obscure desert clan was greater than the cov...
All this, until they entered Eretz Yisrael. Whence do I derive the same for (the period) after they entered Eretz Yisrael? From (I Kings 6:1) "In the four hundred and eightieth yea...
Similarly, R. Eliezer b. Yossi expounded (Isaiah 63:9) "In all of their afflictions, He was afflicted," (Ibid. 8) "And He said: 'Surely, they are My people, children who will not l...
R. Yossi says: It is written (Isaiah 45:19) "Not in secrecy did I speak, in a place of darkness, etc." In the very beginning, when I gave it, I did not give it in secret or in a da...
Variantly: From here ("a kingdom of Cohanim") it is derived that all of Israel were fit to eat of the offerings—until they made the golden calf. Once they made the golden calf, it ...
Rebbi (Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi) offers a different reading of the events at Sinai, one that elevates Moses's stature even further. He argues that we would only need to "acknowledge th...
The Torah describes the revelation at Sinai as occurring "before the eyes of all the people" (Exodus 19:11). The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael takes this phrase and draws from it one o...
The Mekhilta brings one more example to illustrate its principle about biblical language. (Ezekiel 43:2) describes the return of God's glory to the Temple: "And the glory of the Go...
"And the voice of the shofar" (Exodus 19:19) — the Mekhilta declares that this is a propitious sign in all of Scripture. Wherever the shofar is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, it si...
(Exodus 19:20) "And the L–rd descended upon Mount Sinai": I might think that the "Glory" itself descended on Mount Sinai. It is, therefore, written (Ibid. 20:19) "that from the hea...
"I am the L–rd your G–d who took you out of the land of Egypt." What is the intent of this? Because He appeared at the Red Sea as a hero waging war, viz. (Exodus 15:3) "The L–rd is...
Variantly: "I am the L–rd your G–d": When the Holy One Blessed be He stood and said "I am the L–rd your G–d," the mountains shook and the hills quivered, and Tavor came from Be'er ...
Because of (the following) four things R. Mattia b. Charash went to R. Elazar b. Hakappar in Ludia. He said to him: My master, did you hear of the four divisions of atonement expou...
(Ibid. 20:8) "Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it": "Remember" and "Keep" (the Sabbath day to sanctify it [Devarim 5:12]) were both stated in one pronouncement. (Exodus 31:14) ...
"and He rested on the seventh day"? Now is He subject to "weariness"? Is it not written (Isaiah 40:28) "He does not tire and He does not weary," and (Ibid. 29) "He gives strength t...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael draws an illuminating comparison between the fear of parents and the observance of Shabbat (the Sabbath). The verse in (Leviticus 19:3) places them si...
Idolatry and adultery are the same sin. The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, a 3rd-century CE halakhic midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), makes this case by pointing to the stru...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael reveals a hidden connection between two of the Ten Commandments by examining their physical placement on the tablets. The commandment "You shall not t...
It is written "Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it," and, opposite it, "You shall not testify (falsely)," whereby Scripture apprises us that one who desecrates the Sabbath ther...
R. Nathan says: Whence is it derived that the L–rd showed our father Abraham, Gehennom, the giving of the Torah and the splitting of the Red Sea? From (Genesis 15:17) "And it was, ...
He showed him the four kingdoms that were destined to subjugate his children, viz. (Ibid. 12) "And when the sun was about to set, and a deep sleep fell upon Avram, and, behold, a g...
(Exodus, Ibid. 16) "And they said to Moses: Speak, you, with us, and we will hear, (and let G–d not speak with us, lest we die.") We are hereby apprised that they lacked the streng...
(Exodus 20:17) says that God came to Sinai "in order to exert you." The Mekhilta reinterprets this: "exert" actually means "to make you great." God's arrival at Sinai was not meant...
(Ibid.) "And Moses entered into the mist": This (his closeness to the L–rd) was a function of his humility, viz. (Numbers 12:3) "And the man Moses was extremely humble, etc." Scrip...
R. Akiva says: "You shall not do (i.e., deport yourselves) with Me" as others do with their gods. When good befalls them, they honor their gods, viz. (Habakkuk 1:16) "Therefore, he...
The phrase "and he shall go out alone" in (Exodus 21:4) seems redundant. If the bondsman's term is up, of course he goes out. Why add "alone"? The Mekhilta finds hidden legal conte...
Rabbi Yitzchak examined a verse concerning the laws of Hebrew servants and declared that the verse, strictly speaking, was not necessary. The legal principle it teaches could alrea...
The Torah uses the Hebrew word "bagdah" in connection with a father who has sold his daughter as a maid-servant (Exodus 21:8). The Mekhilta interprets this word as a description of...
If (in the killing of) an Israelite, the graver (instance), not being subject to (the provision of [(Exodus 21:21)]) "But if one or two days," he is not liable unless it be with an...
The Torah legislates the case of a master who strikes his servant, specifying that the servant must "die under his hand." The Mekhilta dissects this phrase to extract a precise leg...
R. Shimon says: Why need this ("for he is his money") be stated. Even if it were not stated I would know it by induction, viz.: Since his ox is killed for (killing) his man-servant...
Beloved is Israel — so beloved that God gave entire nations as kofer, as ransom, for the souls of His people. The proof is (Isaiah 43:3): "I gave Egypt as kofer for you, Ethiopia a...
"if the thief is found, he pays double": A thief (one who steals by stealth) pays kefel, but not a robber (one who steals openly). Why did Scripture see fit to be more severe with ...
The Torah was given with its signs — its built-in warnings against idolatry. The Mekhilta explains why this matters. Israel might have reasoned as follows: we are commanded against...
Beloved are the strangers, for by every epithet that Israel is called, the strangers are called. Israelites are called "servants," as it is written (Leviticus 25:55) "For unto Me t...
"Covenant" is written of Israel, viz. (Genesis 17:13) "And My covenant (i.e., circumcision) shall be in your flesh." And it is also written of strangers, viz. (Isaiah 56:4) "and th...
Thus do you find (the L–rd's esteem for the stranger-proselyte) in the four classes who respond before Him who spoke and brought the world into being, (Isaiah 44:5) "One shall say:...
When R. Shimon and R. Yishmael were executed, R. Akiva said to his disciples: Prepare yourselves for calamity. For if good were destined to come in our generation, only R. Shimon a...
"and your wives will be widows, and your children, orphans": From "and I shall kill you by the sword," do I not know that your wives will be widows, and your children, orphans? Why...
To teach that a dog is of higher station than a slave, a treifah being relegated to a dog, but only neveilah, to a slave, and to teach that the Holy One Blessed be He does not with...
The prophet declares in (II Kings 21:12): "Thus said the L-rd, the God of Israel." The Mekhilta stops on this phrase and asks a question that seems almost impertinent. Is God only ...
