Aggada -- Translations into English; Bible. Old Testament -- Legends; Jewish legends; Midrash -- Translations into English
After God had bestowed upon Israel these wonderful gifts, He wanted to
proceed to the announcement of the Torah, but did not desire to do so
while Moses was with Him, that the people might not say it was Moses
who had spoken out of the cloud. Hence He sought an excuse to be rid of
him. He therefore said to Moses: "Go down, warn the people, that they
shall not press forward to see, for if even one of them were to be
destroyed, the loss to Me would be as great as if all creation had been
destroyed. Bid Nadab and Abihu also, as well as the first born that are
to perform priestly duties, beware that they do not press forward."
Moses, however, desirous of remaining with God, replied: "I have
already warned the people and set the bounds beyond which they may not
venture." God hereupon said to Moses: "Go, descend and call upon Aaron
to come up with thee, but let him keep behind thee, while the people do
not move beyond the positions thou hadst assigned them." Hardly had
Moses left the mountain, when God revealed the Torah to the people.
[205]
This was the sixth revelation of God upon earth since the creation of
the world. The tenth and last is to take place on the Day of Judgement.
The heavens opened and Mount Sinai, freed from the earth, rose into the
air, so that its summit towered into the heavens, while a thick cloud
covered the sides of it, and touched the feet of the Divine Throne.
[206] Accompanying God on one side, appeared twenty-two thousand angels
with crowns for the Levites, the only tribe that remained true to God
while the rest worshipped the Golden Calf. On the second side were
sixty myriads, three thousand five hundred and fifty angels, each
bearing a crown of fire for each individual Israelite. Double this
number of angels was on the third side, whereas on the fourth side they
were simply innumerable. For God did not appear from one direction, but
from all four simultaneously, which, however, did not prevent His glory
from filling the heaven as well as all the earth. [207] In spite of
these innumerable hosts of angels there was no crowding on Mount Sinai,
no mob, there was room for all the angels that had appeared in honor of
Israel and the Torah. They had, however, at the same time received the
order to destroy Israel in case they intended to reject the Torah.
[208]
THE FIRST COMMANDMENT
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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