Midrash sobre Gênesis 2:23

And the Lord said: It is not good for man to be alone; I will make him a help-mate. And the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept. And he removed one of his ribs and building flesh around it he formed it into a woman, and brought it unto Adam; and Adam awoke from his sleep, and behold a woman was standing opposite him. And he said: This is bone from my bones, and she shall be called woman, because she has been taken from man. And Adam called her name Eve, for she was the mother of all living. And God blessed them and called their names man, Adam, on the day he created them. And the Lord said: Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

Another interpretation (of Cant. 4:6): UNTIL THE DAY BECOMES COOL. Until the kingdom of the Holy One appears in this world. (Ibid., cont.:) AND THE SHADOWS FLEE, i.e., the shadows of the kingdom. (Ibid., cont.:) I WILL GO UNTO THE MOUNTAIN OF MYRRH, i.e., Jerusalem. Thus it is stated (in Cant. 5:1): WHEN I COME TO MY GARDEN, MY SISTER, MY BRIDE, I HAVE PLUCKED MY MYRRH ALONG WITH MY SPICE. (Josh. 5:3:) UNTO THE MOUND OF FORESKINS,²⁰Buber again suggests emending to fit Cant. 4:6: UNTO THE MOUND OF FRANKINCENSE. since he took the foreskins and made a mound of them. For that reason the Holy One was revealed to him, as stated (in Gen. 18:1): THEN < THE LORD > APPEARED UNTO HIM. Now when the angels saw this, they also came along with the Holy One, as stated (in Gen. 18:2): WHEN HE LIFTED HIS EYES AND LOOKED, BEHOLD, THERE WERE THREE MEN < STANDING NEAR HIM >. And so David gives praise (in Ps. 25:10): ALL THE PATHS OF THE LORD ARE STEADFAST LOVE AND TRUTH. What is the meaning of ALL THE PATHS OF THE LORD ARE STEADFAST LOVE AND TRUTH? < With reference to > the Torah, its beginning is steadfast love,²¹See above, 4:1; below, 5:2. its end is steadfast love, and its middle is steadfast love. Its beginning is steadfast love. Where is it shown? You find that when the Holy One formed Eve, he adorned her and brought her to Adam, as stated (in Gen. 2:22): THEN THE LORD GOD BUILT THE RIB < WHICH HE HAD TAKEN FROM THE HUMAN INTO A WOMAN >. What is the meaning of BUILT? R. Abbahu said: In Arabia they call the plaited coiffure a "building."²²Cf. Ber. 61a; Shab. 95a; ‘Eruv. 18a; Nid. 45b; ARN, A, 4; Gen. R. 18:1; M. Pss. 25:11; above 4:1; below 5:2. Its end is steadfast love, < i.e., > at Moses' death when the Holy One attended him in his glory,²³BKBWDW: perhaps a misprint for BKBWRW, “at his burial.” as stated (in Deut. 34:6): AND HE BURIED HIM IN THE VALLEY. At the middle there is steadfast love in the case of Abraham, as stated (in Gen. 17:2): AND LET ME PUT MY COVENANT BETWEEN ME AND YOU. When the Holy One was revealed to him, he was sitting, as stated (in Gen. 18:1): < THEN THE LORD APPEARED UNTO HIM > … AS HE WAS SITTING AT THE TENT DOOR IN THE HEAT OF THE DAY.²⁴Below, 8:28. Abraham went to stand up. The Holy One said to him: Do not trouble yourself to stand up. Sit down! It is so stated (in Ps. 110:1): THE LORD (God) SAID TO MY LORD (Abraham): SIT DOWN AT MY RIGHT HAND. Abraham said to him: Is this good manners for me to be sitting while you are standing? The Holy One said to him: Do not trouble yourself. You are an old man of a hundred years. Sit down! The Holy One said to him: By your life, because you are sitting while I stand, your children at the age of three years, at the age of four years, are going to be sitting in the academies and in the synagogues with me standing over them. Thus it is stated (in Ps. 82:1): GOD STANDS IN THE DIVINE CONGREGATION. Abraham began to praise²⁵Rt.: QLS, possibly related to the Gk.: kalos, which means “beautifully.” God (according to Ps. 18:36 [35]): YOU ALSO GAVE ME THE SHIELD OF YOUR SALVATION, when the kings had pursued < me >. It is so stated (in Gen. 15:1): FEAR NOT, ABRAM, I AM YOUR SHIELD. (Ps. 18:36 [35], cont.:) YOUR RIGHT HAND SUSTAINED ME, when you grasped the foreskin along with me as I was cutting. (Ibid., cont.:) AND YOUR CONDESCENSION MAGNIFIED ME, in that I was sitting while you were standing.

