Talmud zu Schemot 3:24

Rebbi Ḥuna in the name of Rebbi Avin: Cinnamon was goat feed when the Jews were growing it. Rebbi Ḥuna in the name of Rebbi Abin: The two daily offerings⁷⁶Two yearling sheep. which were sacrificed every day used to be carried by a camel and their legs touched the ground. Rebbi Ḥuna in the name of Rebbi Idi: It happened that someone tied his goat to a fig tree; when he returned, he found honey⁷¹Carob syrup. In general, “honey” may mean both bee’s honey or syrup. In Arabic, דִבשׂ denotes only “sugary matter produced from a fruit, syrup, molasses”. and milk mixed⁷⁷Babli Ketubot 111b, in the name of Rami bar Ezechiel, brother of Rav Jehudah, a wanderer between Galilee and Babylonia..

The following divine names may not be erased, viz.¹lit. ‘he who writes’. Alef-lamed-he-yod-mem,²Meaning ‘God’. Alef-daleth-nun-yod,³Translated ‘Lord’. Yod-he-waw-he,⁴Composing the Tetragrammaton. Shaddai,⁵i.e. ‘Almighty’. Ẓeba’oth,⁶Meaning ‘[Lord of] hosts’. ‘Eheyeh-’asher-’eheyeh.⁷I am that I am (Ex. 3, 14). R. Jose says: Ẓeba’oth is generally treated as a secular noun.⁸Which may therefore be erased.

The following divine names may not be erased,¹lit. ‘he who writes’. viz. Alef-lamed,²Pronounced ’El (God). Alef-daleth,³The first two letters of the divine name Alef-daleth-nun-yod (Lord). Yod-he,⁴The first half of the Tetragrammaton and also constituting a name of God, Yah. Shaddai,⁵Almighty. Ẓeba’oth,⁶[Lord of] hosts. ’Eheyeh ’asher ’Eheyeh.⁷‘I am that I am’ (cf. Ex. 3, 14). R. Jose says: Ẓeba’oth is a secular noun.⁸And may be erased. R. Simeon b. Eleazar said: The Aguddah⁹[H reads חגירה in agreement with j. Meg. 71d.] family, who were scribes in Jerusalem, used to erase Ẓeba’oth, because they treated it as a secular noun, as it is stated, Captains of hosts shall be appointed at the head of the people.¹⁰Deut. 20, 9. Here צבאית refers to the army of Israel.

Some Tannaĩm state: וְלִיבָּה. Some Tannaïm state: וְנִיבָּה. He who says וְלִיבָּה. As it is written, “in the flaming fire”⁷⁶Ex. 3:2.. He who says וְנִיבָּה, “it was in my heart like burning fire.⁷⁷Jer. 20:9. A similar argument is in the Babli, 60a.
It seems that the difference between the versions is simply a dialectal switch between the liquids l and n; but a biblical source is sought. In the Babli, the reference is to Is. 57:19, where the “fruit of the lips” is interpreted as “speech”. The verse from Jer. quoted here then points out that speech can be fiery, i. e., with one’s mouth one can fan a fire.”

Ten times did the High Priest pronounce the Name on the Day of Atonement¹⁷⁹Babli 39b.: Six times with the bull¹⁸⁰3 times with the bull confessing his sins the first time; 3 times with the bull confessing the sins of the Cohanim., and three with the he-goat, and once with the lots¹⁸¹Mishnah 4:1.. Those near were falling on their faces, those farther away were saying “Praised be the glory of His Kingdom forever and ever”. These and those did not move away from there before they forgot it. This is My Name forever¹⁸²Ex. 3:14., “this is My Name to conceal.¹⁸³Babli Pesaḥim 50a.” In earlier times he was saying it aloud. Since the lawless increased, he said it softly. Rebbi Tarphon said, I was standing in a row with my brothers the Cohanim and turned my ear towards the High Priest, when I heard him mixing it with the song of the Cohanim¹⁸⁴They sang “Praised be the glory of His Kingdom forever and ever” not after he had pronounced the name but immediately when he started pronouncing it.. In earlier times it was given to everybody. Since the lawless increased, it was given only to qualified ones.

HALAKHAH: Rebbi Yose in the name of Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish; Rebbi Jonah, Rebbi Zeïra in the name of Rebbi Ḥanina: Sixteen mil in a circle around Sepphoris is the Land flowing with milk and honey¹⁷¹In the Babli (Ketubot 111b), a square of side 16 mil centered at Sepphoris (in the name of R. Simeon ben Laqish). A phantastic tale of Rabba bar bar Ḥana puts the size of the country flowing with milk and honey at 22 parasangs (88 mil) square. The mil is 2000 average cubits; cf. Berakhot 3, Note 235.. Rebbi Jonah said, if one measures as the crow flies¹⁷²In Babylonian texts, this appears as מקדר. The root is קדד “to cut through”. The idea is that one is measuring as if tunneling through a mountain by lifting the measuring rod so that it is always horizontal (Babli Erubin 58b)., the outskirts of Beth Shean belong to it. If one measures as the crow flies, the valley of Genezareth belongs to it. One objected to Rebbi Jonah: (Ex. 3:17) “I said, I shall lift you from the deprivation of Egypt” (Ex. 3:8) “into a good and wide land, [to] a land flowing with milk and honey”!¹⁷³This seems to imply that the entire Land of Israel is flowing with milk and honey. He said to them, which contains [stretches of] milk and honey.

