Talmud do Powtórzonego Prawa 4:32

(Jewish) Christians asked Rebbi Simlai: How many aspects of divinity created the world? He answered them: Are you asking me? Go and ask the first Adam, as it is said (Deut. 4:32): “Please ask the first days etc²⁷“Please ask the first days that were before you, starting from the day that God created man on the earth …”.” It does not say there “when gods created man on the earth” but “from the day that God created man on the earth”. They said to him, but it is written (Gen. 1:1): “In the beginning, ĕlōhīm created …” He said to them: Is it written “they created” (plural)? It says “he created” (singular). Rebbi Simlai said, every place where the Christians read heretic meanings²⁸That ĕlōhīm is a genuine plural, not one of majesty., their answer is at that place.

Rebbi Jonah [in the name of] Rebbi Abba: It is written⁸¹Deut. 4:32., but ask the first days which were before you, I could think before the Creation. The verse says, from the day that God created Man on the Earth. I could think starting with the Sixth Day, the verse says, the first. After the verse added, it subtracted. Therefore we infer from the Sixth. Since the Sixth is particular that it is one of the Six Days of Creation, also you may not bring to me only ones similar to the Sixth. I could think, to know what is higher than heaven and lower than the abyss, the verse says, from end of heaven to end of heaven. But before the world was created you may investigate privately; after the world was created your voice may go from one end of the world to the other end⁸²Meaning that one is permitted to publicly preach about this subject anywhere.. Bar Qappara stated, “and from the day.” It comes that Rebbi Jehudah bar Pazi⁹The original meaning of דרש “to investigate” has been changed into the later Amoraic-Medieval “to preach” and the interpretation of the Mishnah changed accordingly. parallels Bar Qappara, and what Rebbi Ḥiyya stated⁸³Tosephta 2:7, Babli 11b; Gen. rabba1(13). parallels Rebbi Abba.

“It happened that Hillel the Elder brought his elevation offering to the Temple courtyard and leaned on it. The students of the House of Shammai ganged up on him. He started to wag its tail, said to them, look, it is a female and I brought it as well-being sacrifice, and kept them talking about other matters until they left. After some time the House of Shammai became strong and they wanted to fix practice following their words. There was there Bava ben Buta from the students of the House of Shammai who realized that practice followed the House of Hillel. Once he entered the Temple courtyard and found it desolate. He said, the house of those who make our God’s House desolate shall be desolate. What did he do? He sent and brought 3’000 young lambs from Qedar sheep, checked them for defects, and displayed them on the Temple Mount. He said to them, listen to me my brothers, the House of Israel. Anybody who wants to bring an elevation sacrifice may bring it and lean on it, to bring a well-being sacrifice may bring it and lean on it. At that moment, practice was fixed following the House of Hillel; and nobody said anything.” Rebbi Isaac ben Rebbi Eleazar said, this cup for breakfast has to be full⁸¹Deut. 4:32.; the worm in the wood comes from itself; any coal which does not cause a burn at the start will not cause one. “Again it happened that a student of Hillel brought his elevation offering to the Temple courtyard and leaned on it. A student of Shammai saw him and said to him, what is this leaning-on? He said to him, what about being silent? He silenced him by a reprimand and he left.”

One might have thought that a person may ask questions with regard to what is above, what is below, what was before, and what is after the world. Therefore, the same verse states: “From one end of the heavens to the other” (Deuteronomy 4:32), which is explained as follows: With regard to that which is from one end of the heavens to the other, within the boundaries of the world, you may ask, but you may not ask what is above, what is below, what was before, or what is after.