(מז) דע כי הש"י ברא העולמות בשמותיו ובצירופן, וכמו שאמרו רז"ל (ברכות נה, א) יודע היה בצלאל לצרף האותיות שבהם נבראו שמים וארץ. והנה הראשונים שהיו בצלם אלקים היה מקויים בהם ידע את שמי, והיו משתמשים בשמו בקדושה לעבדו ולאוהבו ולדבק בו, וזה היה עד אנוש שהיה בצלם וכדאיתא במדרש רבה שהבאתי למעלה. אבל מדור אנוש ואילך אז הוחל לקרוא בשם יקוק (בראשית ד, כו), כלומר היו משתמשים בשם אבל חולין היה להם, וזהו שאמר הוחל לשון חולין. והיה זה עד דור המבול המה הגבורים אנשי השם והיו עוסקים בהשבעות שמות כדאיתא בזוהר (ח"א לז, א) נאמר כאן (בראשית ו, ד) אנשי השם, ונאמר התם (ויקרא כד, יא) ויקוב [וגו'] את השם, על כן לא היו יראים מהמבול ולא היו מאמינים שביד הקב"ה לבטל כחם, ועיין בזוהר באורך. אבל ענין ידיעתם את השם נעשה להם שממון, ויצדק ג"כ הפירוש הפשוטו אנשי שממון:
(47) We must appreciate that when G–d created different worlds, He named, i.e. formed and defined them by means of a combination of the letters of the alphabet. Our sages say that Betzalel understood the mystery of the combinations of all of these letters which make up the names [definitions] of all things found in this world (Berachot 55 based on the word שם in Exodus 35,30). Early man, who was still בצלם אלוקים, was still able to understand the significance of the names of G–d, and used these names to serve Him in holiness and love in order to cleave to Him. This condition came to an end with the generation of Enosh, as we have explained earlier based on Bereshit Rabbah. When we read in Genesis 4,26 that during the lifetime of Enosh אז הוחל לקרא בשם ה', "then one began to profane the name of the Lord," the meaning is that people no longer used His Name in holiness but desecrated it. The expression הוחל indicates something that is profane, חולין. This situation continued until the advent of the deluge. When the Torah speaks about המה הגבורים אשר היו מעולם אנשי השם, "they were the heroes of old, men of the "Name" (Genesis 6,4), this means that these people used the name of G–d to manipulate the universe, as described in the Zohar, Sullam edition page 209. The expression אנשי השם in Genesis, and the expression ויקוב את השם in Leviticus 24,11, where the Torah refers to the blasphemer, suggests a similar misuse of the Holy Name of G–d in both instances. It was the ability of these people to use G–d's name in order to manipulate it that made them disregard the warnings of an impending deluge. All this is described at greater length in the Zohar. We find that the people of Jerusalem are described by the prophet Ezekiel 12,19 as also having displayed misplaced optimism concerning the prophecies of doom by Jeremiah. The people's very knowledge of G–d's name was what misled them. This is the justification for the reference in Ezekiel to these people as "dwellers in ruins" when in fact they were still dwelling in Jerusalem.
(ג) נַחְמָן בְּנוֹ שֶׁל רַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמָנִי אָמַר, לְמָה הַדָּבָר דּוֹמֶה? לְצִנְצֶנֶת מְלֵאָה חֲגָבִים, עָלָה הָרִאשׁוֹן וְנָפַל, עָלָה הַשֵּׁנִי וְנָפַל, וְהַשְּׁלִישִׁי וְנָפַל. שְׁלִישִׁי לֹא לָמַד מִן הַשֵּׁנִי, וְהַשֵּׁנִי לֹא לָמַד מִן הָרִאשׁוֹן. כָּךְ עָמְדוּ דוֹרוֹ שֶׁל אֱנוֹשׁ קָרְאוּ שְׁמוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לַעֲבוֹדָה זָרָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: אָז הוּחַל לִקְרֹא בְּשֵׁם וְגוֹ' (בראשית ד, כו). וְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא קָרָא יָם אוֹקְיָנוֹס וְהֵצִיף שְׁלִישׁוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: הַקּוֹרֵא לְמֵי הַיָּם וַיִּשְׁפְּכֵם עַל פְּנֵי הָאָרֶץ יקוק שְׁמוֹ (עמוס ה, ח). וְאוֹמֵר: אֲבָנִים שָׁחֲקוּ מַיִם תִּשְׁטֹף סְפִיחֶיהָ עֲפַר אָרֶץ וְתִקְוַת אֱנוֹשׁ הֶאֱבַדְתָּ (איוב יד, יט).
(3) Nahman the son of R. Samuel the son of Nahmani said: This may be compared to a bottle filled with locusts. One locust climbs the side of the bottle and falls; a second also climbs and falls; and a third does likewise. The third locust learned nothing from the experience of the second, and the second learned nothing from the experience of the first. When the generation of Enoch called their idols by the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said: Then began men to call by the name of the Lord (Gen. 4:26), the Holy One, blessed be He, summoned the Mediterranean Sea and a third of the world was inundated, as it is said: That calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth, the Lord is His Name (Amos 5:8). And it says also: The waters wear the stones, the overflowings thereof wash away the dust of the earth; so Thou destroyest the hope of man (Job 14:19).
Moreh Nevuchim Section 2: Chapter 47
"Whose height is like that of cedar trees" (Amos ii. 9). Instances of this kind are frequent in the language of all prophets; what they say is frequently hyperbolic or
exaggerated, and not precise or exact. What Scripture says about Og, "Behold, his bedstead was an iron bedstead, nine cubits its length," etc. (Deut.), does not belong to this class of figures, for the bedstead (eres, comp. arsenu, Song of Sol. i. 16) is never exactly, of the same dimensions as the person using it; it is not like a dress that fits round the body; it is always greater than the person that sleeps therein; as a rule, is it by a third longer. If, therefore, the bed of Og was nine cubits in length, he must, according to this proportion, have been six cubits high, or a little more. The words, "by the cubit of a man," mean, by the measure of an ordinary man, and not by the measure of Og; for men have the limbs in a certain proportion. Scripture thus tells us that Og was double as long as an ordinary person, or a little less. This is undoubtedly an exceptional height among men, but not quite impossible.