וַיֹּאמֶר, ה' מִסִּינַי בָּא. מְלַמֵּד, שֶׁהֶחֱזִיר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת הַתּוֹרָה עַל כָּל הָאֻמּוֹת וְלֹא קִבְּלוּהָ, עַד שֶׁבָּא אֵצֶל יִשְׂרָאֵל וְקִבְּלוּהָ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: וְזָרַח מִשֵּׂעִיר לָמוֹ, אֵלּוּ בְּנֵי עֵשָׂו שֶׁהֵן בְּנֵי שֵׂעִיר. הוֹפִיעַ מֵהַר פָּארָן, אֵלּוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׁמָעֵאל, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: וַיֵּשֵׁב בְּמִדְבַּר פָּארָן (בראשית כא, כא). וּכְתִיב: עָמַד וַיְמֹדֶד אֶרֶץ וְגוֹ' (חבקוק ג, ו). כֵּיוָן שֶׁרָאָה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא שֶׁלֹּא רָצוּ לְקַבֵּל הַתּוֹרָה, הִתִּירָן וְהִקְפִּיצָן לַגֵּיהִנָּם, כְּמָה דְּאַתְּ אֲמַר: לְנַתֵּר בָּהֶם עַל הָאָרֶץ (ויקרא יא, כא). וּכְתִיב בְּמָקוֹם אַחֵר, יוֹדוּךָ ה' כָּל מַלְכֵי אָרֶץ כִּי שָׁמְעוּ אִמְרֵי פִיךָ (תהלים קלח, ד). וַעֲדַיִן אָנוּ צְרִיכִין לִלְמֹד שֶׁלֹּא רָצוּ לִשְׁמֹעַ. בָּא מִיכָה הַמּוֹרַשְׁתִּי וּפָסַק אֶת הַדָּבָר, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: וְעָשִׂיתִי בְּאַף וּבְחֵמָה נָקָם אֶת הַגּוֹיִם וְגוֹ' (מיכה ה, יד). הָא לָמַדְתָּ, שֶׁלֹּא רָצוּ לִשְׁמֹעַ לְקַבֵּל אֶת הַתּוֹרָה. בָּא דָּוִד וְנָתַן הוֹדָאָה לִפְנֵי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא עַל כָּךְ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: אַתָּה הָאֵל עוֹשֶׂה פֶלֶא וְגוֹ' (תהלים עז, טו). אָמַר דָּוִד, רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, פְּלָאִים שֶׁעָשִׂיתָ בְּעוֹלָמְךָ שֶׁהוֹדַעְתָּ תּוֹרָתְךָ לְאֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם. וְאֵין עֻזְּךָ אֶלָּא תּוֹרָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ה' עֹז לְעַמּוֹ יִתֵּן, וְגוֹ' (שם כט, יא). אָמַר רַבִּי אֲבָהוּ, גָּלוּי וְיָדוּעַ לִפְנֵי מִי שֶׁאָמַר וְהָיָה הָעוֹלָם שֶׁאֵין אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם מְקַבְּלִין אֶת הַתּוֹרָה. מִפְּנֵי מַה יָּצָא יְדֵיהֶם. אֶלָּא כָּךְ מִדּוֹתָיו שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, עַד שֶׁיָּצָא יְדֵי בְּרִיּוֹתָיו וְאַחַר כָּךְ טוֹרְדָן מִן הָעוֹלָם, לְפִי שֶׁאֵין הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא בָּא בִּטְרוּנְיָא עַל בְּרִיּוֹתָיו. מִדָּה שְׁנִיָּה, מִפְּנֵי מָה יָצָא יְדֵיהֶם, מִפְּנֵי פַּיֵּיס הָאָבוֹת. (Deut. 33:2:) “Then he said, ‘the Lord came from Sinai […].’” [This] teaches you that the Holy One, blessed be He, brought the Torah around to all the nations of the world,12Above, Lev. 3:10; Tanh, Lev. 3:6; Deut. 11:4; PRK 31(suppl. 1):15; cf. Sifre, Deut. 32:8(311); AZ 2b-3a; Lev. R. 13:2. but they did not accept it, until he came to Israel; and they did accept it. Thus it is stated (ibid., cont.), “and He shone upon them from Seir.” These are the Children of Esau, in that they were children of Seir. (Ibid., cont.:) “He appeared from Mount Paran.” These are the Children of Ishmael, of whom it is stated (in Gen. 21:21), “He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran.” It is also written (in Hab. 3:6), “He arose and measured the earth; [He looked and made nations tremble (rt.: ntr, literally, leap)].” When the Holy One, blessed be He, saw that they did not want to accept the Torah, He made them jump into Gehinnom, even as it says (in Lev. 11:21), “to leap (rt.: ntr) with upon the ground.” Yet it says in another place (in Ps. 138:4), “All the kings of the earth shall give thanks to You, O Lord, for they have heard the words of Your mouth.” And [so] we still need to learn that they did not want to heed. Micah the Morashitite came and put an end to the matter, where it is stated (in Micah 5:14), “In anger and wrath will I execute retribution on the nations [because they have not obeyed].” Here you learn that they did not want to receive the Torah. David came and gave thanks to the Holy One, blessed be He, over this, where it is stated (in Ps. 77:15), “You are the God who performs wonders; You have made Your strength known among the peoples.” David said, “Master of the World, O the wonders that You performed when You made Your Torah known to the nations of the world!” [As] “Your strength” can only be Torah, since it is stated (in Ps. 29:11), “The Lord will grant strength to His people.” R. Abbahu said, “It was revealed and made known to the One who spoke and world came into being that the nations of the world would not accept the Torah. Then for what reason did He make them the offer? It is simply that this represents the character of the Holy One, blessed be He. First He made an offer to His creatures, and after that He drove them from the world, because the Holy One, blessed be He, does not deal with His creatures in tyranny.”13Gk.: tyrannia. A second reason for his making them an offer: [It was] on account of appeasement of [their] ancestors.14Cf. PRK 31 (suppl. 1):15, which reads: “Because of the merit of the ancestors.” Abraham had fathered Ishmael and Isaac had fathered Esau.