Midras Ayub 4:20: Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Midrash Tanchuma, Bereshit Rabbah & Shemot Rabbah

(Exod. 21:1:) AND THESE ARE THE ORDINANCES…. This text is related (to Ps. 147:19–20): HE DECLARES HIS WORDS TO JACOB, <HIS STATUTES AND ORDINANCES TO ISRAEL>. HE HAS NOT DONE SO FOR ANY NATION; <AND, AS FOR HIS ORDINANCES, THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN THEM>.¹¹Tanh., Exod. 6:5. Aquila the son of Hadrian's sister wanted to convert to Judaism, but he was afraid of his uncle Hadrian.¹²See Exod. R. 30:12. He said to him: I want to engage in a business. He said to him: Do you perhaps lack silver or gold? Here, you have the treasury¹³Gk.: thesauros. before you. He said to him: I want to engage in a business in order to gain knowledge of humanity, and I want to consult you on how to do it. He said to him: Go and engage in any business¹⁴Gk.: pragmateia. that you see established on earth, since in the end it will increase (hit'allah) <in value >. Now he intended to convert to Judaism. He came to the land of Israel and studied the Torah. When R. Eliezer and R. Joshua came to him after some time, they found him and saw his face transformed. They said to each other: Aquila has been studying the Torah. When they came to him, he began to ask them questions, and they would answer him. He went up to Hadrian. He said to him: Why is your face transformed? Has your business failed, or is someone troubling you? He told him: No. Then why has your face been transformed? He said to him: Because I have been studying Torah. And not only that, but I have been circumcised. He said to him: And who told you <to do so>? He said to him: I consulted with you. He said to him: When? He said to him: When I told you I wanted to engage in a business, you told me: Engage in any business that you see established on earth, since in the end it will increase (hit'allah) <in value>. So I went back over all the peoples and did not find <any> people established on earth like Israel. Now in the end they will be exalted (hit'allah), just as Isaiah has said (in Is. 49:7): THUS SAYS THE LORD, THE REDEEMER OF ISRAEL, HIS HOLY ONE, TO {ONE WHO DESPISES ONE's} [A DESPICABLE] SOUL, TO AN ABHORRENT NATION, TO A SLAVE OF RULERS: < KINGS SHALL SEE, AND NOBLES SHALL RISE UP. AND THEY SHALL PROSTRATE THEMSELVES ON ACCOUNT OF THE LORD, WHO IS FAITHFUL, EVEN THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL, BECAUSE HE HAS CHOSEN YOU.> His associate regent¹⁵Gk.: sygkathedros. said to him: Are these whom you have been annihilating going to be those before whom kings will stand, as stated (in Is. 49:7): KINGS SHALL SEE AND RISE UP; NOBLES ALSO SHALL PROSTRATE THEMSELVES? Hadrian hit him on the jaw. He said to him: One only puts a bandage on a wound. Would [someone] put it on sound flesh? Would he not put it on a wound? Now if one sees some common soldier,¹⁶Lat.: galearius (“solder’s servant,” “batman”). he does not stand in his presence.¹⁷The exact intent of the passage is doubtful. Enoch Zundel in his commentary, ‘Anaf Yosef, on the parallel in Tanh., Lev. 4:5, suggests that, as a bandage on a wound restores the flesh to normal without improving on it, so Israel may be restored to normal but not beyond to a position outranking kings. Similarly, the lowliest soldier may win promotion but will never outrank the emperor. Therefore, Hadrian need never fear the Jews. What did his associate regent do? He went up on the roof, fell down, and died. Thus the Holy Spirit cries out (in Jud. 5:31): SO SHALL ALL YOUR ENEMIES PERISH, O LORD. Hadrian said to Aquila: Why did you do this? He said to him: Because I wanted to learn Torah. He said to him: You could have learned it without becoming circumcised. He said to him: Without circumcising, one could not learn it, as stated (in Ps. 147:19): HE DECLARES HIS WORDS TO JACOB, [HIS STATUTES AND ORDINANCES (mishpatim) TO ISRAEL. TO JACOB:] To whoever from Jacob practices circumcision. HIS STATUTES: This means Torah. AND ORDINANCES: These are the laws. [Thus it is stated] (in Exod. 15:25): THERE HE ESTABLISHED FOR THEM [A STATUTE AND AN ORDINANCE (mishpat)]. The Holy One said to Moses: I have given them the Torah; you give them the ordinances (mishpatim). The Holy One said to them: If you desire to survive in this world, observe the ordinances (mishpatim), for {one} [a world] cannot survive without justice (mishpat). The generation of the flood would not have perished from the world, had they not transgressed against justice (mishpat). R. Eleazar ben Pedat said: What is written about them (in Job 4:20)? FROM MORNING TO EVENING THEY ARE SHATTERED; THEY PERISH FOREVER WITHOUT ANYONE NOTICING (rt.: SYM). Ergo (in Exod. 21:1): AND THESE ARE THE ORDINANCES (mishpatim) <THAT YOU SHALL SET (rt.: SYM) BEFORE THEM>.¹⁸See Gen. R. 26:6; 31:5; Exod. R. 30:13.

