וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה פְּסָל־לְךָ֛ שְׁנֵֽי־לֻחֹ֥ת אֲבָנִ֖ים כָּרִאשֹׁנִ֑ים וְכָתַבְתִּי֙ עַל־הַלֻּחֹ֔ת אֶת־הַדְּבָרִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר הָי֛וּ עַל־הַלֻּחֹ֥ת הָרִאשֹׁנִ֖ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר שִׁבַּֽרְתָּ׃
At sinabi ng Walang-Hanggan kay Moises: “Umukit ka para sa iyong sarili ng dalawang tapyas na bato na tulad ng mga una; at isusulat Ko sa mga tapyas ang mga salitang nasa mga unang tapyas na iyong binasag.”
Ruth Rabbah
Rabbi Menaḥem bar Avin interpreted the verse as referring to Moses. “And Yokim” (I Chronicles 4:22) – on the basis of: “Rise [kuma] Lord, and let Your enemies be scattered” (Numbers 10:35). “And the people of Kozeva” (I Chronicles 4:22) – as he rendered the word of the Holy One blessed be He like falsehoods [kazav], as it is stated: “Why, Lord, is Your wrath enflamed at Your people?” (Exodus 32:11).75God had said that He would consume the Israelites (Exodus 32:10), but after Moses’ prayer, He relented and did not destroy them. “Yoash” (I Chronicles 4:22) – as he despaired [nitya’ash] of living,” as it is stated: “And if not, please expunge me” (Exodus 32:32). “And Saraf” (I Chronicles 4:22) - as he mentioned the act of those who were burned [serufim], “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants” (Exodus 32:13).76See footnote 18. “Who had dominion [ba’alu] over Moav” (I Chronicles 4:22) – as his pleasant actions ascended [alu] and came before his Father [aviv] in Heaven. “And Yashuvi Laḥem” (I Chronicles 4:22) – as he ascended on high and captured the Torah, on the basis of what is stated: “You ascended on high and you took a captive [shevi]” (Psalms 68:19).
“And the matters are ancient [atikim]” (I Chronicles 4:22) – Rabbi Aivu and Rabbi Yehuda ben Simon, Rabbi Aivu said: Even items that were taken [nitatku] from them, [Moses] returned, as it is stated: “Hew for yourself [two tablets of stone like the first]” (Exodus 34:1). These matters77On the tablets. were stated by He who will [ultimately] remove [ma’atik] the world, as it is said: “He removed from there” (Genesis 12:8).78Thus, the term atikim in the verse in I Chronicles is interpreted to refer to the tablets broken by Moses and then replaced, which contained the word of God. Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon said: These matters are vague here, but explicit elsewhere. He restored [the tablets] to them, as it is stated: “The Lord said to Moses: ‘Write these matters for yourself, as on the basis of these matters [I have established a covenant with you and with Israel]’” (Exodus 34:27). “They are the yotzerim” (I Chronicles 4:23) – on the basis of: “The Lord God formed [vayitzer]” (Genesis 2:19).79The midrash interprets the word yotzerim in the sense of yetzurim, creations. The subject is the words of Torah, because God’s intent in creating the world was in order to give the Torah (Etz Yosef).
Another matter, “they are the yotzerim” (I Chronicles 4:23) – these are the souls of the righteous with whom the Holy One blessed be He consulted when creating the world. “And the dwellers among the plants” (I Chronicles 4:23) – on the basis of: “And the Lord God planted” (Genesis 2:8). “And a fence” (I Chronicles 4:23) – on the basis of what is stated: “Who placed the sand for the bound of the sea” (Jeremiah 5:22). “With the king in his service” (I Chronicles 4:23) – the souls of the righteous sat there with the King who is the king of kings, the Holy One blessed be He, and He consulted them and created His world.
“And the matters are ancient [atikim]” (I Chronicles 4:22) – Rabbi Aivu and Rabbi Yehuda ben Simon, Rabbi Aivu said: Even items that were taken [nitatku] from them, [Moses] returned, as it is stated: “Hew for yourself [two tablets of stone like the first]” (Exodus 34:1). These matters77On the tablets. were stated by He who will [ultimately] remove [ma’atik] the world, as it is said: “He removed from there” (Genesis 12:8).78Thus, the term atikim in the verse in I Chronicles is interpreted to refer to the tablets broken by Moses and then replaced, which contained the word of God. Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon said: These matters are vague here, but explicit elsewhere. He restored [the tablets] to them, as it is stated: “The Lord said to Moses: ‘Write these matters for yourself, as on the basis of these matters [I have established a covenant with you and with Israel]’” (Exodus 34:27). “They are the yotzerim” (I Chronicles 4:23) – on the basis of: “The Lord God formed [vayitzer]” (Genesis 2:19).79The midrash interprets the word yotzerim in the sense of yetzurim, creations. The subject is the words of Torah, because God’s intent in creating the world was in order to give the Torah (Etz Yosef).
