Talmud for Exodus 24:5

Three scrolls were found in the Temple courtyard¹¹⁹It is asserted that even before the work of the Masoretes, the received text of the Pentateuch was a scholarly edition., the Meone scroll, the Zaatute scroll, the hee scroll. In one they found written me`ôn is the preexisting God, but in two was written me`ônāh is the preexisting God¹²⁰Deut. 33:26.. They confirmed the two and annulled the one. In one they found written he sent the za`<sup>a</sup>tûtē of the Children of Israel but in two was written he sent the na`^arē of the Children of Israel¹²¹Ex. 24:5. The LXX translate za`<sup>a</sup>tûtē(Babli Megillah 9a, bottom) as “young men” but na`ar (Ex. 33:11) as “boy”.. They confirmed the two and annulled the one. In one they found written nine היא, but in two they found eleven ¹²²This is the accepted mesorah. The irregular spelling is found in Gen. 14:3,20:5, 38:5; Lev. 11:39,13:10,13:21,16:31,20:17,21:9; Num. 5:13,5:14. היא. They confirmed the two and annulled the one.

R. Joḥai⁵⁸GRA and H read ‘Aḥai’. b. Josiah said: He who diverts his mind⁵⁹lit. ‘empties his mind’ of serious matters. H. reads ‘he who gazes’, המצפה for המפנה. with women will eventually come within the power of sin. And he who diverts himself from sin and does not commit it, even though he be an Israelite,⁶⁰i.e. a non-priest. he is worthy to offer a burnt-offering on the altar as did the High Priest; as it is stated, And he sent the young men of the children of Israel who offered burnt-offerings.⁶¹Ex. 24, 5. They were pure-minded young men and therefore performed the functions of the priests. And whoever makes himself indolent so as not to sin and does not commit it will be sustained by the lustre of the Divine Presence like the Ministering Angels; as it is stated, And they beheld God, and did eat and drink.⁶²ibid. 11, explained in a spiritual sense: they enjoyed the lustre of the Divine Presence.

R. Simeon b. Laḳish said: Three scrolls of the Torah were found in the Temple court:¹⁹Presumably when the text of Scripture was about to be fixed. the Ma‘on²⁰So GRA. V has מענה. This and the following two names were derived from the peculiar word which distinguished each scroll. scroll, the Za’aṭuṭë scroll, and the Hu’ scroll. In one of these they found the expression of ma‘on,²¹Meaning ‘dwelling place’, the noun being in the masculine form. and in the other two it was written, The eternal God is me‘onah²²Deut. 33, 27, the same noun in the feminine. (a dwelling place), so they adopted the reading of the two scrolls and discarded that of the one scroll. In another of the scrolls they found it written, And he sent the za‘aṭuṭë (nobles) of the children of Israel,²³Ex. 24, 5. and in the other two they found written And he sent na‘arë (the young men of) the children of Israel, so they retained the reading of the two and abandoned that of the one. In one of the scrolls hu’²⁴The third person sing. masc. which is used in the Pentateuch for hi’, third person fem. sing. pronoun. was written eleven times, but in the other two hi’²⁵The correct feminine form, being exceptions to the usual written form. A list of these is given in ARN XXXIV, above p. 167. was written eleven times, so they adopted the reading of the two and discarded that of the one.