(Lev. 13:2:) “When anyone has on the skin of his flesh.” This text is related (to Hab. 1:7), “Terrible and dreadful [is that one].”²⁷In the biblical context THAT ONE is the nation of the Chaldeans. This verse is speaking about the first Adam, about Pharaoh, about Edom, about Sennacherib and about Nebuchadnezzar.²⁸Cf. Lev. R. 18:2. How does it concern the first Adam? R. Abba bar Kahana said, “When the Holy One, blessed be He, created the first Adam, He created him in His likeness, as stated (in Gen. 1:27), ‘And God created man (Adam) in His own image.’” And when He created him, He created him [to extend] from the one end of the world to the other, as stated (in Deut. 4:32), “So please ask about the former days which came before you, [ever since the day that God created man upon the earth, even from one end of heaven to the other].”²⁹Cf. Gen. R. 8:1. Now he ruled over the whole earth, as stated (in Gen. 1:28), “and rule over the fish of the sea […].” It also says (in Gen. 9:2), “And the dread of you and the fear of you [shall be upon every beast of the earth].” It is therefore stated (in Hab. 1:7), “Terrible and dreadful.” This refers to the first Adam. (Ibid., cont.:) “His justice and his dignity proceed from himself.”³⁰The midrash requires such a literal translation. In the biblical context a more normal translation would read with reference to the Chaldeans: THEIR JUSTICE AND THEIR DIGNITY PROCEED FROM THEMSELVES. This refers to Eve who came out of him, as she caused him to die, as stated (in Gen. 3:6), “Then she also gave some to her husband, and he ate.” And where is it shown that she came out of him? Where it is so written (in Gen. 2:23), “bone out of my bone and flesh out of my flesh.” Ergo (in Hab. 1:7), “Terrible and dreadful [is that one],” this refers to the first Adam; “his justice and his dignity proceed from himself,” this refers to Eve, who came out from him. Another interpretation (of Hab. 1:7), “Terrible and dreadful is that one”: This refers to Pharaoh, [when] he was world ruler,³¹Gk.: Kosmokraton. as stated (concerning him in Ps. 105:20), “the ruler of peoples released him (i.e., Joseph).” (Hab. 1:7, cont.:), “His justice and his dignity proceed from himself.” This refers to Moses, since he was reared within that one's house, so that he believed that he [actually] was a child of his house, as stated (in Exod. 2:10), “When the boy had grown up, she brought him [to Pharaoh's daughter; and he became her son].” Then he arose and brought ten plagues upon him, as stated (in Exod. 3:10), “So come now, I will send you unto Pharaoh.” R. Judah said, “The rod had a weight of forty seah and was [made] of sapphire;³²Gk.: sappheirinon, an adj. meaning “of sapphire,” or “of lapsis lazuli.” it also had ten plagues (makkot) inscribed upon it with the acronym³³notarikon. dtsk 'dsh b'hb.³⁴D = dam (“blood”), Ts = Tsefardia‘ (“frogs”), K= kinnim (“gnats”), ‘ = ‘arov (“flies”), D = dever (“cattle pestilence”), Sh = shehin (“boils”), B = barad (“hail”), ‘ = ‘arbeh (“locusts”), H = hoshekh (“darkness”), B = bekhorot (“first-born”). Then Moses, when he had looked at the rod and seen the punishment (makkah) which had been appointed to come, brought it upon Pharaoh. Ergo (in Hab. 1:7), “Terrible and dreadful [is that one],” this refers to Pharaoh; “his justice and his dignity proceed from himself,” this refers to Moses. And also the messiah, who in the future will take retribution from Gog and Magog and all of its troops, grew up with them in the city, as stated (Isaiah 27:10), “there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down and consume the branches thereof.” Another interpretation (of Hab. 1:7), “Terrible and dreadful [is that one]”: This refers to Edom, of which it is stated (in Dan. 7:7), “frightful, dreadful, and [exceedingly] strong.” (Hab. 1:7, cont.), “His justice and his dignity proceed from himself.” This refers to Obadiah since he was an Edomite proselyte and he also prophesied [against] him (i.e., against Edom, in Obad. 1:1), “The vision of Obadiah; thus says the Lord God to Edom […].”