The generation of the flood was obliterated from the world because it transgressed the ordinances. R. Eleazar the son of Pedat said: It is written about them: Twixt morning and evening they are shattered; they perish forever without any regarding it (Job 4:20). Therefore it says: Now these are the ordinances which thou shalt set before them (Exod. 21:1). Another explanation. Because the generation of the flood did not perform the ordinances, it is written about them: My spirit shall not abide in man forever (Gen. 6:3).

“The Lord said: My spirit will not abide in man for eternity, for he too is flesh and his days will be one hundred and twenty years” (Genesis 6:3).
“The Lord said: My spirit will not abide [yadon] in man,” Rabbi Yishmael ben Rabbi Yosei said: I will not place My spirit in them when I give the reward of the righteous in the future, about which it is stated: “I will place My spirit in them” (Ezekiel 36:27).
Rabbi Yanai and Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish, both of them said: In the future, there will be no Gehenna; rather, there will be a day that [through its heat] will burn the wicked. What is the source? “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the criminals and all the doers of wickedness will be as straw; the day that is coming will burn them” (Malachi 3:19). The Rabbis say: There will be Gehenna, as it is stated: “The utterance of the Lord, for whom there is a fire in Zion and a furnace for Him in Jerusalem” (Isaiah 31:9). Rabbi Yehuda bar Rabbi Ilai said: There will be neither a [hot] day nor Gehenna, but rather there will be a fire that will emerge from the body of the wicked one himself and burn him, as it is stated: “Conceive stubble, give birth to straw, your spirit is a fire that will consume you” (Isaiah 33:11).
Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Ilai said: What is, “My spirit will not abide [yadon]”? These spirits will never come before Me for judgment.³⁸The members of the generation of the Flood will not even be resurrected to be sentenced. Rabbi Huna said in the name of Rav Aḥa: When I restore the spirit [of man] to its scabbard [nadan], I will not return their spirit to their scabbards.³⁹The body is considered a “scabbard” that houses the soul within it (Daniel 7:15). The generation of the Flood will not come to life with the others at the final resurrection.
Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said: I will not fill them up with My spirit when I fill mankind up with My spirit,⁴⁰As a scabbard is completely filled with the sword it holds. because in this world the spirit is infused in only one limb [the heart], but in the future, it will be infused throughout the body. That is what is written: “I will place My spirit within you” (Ezekiel 36:27).
Rabbi Yudan ben Beteira said: I [God] will never again judge man with this sentence.⁴¹Bringing a destructive flood upon mankind.
Rav Huna said in the name of Rabbi Yosef: “I will not continue [to curse the ground because of man … and I will not continue [to smite all life as I have done]” (Genesis 8:21)⁴²The Midrash will explain the repetition of “I will not continue.” –it is powerful, it is powerful.⁴³The repetition indicates the intensity of God’s commitment, as if He were declaring an oath (see Isaiah 54:9). The Rabbis say: “I will not continue” – for the [present] sons of Noah; “and I will not continue” – for [future] generations.
