창세기 18:22의 미드라쉬

R. Simon said: See what is written (in Gen. 18:22): AND THE MEN TURNED FROM THERE AND WENT TO SODOM, BUT ABRAHAM WAS STILL STANDING BEFORE THE LORD. Should it not rather have said, "And God was still standing"? < There is here >, however, a scribal emendation.¹²Such an emendation (Heb.: tiqqun soferim) occurs where the biblical text was perceived as offensive or lacking in respect for the Divine. For lists of passages with these emendations, see Tanh., Exod. 4:16, which attributes them to the scribes; also Mekhilta de Rabbi Ishmael, Shirah 6; Sifre to Numb. 10:35 (84), both of which regard the “emendations” as euphemisms belonging to the original text. See Encyclopaedia Judaica 15(1971), cols. 1139—1140; and especially Saul Lieberman, Hellenism in Jewish Palestine, 2nd edition (New York: JTSA, 1962), pp. 28—37. Ergo {it says} (in Ps. 18:36 = II Sam. 22:36): AND YOUR HUMILITY HAS MAGNIFIED ME.

(Gen. 42:8:) SO JOSEPH RECOGNIZED HIS BROTHERS, when they fell into his hands. (Gen. 42:8, cont.:) BUT THEY DID NOT RECOGNIZE HIM,²⁹I.e., treat him like a brother. when he had fallen into their hands.³⁰Gen. R. 91:7. David said (in Ps. 80:2 [1]): GIVE EAR, O SHEPHERD OF ISRAEL, WHO LEADS JOSEPH LIKE A FLOCK.³¹Cf. Gen. R. 91:5; Tanh., Gen. 10:7; PR 29/30B:1 (= 29:6 in the Breslau edition); M. Pss. 80:2. Thus has R. Tanhuma expounded (on Gen. 42:2): GO DOWN THERE (RDW) < means > that he saw that they would go down and be enslaved in Egypt for two hundred and ten (i.e., the numerical value of RDW) years.³²Tanh., Gen. 10:8; Gen. R. 91:2. Another interpretation of GO DOWN. < These words are > to teach you that anyone who buys produce from the marketplace has a going down (in status).³³Gen. R. 91:6. It is assumed here that such trade signifies misfortune, since normally one’s own land provided for basic needs. See Men. 103b. (Gen. 42:3:) SO JOSEPH'S TEN BROTHERS WENT DOWN. "The children of Israel" is not written here but JOSEPH'S < TEN > BROTHERS. < It is so written > because at the beginning they had not treated him with brotherhood, in that they had sold him. Then they had finally repented and said: When shall we go down to Egypt and return Joseph to our father? So, when their father told them to go down to Egypt, they all went with one mind to return him. It is therefore written (in Gen. 42:3): SO JOSEPH'S < TEN > BROTHERS WENT DOWN. And why ten? Because it was up to them to end the divine punishment and annul the decree (of Gen. 15:13). You therefore find in the case of Sodom that Abraham went down from fifty < righteous > to ten.³⁴The midrash is alluding to Abraham bargaining with the Holy One over the fate of Sodom in Gen. 18:22-33. When he did not find ten, Abraham the Righteous was silent. Moreover, because there were not ten < righteous > in the generation of the flood, they were not saved. Indeed, there were none there except Noah, his three sons, and their wives, i.e., eight.

Similarly it is written: For he who toucheth thee toucheth the apple of his eye (Zech. 2:12). “My eye” should be written here, for it refers, as it were, to the Heavenly One. However, the text was modified by the scribes of the Great Synagogue.¹¹The men of the great Synagogue were the scribes, prophets, and Pharisees in the period after Ezra. See Lauterbach, Rabbinic Essays, p. 191, n. 36. The scribes made changes in the biblical text in order to eliminate anthropomorphisms and irreverent expressions. According to the Babylonian Talmud, Nedarim 37b, these changes are Sinaitic traditions. The verse Ye say also: “Behold, what a weariness is it! And ye have snuffed at it” (Mal. 1:13) was likewise altered. The verse I will judge his house forever, for the iniquity, in that he knew that his sons did bring a curse on themselves, and he rebuked them not (I Sam. 3:13) was also modified. In the like manner, the verse Why hast thou set me as a mark for thee, so that I may burden to myself (Job 7:20) was changed. The verse Art not Thou from everlasting, O Lord, My God, my Holy One? We shall not die (Hab. 1:12) was modified also. Again the verse Hath a nation changed its gods which are yet no gods? But My people hath changed its glory for that which doth not profit (Jer. 2:11) was altered. Similarly, Thus they exchange their glory for the likeness of an ox that eateth grass (Ps. 106:2) was changed. The verse I will change their glory to shame (Hos. 4:7) was likewise modified. In the case of Also against his three friends was his wrath kindled, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job (Job 32:3) they changed the text. Similarly, but Abraham stood yet before the Lord (Gen 18:22) is another illustration of this. Again, in the verse And if Thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray Thee, out of hand, if I have found favor in Thy sight, and let me not look upon my wretchedness (Num. 11:15) they changed the text. Similarly in the passage Let her not, I pray, be as one head, of whom the flesh is half consumed when He cometh out of his mother’s womb (ibid. 12:12) they altered the verse. And likewise, the verse What portion have we in David? Neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse; to your tents, O Israel; now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents (I Kings. 12:16) was altered, for in the Second Book of Chronicles (10:16) it is written concerning this episode to his tent rather than unto their tents.

"And the men turned (faced) from there" (Gen. 18:22) - this proves that angels do not have a back [of the head] (i.e. they went one way but could still face the other). "And they went towards Sodom but Abraham remained standing before Hashem" Rabbi Simon said: "This is a correction of the scribes [rather than saying] that the Shechinah (Divine Presence) would wait for Abraham ."