³⁵Cf. Sanh. 39b. Ergo (in Hab. 1:7), “Terrible and dreadful,” this refers to Edom; “his justice and his dignity proceed from himself,” this refers to Obadiah.Another interpretation (of Hab. 1:7), “Terrible and dreadful”: This refers to Sennacherib, since it is stated (in II Kings 19:24), “with the sole of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.” He also said (in II Kings 18:35 = Is. 36:20 // II Chron. 32:14), “Who are there among all the gods of the lands which have saved their land from my hand?” And it also says (in Is. 8:8), “and the radial bones³⁶For this translation of muttah, see Jastrow, s.v. In the context of Scripture, a more normal translation of muttah would be “spread.” of his wings (i.e., the army of Sennacherib) shall fill the breadth of your land, O Immanu-El].”³⁷Cf. M. Pss. 79:1. One sixtieth of the troops³⁸Gk.: ochlos. had been sufficient for the Land of Israel, since it is stated (ibid.), “and the radial bone of his wings.” This radial bone of a cock is one sixtieth of its wings. When he came to enter Jerusalem, he said to his troops, “You sleep, and in the morning we shall throw our rings into its midst and stone them with them.”³⁹In other words, Sennacherib believed that his army was so large and Jerusalem so small that his army could bury the city in their rings. Cf. Sanh. 95a, according to some renderings of which, each soldier would use as much mortar as necessary to seal a letter with a signet ring. So Levi, in his Talmud and Midrash lexicon, s.v., gulmohrag. See also Rashi on this passage, according to whom the army would use stones easily dislodged from the wall of Jerusalem. Ergo (in Hab. 1:7), “Terrible and dreadful is he.” (Ibid., cont.:), “His justice and his dignity proceed from himself.” These refer to his children. When he went up to destroy Jerusalem, he did not succeed. [It is so stated (in II Kings 19:35 = Is. 37:36),] “the angel of the Lord went out and smote [one hundred and eighty-thousand] in the camp of Assyria….” It is also written (in II Chron. 32:21), “so he returned shamefaced to his own land, and when he came into the house of his god, [some of those who came out of his own belly struck him down there with the sword].” Ergo (in Hab. 1:7), “Terrible and dreadful is he,” this refers to Sennacherib; “his justice and his dignity proceed from himself,” this refers to his children, who killed him. Another interpretation (of Hab. 1:7), “Terrible and dreadful is he”: This refers to Nebuchadnezzar, of whom it is stated (in Is. 14:13), “And I will ascend to the heavens; [above the stars of God I will set my throne].” (Hab. 1:7, cont.:) “His justice and his dignity proceed from himself.” This refers to Evil-merodach (his son). Our masters have said, “When Nebuchadnezzar was driven away, just as it is written (in Dan. 4:29), ‘You shall be driven away from humankind’; all that time Evil-merodach served in his place.” Then when he returned, he put him in prison. Now whoever was imprisoned by him never emerged from the prison until the day of his death. Thus it is stated (in Is. 14:17), “he never released his prisoners to their homes.” When Nebuchadnezzar