[God said:] ‘I had said that My spirit would hold sway [dana] over them, but they did not want [this]; therefore, I will cause them to be entangled [meshagem] with suffering. I had said that My spirit would control them, but they did not disavow [their sinful ways]; therefore I will cause them to be entangled [meshagem] with one another,’⁴⁴And they will enter into disputes and deadly feuds with one another, thus incurring the death penalty. as Rabbi Elazar said: The only one who incurs liability for harming a human is one who is a human like him. Rabbi Natan said: Wolves and dogs also.⁴⁵They also incur the death penalty if they kill a human. Rabbi Huna bar Guryon said: Even a rod, even a strap.⁴⁶If they bring about the death of a person they are destroyed. That is what is written: “For the yoke of its burden and the bar on its shoulder, the rod that oppresses it, You have broken as on the day of Midyan [keyom midyan]” (Isaiah 9:3) – on the day of judgment [beyom hadin]. Rabbi Aḥa said: Even non-fruit bearing trees are destined to give a reckoning.⁴⁷If they cause the death of a person. The Rabbis say [this same concept] from here: “For man is like the tree of the field” (Deuteronomy 20:19) – just as man gives a reckoning, so, too, trees give a reckoning.
Rabbi Yehoshua bar Neḥemya said: [God said:] ‘I will not judge their spirit separately, as they are flesh and blood,⁴⁸And they must experience physical suffering. but I will bring upon them a shortening of the years that I had allotted them in this world, and then I will cause them to be entangled [meshagem] with suffering.’ Rabbi Aivu said: [God said:] ‘Who caused them to rebel against Me, is it not because I did not cause them to be entangled [meshagem] with suffering?’⁴⁹Therefore, from now on mankind will be subject to physical suffering for their sins. This door, what keeps it standing? It is its hinges [shegam].⁵⁰Just as hinges support the door and allow it to function, so too physical suffering is good for man and induces him to grow spiritually.
Rabbi Elazar said: Anyplace where there is no justice, there is justice.⁵¹Wherever justice is not practiced on earth, justice from God will be meted out. Rabbi Beivai son of Rabbi Ami, in accordance with the approach of Rabbi Elazar: “My spirit will not abide” [Lo yadon, ruḥi].”⁵²This is expounded to mean: If they do not judge [lo yadon], My spirit [ruḥi] will judge. Rabbi Meir said: [God said:] ‘They did not exercise the attribute of justice below, so I will not exercise the attribute of justice On High.’⁵³But rather, I will judge with wrath and fury. That is what is written: “Behold, their remnant has gone away from them, and they die without wisdom” (Job 4:21) – without the wisdom of the Torah. “From morning to evening they are broken; forever unnoticed [mibeli mesim], they perish” (Job 4:20) – mesim is nothing other than judgment, just as it says: “These are the ordinances that you shall place [tasim] before them” (Exodus 21:1). Rabbi Yosei HaGelili said: I will not judge them with the attribute of justice along with a corresponding attribute of mercy.⁵⁴But with the attribute of justice alone.
Rabbi says: “He said” – the generation of the Flood said to the Lord: ‘He shall not judge [us]!’⁵⁵Here, the verse currently under discussion, “Vayomer Hashem lo yadon” is being interpreted as: “They said: Hashem, He shall not judge us!” Rabbi Akiva said: “Why has the wicked man mocked God, saying to himself: You will not seek” (Psalms 10:13) – [by this that man means:] there is no justice and no Judge.⁵⁶God does not judge man for his deeds. However, in fact there is justice and there is a Judge.⁵⁷As the following verses in Psalms respond.
Rabbi Ḥanina bar Pappa said: Even Noah, who survived from among them, it is not that he was worthy, but rather, the Holy One blessed be He foresaw that Moses was destined to descend from him, as it is stated: “For he too [Beshagam]” – this is an allusion to Moses, as the numerical value of this word [beshagam] is the same numerical value as that word [Moshe]. The Rabbis derive it from here: “His days will be one hundred and twenty years” – and Moses lives one hundred and twenty years.