Talmud sobre Deuteronómio 4:4

R. Joshua b. Levi said: Great is peace, for peace is to the world as leaven is to dough. Had not the Holy One, blessed be He, given peace to the earth, the sword and the beast would have robbed the world¹So H; V reads ‘man’. of its children. Whence²So GRA; V reads ‘why is it written?’ [do we know this]? From what is written, And I will give peace in the land … and I will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land;³Lev. 26, 6. The Heb. for earth and land is the same. and land means nothing else than Israel, as it is stated, And all nations shall call you happy; for ye shall be a delightsome land.⁴Mal. 3, 12. The identification of land with Israel is here evident. V and H add: ‘And it states, And, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest’. [And so Solomon declared,] One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh; and the earth abideth for ever:⁵Eccl. 1, 4. Solomon said:⁶So GRA. V reads: ‘A kingdom comes and a kingdom goes, but Israel endures for ever. But Solomon, although’. Although a generation passes away and another generation comes, one kingdom goes and another kingdom comes, one decree passes away and a new decree is imposed upon Israel,⁷lit. ‘upon the enemies of Israel’, a euphemism. the earth abideth for ever, i.e. Israel will abide for ever,⁸Earth refers to Israel. [Cf. Midrash ad loc., Sonc. ed., p. 15.] they are not forsaken nor will they be forsaken, they are not destroyed nor will they be destroyed, as it is stated, For I the Lord change not; and ye, O sons of Jacob are not consumed⁹Mal. 3, 6.—as I have not changed nor will I change, so you, the House of Jacob, are not destroyed and will not be destroyed, but [as it is stated], But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day.¹⁰Deut. 4, 4.

Ten entities are considered truly “alive.” 1. The Holy Blessed One, as it says (Jeremiah 10:10), “The Eternal is truly God; He is a living God.” 2. The Torah is called a Living Torah, as it says (Proverbs 3:18), “It is a Tree of Life for those who hold fast to it, and all its supporters are happy.” 3. Israel are called Alive, as it says (Deuteronomy 4:41), “And you, who cling to the Eternal your God, you are all alive today.” 4. A righteous person is called Life, as it says (Proverbs 11:30), “The fruit of the righteous is the Tree of Life.” 5. The Garden of Eden is called Living, ([as it says (Psalms 116:9), “I will walk before the Eternal in the land of the living.” 6. One of the trees in the Garden was called the Tree of Life,]) as it says (Genesis 2:9), “and the Tree of Life in the midst of the Garden. 7. The Land of Israel is called the Land of the Living, as it says (Ezekiel 26:20), “I will place radiance in the land of the living.” (Jerusalem is called Living, as it says [Psalms 116:9)], “I will walk before the Eternal in the land of the living.”) 8. Acts of kindness are called Life, as it says (Psalms 63:4), “For Your kindness is better than life; my lips will praise You.” 9. A wise person is called Life, as it says (Proverbs 13:14), “The Torah of the wise is the source of life.” 10. Water is called Living, as it says (Zechariah 14:8), “On that day, living waters will come forth from Jerusalem.”