died, they wanted to make Evil-merodach king. They approached him, but he did not accept. He said to them, “I listened to you the first time. For that reason I was imprisoned. So now I shall not listen to you. Perhaps he is alive. Then he will rise up against me and kill me.” They stood over Nebuchadnezzar, dragged him from his grave, and brought him out. Then he saw that he was dead, and they made him king. [This act was] to fulfill what is stated (in Is. 14:19), “And you have been cast from your grave like a detestable offshoot.” Ergo (Hab. 1:7), “Terrible and dreadful is he,” this refers to Nebuchadnezzar; “his justice and his dignity proceed from himself,” this refers to Evil-merodach. Another interpretation (of Hab. 1:7), “Terrible and dreadful is he”: This refers to the human race, which rules over all which the Holy One, blessed be He, has created in His world. Thus it is stated (in Ps. 8:7), “You have set him as ruler over the [works] of Your hands [….].” (Hab. 1:7, cont.) “His justice and his dignity proceed from him.” Thus when he sins, the Holy One, blessed be He, brings torments upon him from his [own body]. Why? Because His ways are not like the ways of flesh and blood. When [a person of] flesh and blood wants to punish his slaves, he brings [whips] and fetters to punish them and cause them pain; but the Holy One, blessed be He, is not like that. Rather it is from a person's whole body that He punishes and beats him. And from where is it shown? From what is written about the matter (in Lev. 13:2), “When anyone has on the skin of his flesh [a swelling or a sore or a bright spot, and it becomes on the skin of his flesh the plague of leprosy, he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest].” One verse says (in Is. 46:10), “My plan shall come to pass, and I will accomplish all My desire.” But another verse says (in Ezek. 33:11), “As I live, says the Lord, [it is not my delight for the wicked to die].” This is what is written about the matter, (in Lev. 13:2), “When anyone has on the skin of his flesh ….”; and it is [yet also] written (in Ps. 5:5), “For You are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not abide with You.”

(Lev. 13:2:) WHEN ANYONE HAS ON THE SKIN OF HIS FLESH…. This text is related (to Hab. 1:7): TERRIBLE AND DREADFUL IS THAT ONE.³⁷In the biblical context THAT ONE is the nation of the Chaldeans. This verse is speaking about the first Adam, about Pharaoh, about Edom, [about Sennacherib, about Nebuchadnezzar,] and about the children of Adam < in general >.³⁸Tanh., Lev. 4:8; cf. Lev. R. 18:2. How does it concern the first Adam? When the Holy One created {the world with} the first Adam, R. Abba bar Kahana said: He created him in his likeness, as stated (in Gen. 1:27): AND GOD CREATED THE HUMAN (adam) IN HIS OWN IMAGE…. He created him < to extend > from the one end of world to the other, as stated (in Deut. 4:32): SO PLEASE ASK ABOUT THE FORMER DAYS WHICH CAME BEFORE YOU, EVER SINCE THE DAY THAT GOD CREATED ADAM UPON THE EARTH, EVEN FROM ONE END OF HEAVEN TO THE OTHER.³⁹Cf. Gen. R. 8:1. Now he ruled over the whole earth, as stated (in Gen. 1:28): < FILL THE EARTH AND SUBDUE IT; > AND RULE OVER THE FISH OF THE SEA … It also says (in Gen. 9:2): MOREOVER, THE DREAD OF YOU AND THE FEAR OF YOU SHALL BE UPON EVERY BEAST OF THE EARTH. It is therefore stated (in Hab. 1:7): TERRIBLE AND DREADFUL. This refers to the first Adam.⁴⁰The present translation ignores Buber punctuation. Following his punctuation, the translation would read: “It is therefore stated (in Hab. 1:7): TERRIBLE (Ibid., cont.:) AND DREADFUL. This refers to the first Adam….