Another matter, “they are the yotzerim” (I Chronicles 4:23) – these are the souls of the righteous with whom the Holy One blessed be He consulted when creating the world. “And the dwellers among the plants” (I Chronicles 4:23) – on the basis of: “And the Lord God planted” (Genesis 2:8). “And a fence” (I Chronicles 4:23) – on the basis of what is stated: “Who placed the sand for the bound of the sea” (Jeremiah 5:22). “With the king in his service” (I Chronicles 4:23) – the souls of the righteous sat there with the King who is the king of kings, the Holy One blessed be He, and He consulted them and created His world.
Devarim Rabbah
“At that time the Lord said to me: Carve for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and ascend to Me to the mountain, and make for yourself a wooden Ark” (Deuteronomy 10:1).
“At that time the Lord said to me: Carve for yourself” – halakha: A person of Israel who betrothed a woman; who must pay the wages [of the scribe] for [writing] the document of betrothal? So the Sages taught: One writes documents of betrothal and marriage only with the consent of both, and the groom pays the wages. From whom did they learn this? From the Holy One blessed be He, when the Holy One blessed be He sanctified Israel at Sinai, as it is written: “The Lord said to Moses: Go to the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow” (Exodus 19:10). Who wrote that document? It was Moses. From where is this derived? “Moses wrote this Torah” (Deuteronomy 31:9). What reward did the Holy One blessed be He give him? It was the radiance of his face, as it is written: “Moses did not know that the skin of his face was radiant” (Exodus 34:29). When? “Upon His speaking with him” (Exodus 34:29).
Reish Lakish said: When he wrote the Torah, Moses received the radiance of his face. How so? Reish Lakish said: The Torah that was given to Moses, its parchment was white fire, it was written with black fire, sealed with fire, and bound with fire. As he was writing, he wiped the quill in his hair, and it was from there that he received the radiance of his face. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: Moses received the radiance of his face from the Tablets. As the Tablets were given to him, from hand to hand, he received the radiance of his face. When Israel performed that act, he took [the Tablets] and shattered them. The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘When you served as an intermediary for Israel, I gave you the reward of radiance of the face, now, you shattered the Tablets.’ Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Our Rabbis taught: If the barrel broke, it broke for the intermediary.26He is the one who must replace it. The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘You were the intermediary between Me and my children – you shattered it, you replace it.’ From where is this derived? From that which is written: “The Lord said to Moses: Carve for yourself two tablets of stone, like the first, and I will write on the Tablets the words that were on the first Tablets that you shattered. And be prepared for the morning, and you shall ascend in the morning to Mount Sinai, and you shall stand there for Me at the top of the mountain. No man shall ascend with you and no man shall be seen on the entire mountain. The flocks and the cattle shall not graze facing that mountain” (Exodus 34:1–3).
“At that time the Lord said to me: Carve for yourself” – halakha: A person of Israel who betrothed a woman; who must pay the wages [of the scribe] for [writing] the document of betrothal? So the Sages taught: One writes documents of betrothal and marriage only with the consent of both, and the groom pays the wages. From whom did they learn this? From the Holy One blessed be He, when the Holy One blessed be He sanctified Israel at Sinai, as it is written: “The Lord said to Moses: Go to the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow” (Exodus 19:10). Who wrote that document? It was Moses. From where is this derived? “Moses wrote this Torah” (Deuteronomy 31:9). What reward did the Holy One blessed be He give him? It was the radiance of his face, as it is written: “Moses did not know that the skin of his face was radiant” (Exodus 34:29). When? “Upon His speaking with him” (Exodus 34:29).
