the objection of the envious angels.  “I fear,” pleaded he, “lest they consume me with the fiery breath of their mouth.”  Thereupon, by way of protection, he was bid approach and lay hold of the throne of God; as it is said (Job xxvi. 9), “He lays hold of the face of His throne and spreads His cloud over him.”  Thus encouraged, Moses went over the Decalogue, and demanded of the angels whether they had suffered an Egyptian bondage and dwelt among idolatrous nations, so as to require the first commandment; or were they so hardworked as to need a day of rest, etc., etc.  Then the angels at once confessed that they were wrong in seeking to withhold the law from Israel, and they then repeated the words, “O Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth!” (Ps. viii. 9), omitting the words, “Confer Thy glory upon the heavens.”  And not only so, but they positively befriended Moses, and each of them revealed to him some useful secret; as it is said (Ps. lxviii. 18), “Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast captured spoil, thou hast received gifts; because they have contemptuously called thee man.”

Shabbath, fol. 88, col. 2.

Nine hundred and seventy-four generations before the world was created the law was written and deposited in the bosom of the Holy One—­blessed be He!—­and sang praises with the ministering angels.

Avoth d’Rab.  Nathan, chap. 31.

If one is sick and at the point of death, he is expected to confess, for all confess who are about to suffer the last penalty of the law.  When a man goes to the market place, let him consider himself as handed over to the custody of the officers of judgment.  If he has a headache, let him deem himself fastened with a chain by the neck.  If confined to his bed, let him regard himself as mounting the steps to be judged; for when this happens to him, he is saved from death only if he have competent advocates, and these advocates are repentance and good works.  And if nine hundred and ninety-nine plead against him, and only one for him, he is saved; as it is said (Job xxxiii. 23), “If there be an interceding angel, one among a thousand to declare for man his uprightness, then He is gracious unto him and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit.”

Shabbath, fol. 32, col. 1.

Rav Hunna says, “A quarrel is like a breach in the bank of a river; when it is once made it grows wider and wider.”  A certain man used to go about and say, “Blessed is he who submits to a reproach and is silent, for a hundred evils depart from him.”  Shemuel said to Rav Yehuda, “It is written in Scripture (Prov. xvii. 14), ’The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water.’” Strife is the beginning of a hundred lawsuits.

Sanhedrin, fol. 7, col. 1.

When Solomon married the daughter of Pharaoh, she introduced to him a thousand different kinds of musical instruments, and taught him the chants to the various idols.