HALAKHAH: Rebbi Yose in the name of Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish; Rebbi Jonah, Rebbi Zeïra in the name of Rebbi Ḥanina: Sixteen mil in a circle around Sepphoris is the Land flowing with milk and honey¹⁷¹In the Babli (Ketubot 111b), a square of side 16 mil centered at Sepphoris (in the name of R. Simeon ben Laqish). A phantastic tale of Rabba bar bar Ḥana puts the size of the country flowing with milk and honey at 22 parasangs (88 mil) square. The mil is 2000 average cubits; cf. Berakhot 3, Note 235.. Rebbi Jonah said, if one measures as the crow flies¹⁷²In Babylonian texts, this appears as מקדר. The root is קדד “to cut through”. The idea is that one is measuring as if tunneling through a mountain by lifting the measuring rod so that it is always horizontal (Babli Erubin 58b)., the outskirts of Beth Shean belong to it. If one measures as the crow flies, the valley of Genezareth belongs to it. One objected to Rebbi Jonah: (Ex. 3:17) “I said, I shall lift you from the deprivation of Egypt” (Ex. 3:8) “into a good and wide land, [to] a land flowing with milk and honey”!¹⁷³This seems to imply that the entire Land of Israel is flowing with milk and honey. He said to them, which contains [stretches of] milk and honey.

All letters written with the Name as prefix are profane and may be erased, e. g., to the Eternal, by the Eternal, as the Eternal, that the Eternal, since we find that on the diadem it was separate from it, “holy to” at the bottom, “the Eternal” at the top³⁹⁰Yoma4:1 Note 27; Babli Šabbat 63b, Sukkah 5a. For the following, Ševuot 35b.. All letters written with the Name as suffix are holy and may not be erased, e. g., our God, your God. These are the Names which may not be erased: one who writes the Name of four letters, whether YH or AD³⁹¹The Name אֲדֹנָי used as pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton. If the intention is to אֲדֹנַי “my masters”, the word is profane and may be erased.. “El, Elohim, Elohei, Elohenu, Elohekhem, Shadday, Sabaoth, Ehye-Ašer-Ehye.” If one writes AD from Adonai, EH from Ehye, ŠD from Shadday, ṢB from Sabaoth, these may be erased and one erases their additions³⁹²אֵד “vapor”, אַה has no sense, שַׁד “female breast” שֶׁד “spirit”, צָב “turtle” are profane words.. “To Elohim” one erases “to”; “to the Eternal” one erases “to”³⁹³As noted at the start of the paragraph.. If he wrote YH³⁹⁴Which is a divine Name in its own right and should have been mentioned in the list. of the four-letter Name, EL from Elohim, it may not be erased. This is the rule: Any which at another place is a permanent Name may not be erased.

The Holy Blessed One is praised with ten names. They are as follows: A-D-O-N-A-I, E-L-O-H-I-M, E-L-O-A-H, E-L-O-H-E-Kh-A, E-L-O-H-E-Kh-E-M, E-L, E-H-I-Y-E-H A-S-H-E-R E-H-I-Y-E-H, Sh-A-D-A-I, and Tzevaot. Rabbi Yosei disagreed that Tzevaot was one of them, for it says (Deuteronomy 20:9), “Appoint generals for the armies (tzevaot) to head the people.”

The Divine Presence descended to the world ten times. Once in the Garden of Eden, as it says (Genesis 3:8), “They heard the sound of the Eternal God moving in the garden,” and it [also] says (Song of Songs 6:2), “My beloved has gone down to his garden.” Once in the generation of the Tower of Babel, as it says (Genesis 11:5), “And the Eternal went down to see the city and the tower.” Once in Sodom, as it says (Genesis 18:21), “I will go down and I will see about the cries that have come up to Me.” Once in Egypt, as it says (Exodus 3:8), “I have come down to save them from the hands of the Egyptians.” Once at the sea, as it says (Psalms 18:10), “And He bent the heavens and came down.” Once at Sinai, as it says (Exodus 19:20), “And the Eternal came down upon Mount Sinai” before all the people. Once in the Temple, as it says (Ezekiel 44:2), “And the Eternal said to me, this gate must be kept closed and is never to be opened…because the Eternal, the God of Israel, has come through it.” And once in a pillar of cloud, as it says (Numbers 11:25), “And the Eternal came down in a cloud.” And once more in the future, in the days of Gog and Magog, as its says (Zechariah 14:4), “He will set his feet down, on that day, upon the Mount of Olives.”