The Talmud affirms that Adam was made from dust of all parts of the earth;
and that he was created with two faces, as it is written, “Thou hast beset
me behind and before” (Ps. cxxxix. 5). The Rabbis further state that he
was formed in two parts, one male and one female. His height before his
fall reached to the firmament, but after his fall God put his hand upon
him, and compressed him small. In the tenth hour after he was made, he
sinned; and in the twelfth he was driven out of Paradise. Abraham is said
to have put Sarah into a box when he brought her into Egypt, that none
should see her beauty. At the custom-house toll was demanded. Abraham said
he was ready to pay. The custom-house officers said, “Thou bringest
clothes.” He said, “I will pay for clothes.” They said, “Thou bringest
gold.” He said, “I will pay for gold.” They said, “Thou bringest silk.” He
said, “I will pay for silk.” They said, “Thou bringest pearls.” He said,
“I will pay for pearls.” They said, “Thou must open the box,” whereupon
her splendor shone over the whole land of Egypt.
Abraham, it is also said, had a precious stone hung around his throat, on
which when the sick looked they were healed. Some of the laws of Sodom are
also recorded: “Whosoever cut off the ears of another’s ass received the
ass till his ears grew again.” “Whosoever wounded another, the man wounded
was obliged to pay him for letting his blood.” When the judges of Sodom
attempted to fine Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, because another man had
wounded him, he took up a stone and flung it at the judge. He then bid the
judge to pay the fine, which was now due to him for letting his blood, to
the man who had first wounded him. There was a public bed in Sodom, and
every stranger was obliged to lie in it. If his legs were too long for it,
they were cut off; and if too short, they were racked out to the proper
length. When a traveller came, each citizen, to show his hospitality, was
obliged to give him a coin with his name written upon it. The traveller
was then deprived of bread; and when he had died of starvation, the
citizens came, and each one took back his own money. The Sodomites thus
kept up their character for liberality.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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