Reish Lakish said: When he wrote the Torah, Moses received the radiance of his face. How so? Reish Lakish said: The Torah that was given to Moses, its parchment was white fire, it was written with black fire, sealed with fire, and bound with fire. As he was writing, he wiped the quill in his hair, and it was from there that he received the radiance of his face. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: Moses received the radiance of his face from the Tablets. As the Tablets were given to him, from hand to hand, he received the radiance of his face. When Israel performed that act, he took [the Tablets] and shattered them. The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘When you served as an intermediary for Israel, I gave you the reward of radiance of the face, now, you shattered the Tablets.’ Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Our Rabbis taught: If the barrel broke, it broke for the intermediary.26He is the one who must replace it. The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘You were the intermediary between Me and my children – you shattered it, you replace it.’ From where is this derived? From that which is written: “The Lord said to Moses: Carve for yourself two tablets of stone, like the first, and I will write on the Tablets the words that were on the first Tablets that you shattered. And be prepared for the morning, and you shall ascend in the morning to Mount Sinai, and you shall stand there for Me at the top of the mountain. No man shall ascend with you and no man shall be seen on the entire mountain. The flocks and the cattle shall not graze facing that mountain” (Exodus 34:1–3).
Devarim Rabbah
Another matter, “carve for you” – they asked Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Zakkai: Why were the first Tablets, the work of Heaven, and the second, the work of man? He said to them: To what is the matter comparable: To a king who married a woman and brought the paper and the scribe at his own expense. He adorned her at his expense and took her into his house. The king saw her flirting with one of his slaves. He became angry at her and banished her. Her friend came to him and said to him: ‘My master, do you not know from where you took her? Did she not grow up among slaves? Since she grew up among slaves, she is familiar with them.’ The king said to him: ‘What are you requesting, that I reconcile with her? Bring the paper and the scribe at your expense, and I will give my signature.’ So, Moses said to the Holy One blessed be He, when they committed that deed,32The sin of the Golden Calf. he said to Him: ‘Do You not know from what place You took them? It was from Egypt, a place of idol worship.’ The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘What are you requesting, that I reconcile with them? Bring the Tablets at your expense, and I will add My handwriting’ – “[The Lord said to Moses: Carve for yourself two Tablets of stone like the first,] and I will write on the Tablets” (Exodus 34:1).
The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Moses, as you live, just as you devoted your life to them in this world, so, in the future, when I bring Elijah the prophet, both of you will come as one.’ From where is this derived? From that which is written: “The Lord is slow to anger, and great of power, and He will not exonerate; the Lord, in a storm and in a tempest is His way, and the dust of His feet is a cloud. He castigates the sea and dries it, and all the rivers He has made dry; Bashan and Carmel are miserable and the flower of Lebanon is miserable” (Nahum 1:3–4). “In a storm [besufa]” – this is Moses, as it is written: “She could no longer conceal him, and she took a wicker basket for him and coated it with clay and with pitch; she placed the child in it and placed it among the reeds [basuf] on the bank of the Nile” (Exodus 2:3). “And in a tempest” – this is Elijah, as it is written: “It was as they were walking, walking and talking, and behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared, and they separated between the two of them, and Elijah went up in a tempest to the heavens. Elisha saw, and he was shouting: My father, my father, chariot of Israel and its horsemen; and he did not see him anymore. He grasped his garments, and rent them into two pieces” (II Kings 2:11–12). At that time he will come and comfort you.33Elijah, along with Moses, will come to comfort Israel. From where is this derived? As it is stated: “[Remember the Torah of Moses My servant…] Behold, I am sending Elijah the prophet to you… He will return the heart of the fathers to the children” (Malachi 3:22–24).
The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Moses, as you live, just as you devoted your life to them in this world, so, in the future, when I bring Elijah the prophet, both of you will come as one.’ From where is this derived? From that which is written: “The Lord is slow to anger, and great of power, and He will not exonerate; the Lord, in a storm and in a tempest is His way, and the dust of His feet is a cloud. He castigates the sea and dries it, and all the rivers He has made dry; Bashan and Carmel are miserable and the flower of Lebanon is miserable” (Nahum 1:3–4). “In a storm [besufa]” – this is Moses, as it is written: “She could no longer conceal him, and she took a wicker basket for him and coated it with clay and with pitch; she placed the child in it and placed it among the reeds [basuf] on the bank of the Nile” (Exodus 2:3). “And in a tempest” – this is Elijah, as it is written: “It was as they were walking, walking and talking, and behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared, and they separated between the two of them, and Elijah went up in a tempest to the heavens. Elisha saw, and he was shouting: My father, my father, chariot of Israel and its horsemen; and he did not see him anymore. He grasped his garments, and rent them into two pieces” (II Kings 2:11–12). At that time he will come and comfort you.33Elijah, along with Moses, will come to comfort Israel. From where is this derived? As it is stated: “[Remember the Torah of Moses My servant…] Behold, I am sending Elijah the prophet to you… He will return the heart of the fathers to the children” (Malachi 3:22–24).