욥기 38:10의 미드라쉬

(Numb. 19:2:) THIS IS THE STATUTE OF THE TORAH. Blessed be the name of the Supreme King of Kings, the Holy One, who created the world in wisdom and understanding; for his wonders have no limit and his greatness is beyond reckoning.¹Tanh., 6:1; Numb. R. 18:22. (Ps. 33:7:) HE HAS GATHERED THE WATERS OF THE SEA LIKE A MOUND, AND HE HAS PUT THE DEEPS IN STOREHOUSES. Now what is the meaning of HE GATHERS THE WATERS OF THE SEA LIKE A MOUND? When the Holy One created the world, he said to the prince of the sea: Open your mouth and swallow all the waters of creation.²BB 74b. He said to him: Sovereign of the World, it is enough for me to continue with what is <already> mine. Then he began to weep. He kicked him to death, as stated (in Job 26:12): IN HIS POWER HE STILLED THE SEA, AND IN HIS UNDERSTANDING HE STRUCK DOWN RAHAB. [You find that the prince of the sea was named Rahab. What did the Holy One do? He subdued <the waters> and trampled them down;] and so it was that the sea accepted them, as stated (in Amos 4:13): HE TRAMPLES ON THE HEIGHTS³M. Pss. 93:5. Cf. Gen. R. 23:7, according to which the sea (i.e., the Mediterranean) is higher than the whole world. OF THE EARTH; THE LORD [GOD] OF HOSTS IS HIS NAME. So for <the waters> he set sand in place as bar and gates, according to what is stated (in Job 38:8): AND <WHO> BLOCKED OFF THE SEA WITH DOORS…. Moreover, it says (in Jer. 5:22): DO YOU NOT FEAR ME? SAYS THE LORD. [WILL YOU NOT TREMBLE BECAUSE OF ME,] WHEN I HAVE PLACED SAND AS A BOUNDARY FOR THE SEA? And it says (in Job 38: 10–11): <… AND I SET BAR AND GATES IN PLACE,> AND SAID: YOU MAY COME THIS FAR AND NO FARTHER. Then the sea said to him: Sovereign of the World, in that case my sweet waters will be mingled with the salt <waters>! He said to it: No! Each and every one will have a storehouse for oneself, as stated (in Ps. 33:7): AND HE HAS PUT THE DEEPS IN STOREHOUSES⁴See Gen. R. 4:5. If you should say that this is a great wonder for their waters not to mingle, then consider the face,⁵PRTsWP, an adaptation of the Gk.: prosopon. which the Holy One created in the children of Adam. <Although> the <size of> a full sit,⁶According to Rashi on Shab. 106a, a single sit was the distance between the tips of the of the middle and index fingers when held widely apart. A double sit was the distance between the tips of the thumb and index finger when held widely apart. For various definitions, see Jastrow, p. 977, s.v. SYT. it has so many springs (from 'YN); yet they do not mingle with one another. The waters of the eyes 'YN) are salty; the waters of the ears are oily; the waters of the nose are putrid; the waters of the mouth are sweet. For what reason are the waters of the eyes salty? Because when someone weeps for the dead, <doing so> all the time, he would immediately become blind; however, because <tears> are salty, he stops and does not weep. For what reason are the waters of the ears oily? Because when a person hears bad news, if he held it in his ears, it would collect in his heart, and he would die. Because they are oily, <the news> goes in one ear and out the other.⁷Literally: “<a person> discharges <bad news> through one <ear>, while he admits it through the other.” For what reason are the waters of the nose putrid? Because when a person emits a bad odor, if the waters of the nose were not putrid <enough> to stop it, he would soon die. And for what reason are the waters of the mouth sweet? It sometimes happens that someone eats food that does not agree with him, and he vomits. Now if the waters of the mouth were not sweet, he would not recover. Moreover, since he reads the Torah, of which it is written (in Ps. 19:11 [10]): SWEETER ALSO THAN HONEY AND THE DRIPPINGS OF THE COMB, the waters of the mouth are therefore sweet. Now here are the grounds for arguing a fortiori (qal wehomer), that if <something> <the size of> a full sit has so many springs without them mingling with one another, how much the more so in the case of the Great Sea, of which it is stated (in Ps. 104:25): THERE THE {GREAT SEA IS ALSO WIDE} [SEA IS GREAT AND WIDE]…. <This is> to teach that in everything the Holy One accomplishes his mission and that he has not created one thing in vain. Sometimes the Holy One has accomplished his mission by means of [a frog, by means of a gnat,⁸See Lev. R. 22:2-3; Eccl. R. 5:8:2, 4; PRE 49; also Shab. 77b; Exod. R. 10:1. by means of a wasp, or by means of] a scorpion. R. Hanan of Sepphoris said:⁹Cf. Gen. R. 10:7; Lev. R. 22:4; Eccl. R. 5:8:5. There is a story about a certain scorpion that went to carry out <the Holy One's> mission (to sting a certain person) beyond the Jordan; so the Holy One summoned a certain frog for him, and he crossed over upon it. Then that scorpion went and stung <the> person so that he died. <There is> also a story about a certain reaper who stood and reaped in the valley of Beth-Tofah. When burning heat came, he took grass <and> {cut} [tied] it on his head. <When> a certain mighty serpent came at him, he killed it. A certain <snake> charmer passed by him. He saw the slain serpent. He said to him: who killed that serpent? He said to him I <did>. He looked at the grass on his head. He said to him: Will you remove the grass from your head? He told him: Yes. When he had removed it, he said to him: Are you able to remove this snake with this staff? He told him: Yes. He did so. <When> he drew near to it, he had not succeeded in touching it, before he shed his body parts one by one.

For I was a son unto my father indicates that before I left my mother’s womb I was the son of the Holy One, blessed be He, who rebuked me as a father rebukes his son. Tender and an only one in the sight of my mother alludes to the time I was tender and alone and no one was with me in my mother’s womb. Then the angel instructed me and told me: “Take my words to heart, keep my commandments and it shall be as described above.” The Holy One, blessed be He, then warned him concerning everything that would transpire, and the angel led him about from morning until evening. He showed him where he would die and where he would be buried. Then he led him about and walked with him through the world, showing him the righteous and the wicked and everything else. In the evening he brought him back to his mother’s womb. The Holy One, blessed be He, fashioned bolts and doors (Job 38:10) before him, as it is said: Or who shut up the sea with the doors? (ibid., v. 8), and I have put My words in thy mouth, and have covered thee in the shadow of My hand (Isa. 51:6). Then He said to him: Thus far shalt you come, but no farther (Job 38:11).