“ (Ibid., cont.:) HIS JUSTICE AND HIS DIGNITY PROCEED FROM HIMSELF.⁴¹The midrash requires such a literal translation. In the biblical context a more normal translation would read with reference to the Chaldeans: THEIR JUSTICE AND THEIR DIGNITY PROCEED FROM THEMSELVES. This refers to Eve, since she came out of him and caused him to die, [as stated] (in Gen. 3:6): THEN SHE ALSO GAVE SOME TO HER HUSBAND, AND HE ATE. [And where is it shown that she came out of him? Where it is so written (in Gen. 2:23): BONE OUT OF MY BONE AND FLESH OUT OF MY FLESH, < THIS ONE SHALL BE CALLED WOMAN, BECAUSE SHE WAS TAKEN OUT OF MAN >.] Ergo (in Hab. 1:7): TERRIBLE AND DREADFUL IS THAT ONE. [Another interpretation of] TERRIBLE AND DREADFUL IS THAT ONE. This refers to Pharaoh, when he was world ruler,⁴²Gk.: Kosmokraton. as stated (concerning him in Ps. 105:20): THE RULER OF PEOPLES RELEASED HIM (i.e., Joseph). (Hab. 1:7, cont.): HIS JUSTICE AND HIS DIGNITY PROCEED FROM HIMSELF. This refers to Moses, since he was reared within that one's house, so that he believed that he < actually > was a child of his house, as stated (in Exod. 2:10): WHEN THE BOY HAD GROWN UP, SHE BROUGHT HIM TO PHARAOH'S DAUGHTER; AND HE BECAME HER SON. Then he arose and brought ten plagues upon him, as stated (in Exod. 3:10): [SO COME NOW, I WILL SEND YOU UNTO PHARAOH.] (Exod. 4:17): AND YOU SHALL TAKE IN YOUR HAND THIS ROD, < WITH WHICH YOU SHALL PERFORM THE SIGNS. R. Judah said: The rod had a weight of forty seahs and was < made > of sapphire⁴³Gk.: sappheirinon, an adj. meaning “of sapphire,” or “of lapsis lazuli.” It also had ten plagues (makkot) inscribed upon it with the acronym⁴⁴notarikon. DTsK 'DSh B'HB.⁴⁵D = dam (“blood”), Ts = Tsefardia‘ (“frogs”), K= kinnim (“gnats”), ‘ = ‘arov (“flies”), D = dever (“cattle pestilence”), Sh = shehin (“boils”), B = barad (“hail”), ‘ = ‘arbeh (“locusts”), H = hoshekh (“darkness”), B = bekhorot (“first-born”). Then Moses, when he had looked at the rod and seen the punishment (makkah) which had been appointed to come, brought it upon Pharaoh. Ergo (in Hab. 1:7): TERRIBLE AND DREADFUL < IS THAT ONE >.

"And Adam said: this is now..." Rabbi Yehuda bar Rebbi said: In the beginning He created her, and [Adam] saw that she was full of secretions and blood and separated her from him, and He returned and created her a second time. As it says: "this is now" this is the woman this time. This is now for me the one who will be my partner in the future. As it says: "A golden bell (pa'amon) and a pomegranate" (Exodus 28:34). "This is now" - this is she that perturbed me all night. It was asked before Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish: why was Adam not tired from all his dreams, but was tired from this one [Eve]? He said to them: because at the beginning of her creation she was just a dream, as it says: "bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh." Rabbi Tanhuma said: if a man marries a relative, of him it is written: "bone of my bones." "This one shall be called 'woman' because she was taken from man." From here we learn that Torah was given in Hebrew. Rabbi Pinchas and Rabbi Hilkiya in the name of Rabbi Simon said: just as the Torah was given in Hebrew, so too the world was created in Hebrew. You have heard it said: 'man' and 'woman' [in other languages as distinct words, unrelated to each other], so why ish and isha [the words for 'man' and 'woman' in Hebrew, which are related to each other]? Because this word falls from this word [and, hence, the grammatical inconsistency is explained if the Torah was given in Hebrew].