מדרש על שמות 20:21

One time I was walking on the way. A man found me, and went with me on the way of mitzvot, and he had mikra (ie: written law) but no mishnah (ie: oral law). And he said to me, "Rabbi, mikra was given to us from Mount Sinai. Mishnah was not given to us from Mount Sinai." And I said to him, "My son, mikra and mishnah were both of them said from the mouth of God." And what is the difference between mikra and mishnah? Rather he told him a parable: To what is this matter similar? To a human king (lit: a king of flesh and blood) who had two servants, and he loved them with a great love. And he gave to one a kab (a measure) of wheat and to the other kab of wheat. And he also gave to each one of them a bundle of flax. The wise one of them took the flax and wove a beautiful cloth, and took the wheat and made it into fine flour, and sifted it, and ground it, and kneaded it, and baked it, and set it on the table, and spread the beautiful cloth over it, and left it there until the king should come. And the fool of them did nothing. After some time the king came into his house, and said to them, to his two servants, "My sons, bring to me what I gave you." One of them brought out the bread of fine flour, on the table, with the beautiful cloth spread over it. And the other of them brought out the wheat in a pile and the bundle of flax upon it. Woe for that shame! Woe for that disgrace! Which one is more favored? You must admit it is the one who brought out the bread on the table with the beautiful cloth spread over it.

R. Isaac Nappaha began the discussion with the verse An altar of earth shalt thou make Me…. in every place I cause My name to be mentioned, I will come unto thee and bless thee (Exod. 20:21–24). The Holy One, blessed be He, declared: Since I reveal Myself to anyone who brings a burnt offering or a peace offering in order to bless him, how much more so would I reveal Myself to Abraham, who sacrificed himself for Me. Hence, it is said: And the Lord appeared unto Him. R. Aha said: I will prove to you that the Holy One, blessed be He, strengthened Abraham. On the very day he circumcised himself, and while his blood was still flowing, he circumcised Ishmael and all the men of his household. How many men were born in his home? Three hundred and eighteen. (Now if that many were born in his home) how many others must he have purchased, and yet it is written: And Abraham took Ishmael and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with money (Gen. 17:23), and: In that selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son, and all the men of his house born in the house, and bought with money, etc. (ibid., vv. 26–27). (It continued) until Abraham piled up a hill of foreskins, and a river of blood poured forth from his home.

Another interpretation (of Gen. 18:1): THEN < THE LORD > APPEARED UNTO HIM…. R. Isaac the Smith began (with Exod. 20:21 [24]): AN ALTAR OF EARTH YOU SHALL MAKE FOR ME.¹⁴Gen. R. 48:4. The Holy One said: Whoever slaughters an ox or a lamb and sheds a little blood, such a one I am coming to bless. Thus it is stated: AN ALTAR OF EARTH < YOU SHALL MAKE FOR ME, AND YOU SHALL SACRIFICE UPON IT YOUR BURNT OFFERINGS AND YOUR PEACE OFFERINGS, YOUR SHEEP AND YOUR OXEN >. Then it is written (ibid.): I WILL COME UNTO YOU AND BLESS YOU. How much the more must I bless Abraham, since a river of blood was pouring forth from his house because of the circumcision! It is therefore stated (in Gen. 18:1): THEN < THE LORD > APPEARED UNTO HIM. So also Moses said (in Lev. 9:6): THIS IS THE THING WHICH THE LORD HAS COMMANDED < YOU TO DO > THAT < THE GLORY OF THE LORD > MAY APPEAR UNTO YOU. What did the LORD say (in vs. 7)? THEN MOSES SAID UNTO AARON: DRAW NEAR < UNTO THE ALTAR AND PERFORM YOUR SIN OFFERING AND YOUR BURNT OFFERING TO ATONE FOR YOURSELF … AS THE LORD HAS COMMANDED >. R. Aha said: Come and see the power which the Holy One set in Abraham, who in one day circumcised himself, the slaves born in his house, and his son Ishmael. So the blood was dripping.¹⁵Cf. Cant. R. 4:6:1. Look at how many of his home-born slaves there were! According to what is written (in Gen. 14:14), HE MUSTERED HIS THREE HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN HOME-BORN SLAVES. Now, if his home-born slaves numbered so many, how many more were those which his money had purchased! And he circumcised them all in a single day, as stated (in Gen. 17:26f.): ON THAT VERY DAY ABRAHAM AND HIS SON ISHMAEL WERE CIRCUMCISED; AND ALL THE MEN OF HIS HOUSE, < HOME-BORN SLAVES AND ONES PURCHASED WITH MONEY FROM A FOREIGNER >, WERE CIRCUMCISED ALONG WITH HIM. Then Abraham took all the foreskins which he had circumcised and made a mound of them in the midst of his house, with the result that a river of blood flowed forth from the midst of his house. So the Holy One called the angels and said to them: Come, let us visit the sick one. They said to him: Sovereign of the World, (Ps. 8:5): WHAT IS A HUMAN THAT YOU ARE MINDFUL OF HIM AND A CHILD OF ADAM THAT YOU SHOULD VISIT HIM! Also, are you going into a place of defilement, into a place of blood and of uncleanness? He said to them: So you have said. By your life, the odor of this blood is sweeter to me than myrrh and frankincense. If you are not going, then I am going by myself. And so has Solomon said (in Cant. 4:6): UNTIL THE DAY BECOMES COOL… < I WILL GO UNTO THE MOUNTAIN OF MYRRH AND UNTO THE MOUND OF FRANKINCENSE >. (Josh. 5:3:) UNTO THE MOUND OF FORESKINS.¹⁶Buber suggests reading (with Cant. 4:6): UNTO THE MOUND OF FRANKINCENSE. This < refers to > Abraham, of whom it is stated (in Gen. 18:1): THEN THE LORD APPEARED UNTO HIM … IN THE HEAT OF THE DAY, since the Holy One had made that day hot.¹⁷According to Cant. R. 4:6:1, it was heat from the sun that caused the foreskins to emit the aroma of frankincense.