Midrasch zu Schemot 7:2

(Exod. 25:1–2:) THEN THE LORD SPOKE UNTO MOSES, SAYING: SPEAK UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, AND LET THEM TAKE (rt.: LQH) FOR ME A PRIESTLY SHARE…. This text is related (to Prov. 4:2): FOR I GAVE YOU GOOD INSTRUCTION…. INSTRUCTION (LQH) <denotes> my Torah.¹Tanh., Exod. 7:2. <It was> customary for two traders²Gk.: pragmateutai. This interpretation follows the reading from the parallel text in Tanh., Exod. 7:2. The spelling, PRGMTYN, in the Buber text suggests the Greek pragmata (“affairs,” “business”) and does not fit the context. to be in the <same> district. One took in (rt.: LQH) raw silk,³Gk.: metaxa. and the other took in finished silk.⁴Gk.: holoserikon. Cf. the parallel Tanh. text, which reads “pepper” (pilpelin) here. They stood side by side. One said to his companion: Do you want to make a change? He said: Yes. <So> they changed <roles> with each other. The first handed over the raw silk and took the finished silk for himself. It turned out that a single commodity <remained> in the hands of the one, and a single commodity <remained> in the hands of the other. But Torah is not like that. One learns the <talmudic> order, "Seeds (Zera'im)," while another learns the order, "Damages (Neziqin)." Both of them stood side by side. One said to his companion: Teach me the order, "Seeds," and I shall teach you the order, "Damages." It turned out that the one had two <orders> in hand, and the other had two < orders > in hand. Is there <any> merchandise greater than this? Ergo (in Prov. 4:2): FOR I GAVE YOU GOOD INSTRUCTION….

Another interpretation: Just as the interpreter comes to interpret, and the speaker (amora, rt.: 'MR)⁶⁶The amora would expound what the interpreter said in a lengthy, popular discourse. speaks out (rt.: 'MR) in his presence; so (in Exod. 7:2): YOU SHALL SPEAK {UNTO EVERYONE WHOM} [EVERYTHING WHICH] I COMMAND YOU, AND YOUR BROTHER AARON SHALL SPEAK UNTO PHARAOH.⁶⁷Tanh., 2:10; Exod. R. 8:3. (Exod. 6:27:) THEY WERE THE ONES WHO SPOKE UNTO PHARAOH…. The Holy One said: In this world I have exacted retribution from Egypt through ten plagues, but in the world to come, I am exacting punishment from Gog. It is so stated (concerning Gog in Ezek. 38:22): I WILL ENTER INTO JUDGMENT AGAINST HIM WITH PESTILENCE AND WITH BLOOD; AND I WILL POUR TORRENTIAL RAIN, HAILSTONES, FIRE, AND BRIMSTONE <UPON HIM AND HIS HOSTS AND THE MANY PEOPLES THAT ARE WITH HIM>.⁶⁸On Gog from the land of Magog, see Revelation 20:8; Jubilees 8:25; Sibylline Oracles 3:319, 512; III Enoch 45:5; ‘Eduy. 2:10; yBer. 2:4 (4d); Ber. 7b; ‘AZ 3b; Sifre, Deut. 33:2 (343); Seder ‘Olam 3; PRK 9:11; M. Pss. 2:4; 17:9; 118:12; 119:2; M. Pss. (Buber) 150:1; Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Numb. 11:26; Fragmentary (Jerusalem) Targum, Numb. 11:26; Targum, Cant. 8:8; etc.