heads of his people, and cover them up for ever under the rocky mass? Moses throws no light upon the subject. The oral law, the Talmud, must explain the mystery.
(
Hebrew characters)
"And they stood at the nether part of the mountain (or
beneath the mountain). (Exod. xix. 17.) R. Avdimi, the son
of Chama, the son of Chasa, says, These words teach us that
the Holy One, blessed be He, turned the mountain over them
like a tub, and said to them, If ye will receive the law, well;
but if not, there shall be your grave. R. Acha, the son of
R. Jacob, says, This is a great confession for the law."
(Shabbath, fol. 88, 1.) From this extract it appears that the
whole foundation of the fable is a sort of pun upon the words
(Hebrew characters), "beneath the mountain," or as the English
translators rightly have it, "at the nether port of the
mountain." R. Avdimi thought that these words meant, as
Rashi says, (Hebrew characters), "under the mountain in the
strictest sense of the words." But then the puzzle was, how the
Israelites got into that situation. R. Abdimi's imagination
supplied the rest. But in the first place, the word (Hebrew characters)
occurs often enough in both the singular and plural, but never
has this signification. In the second place, this fable directly
contradicts the Mosaic account. God had already sent notice
to inform the people of the giving of the law, and they
had replied, "All that the Lord hath spoken we will do."
(Ver. 8.) In the third place, if the mountain was turned over
them like a tub, how did Moses get up to the top, and what
necessity was there for the command, "Go down, charge the
people, lest they break through?" &c. (Ver. 21.) And lastly,
if the law was forced upon the Israelites contrary to their
wish, cannot they make this an apology for disobedience?
Is not this what R. Acha, the son of Jacob, actually does,
when he says, "This is a great confession for the law?"
So at least Rashi explains his words.
(Hebrew characters)
"A great confession, for if he call them to judgment, saying, Why have ye not kept that which ye took upon yourselves, they have an answer, that they were forced to receive it." (Rashi Comment. in loc.) And this fable, contrary to the
