Midrasch zu Schir haSchirim 8:4
הִשְׁבַּ֥עְתִּי אֶתְכֶ֖ם בְּנ֣וֹת יְרוּשָׁלִָ֑ם מַה־תָּעִ֧ירוּ ׀ וּֽמַה־תְּעֹֽרְר֛וּ אֶת־הָאַהֲבָ֖ה עַ֥ד שֶׁתֶּחְפָּֽץ׃ (ס)
Ich beschwöre euch, o Töchter Jerusalems, dass ihr nicht weckt und nicht aufregt die Liebe, ehe sie es begehrt. —
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer
THE ZEAL OF PHINEAS
RABBI ELAzAR, son of 'Arakh, said: When the Holy One, blessed be He, descended upon Mount Sinai to give the Torah to Israel, sixty myriads of the ministering angels descended with Him, corresponding to the sixty myriads of the mighty men of Israel, and in their hands were swords and crowns, and they crowned the Israelites with the Ineffable Name. All those days, whilst they had not done that deed, they were as good as the ministering angels before the Holy One, blessed be He. The Angel of Death did not hold sway over them, and they did not discharge any excretions like the children of man; but when they did that deed the Holy One, blessed be He, was angry with them, and He said to them: I thought that ye would be like the ministering angels, as it is said, "I said, Ye are angels, and all of you sons of the Most High" (Ps. 82:6). But now, "Nevertheless, ye shall die like men" (Ps. 82:7).
RABBI ELAzAR, son of 'Arakh, said: When the Holy One, blessed be He, descended upon Mount Sinai to give the Torah to Israel, sixty myriads of the ministering angels descended with Him, corresponding to the sixty myriads of the mighty men of Israel, and in their hands were swords and crowns, and they crowned the Israelites with the Ineffable Name. All those days, whilst they had not done that deed, they were as good as the ministering angels before the Holy One, blessed be He. The Angel of Death did not hold sway over them, and they did not discharge any excretions like the children of man; but when they did that deed the Holy One, blessed be He, was angry with them, and He said to them: I thought that ye would be like the ministering angels, as it is said, "I said, Ye are angels, and all of you sons of the Most High" (Ps. 82:6). But now, "Nevertheless, ye shall die like men" (Ps. 82:7).
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