Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 528 pages of information about Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and.

Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 528 pages of information about Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and.

Bereshith Rabbah, chap. 8.

Rabbi Hoshaiah said, “When God created Adam the ministering angels mistook him for a divine being, and were about to say, ’Holy! holy! holy!’ before him.  But God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, so that all knew he was only a man.  This explains what is written (Isa. ii. 22), ’Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to be accounted of’?”

Ibid.

Rabbi Yochanan saith, “Adam and Eve seemed as if they were about twenty years old when they were created.”

Ibid., chap. 14.

Rav Acha said when God was about to create Adam He consulted the ministering angels, and asked them, saying, “Shall we make man?” They enquired, “Of what good will this man be?” He replied, “His wisdom will be greater than yours.”  One day, therefore, He brought together the cattle, the beasts, and the birds, and asked them the name of them severally, but they knew not.  He then caused them to pass before Adam, and asked him, “What is the name of this and the other?” Then Adam replied, “This is an ox, this is an ass,” and so on.  “And thou, why is thy name Adam?” (i.e. in Hebrew, man).  “I ought to be called Adam,” was his reply, “for I was created from Adamah” (the ground).  “And what is My name?” “It is meet Thou shouldst be called Lord, for Thou art Lord over all Thy creatures.”  Rav Acha says, “‘I am the Lord, that is My name’ (Isa. xlii. 8).  ‘That is My name which Adam called Me.’”

Bereshith Rabbah, chap. 17.

Rabba Eliezer says Adam was skilled in all manner of crafts.  What proof is there of this?  It is said (Isa. xliv. 11), “And the artisans, they are of Adam.”

Ibid., chap. 24.

“And the Lord said, I will destroy man” (Gen. vi. 7).  Rabbi Levi, in the name of Rabbi Yochanan, says that even millstones were destroyed.  Rabbi Yuda, in the name of Rabbi Yochanan, declares even the very dust of Adam was destroyed.  Rabbi Yuda, in the name of Rabbi Shimon, insists that even the (resurrection) bone of the spine, from which God will one day cause man to sprout forth again, was destroyed.

Ibid., chap. 28.

Concerning the bone, the os coccygis, there is an interesting story in Midrash Kohelet (fol. 114, 3), which may be appropriately inserted here.  Hadrian (whose bones may they be ground, and his name blotted out) once asked Rabbi Joshua ben Chanania, “From what shall the human frame be reconstructed when it rises again?” “From Luz in the backbone,” was the answer.  “Prove this to me,” said Hadrian.  Then the Rabbi took Luz, a small bone of the spine, and immersed it in water, but it was not softened; he put it into the fire, but it was not consumed; he put it into a mill, but it could not be pounded; he placed it upon an anvil and struck it with a hammer, but the anvil split and the hammer was broken. (See also Zohar in “Genesis,” 206, etc. etc.)
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Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.