(ד) ד"א ויאמר ה' מסיני בא - כשנגלה הקב"ה ליתן תורה לישראל לא בלשון אחד נגלה אלא בארבע לשונות: ויאמר ה' מסיני בא - זה לשון עברי. וזרח משעיר למו - זה לשון רומי. הופיע מהר פארן - זה לשון ערבי. ואתא מרבבות קודש - זה לשון ארמי.
(4) Variantly: "And he said: The L-rd came from Sinai": When the Holy One Blessed be He appeared to give Torah to Israel, He did so not with one language but with four languages, viz.: "And he said: "The L-rd came from Sinai" — Hebrew. "and he shone forth from Seir to them" — Romish; "He appeared from Mount Paran" — Arabic; "And He came from the myriads of the holy ones" — Aramaic.
(ו) ד"א ויאמר ה' מסיני בא - כשנגלה המקום ליתן תורה לישראל לא על ישראל בלבד הוא נגלה, אלא על כל האומות: בתחילה הלך אצל בני עשו ואמר להם: מקבלים אתם את התורה? אמרו לו: מה כתוב בה? אמר להם לא תרצח. אמרו: רבש"ע, כל עצמו של אותו אביהם רוצח הוא, שנ' והידים ידי עשו, ועל כך הבטיחו אביו, שנאמר (בראשית כז) על חרבך תחיה. הלך לו אצל בני עמון ומואב ואמר להם: מקבלים אתם את התורה? אמרו לו מה כתוב בו? אמר להם לא תנאף. אמרו לפניו: רבש"ע, עצמה של ערוה להם היא, שנ' ותהרן שתי בנות לוט מאביהם. הלך ומצא בני ישמעאל, אמר להם: מקבלים אתם את התורה? אמרו לו מה כתוב בה? אמר להם לא תגנוב. אמרו לפניו: רבש"ע, כל עצמו אביהם לסטים היה, שנא' והוא יהיה פרא אדם, לא היתה אומה באומות שלא הלך ודבר, ודפק על פתחם מה ירצו ויקבלו את התורה...
(6) Variantly: "And He said: The L-rd came from Sinai": When the L-rd appeared to give Torah to Israel, it is not to Israel alone that He appeared, but to all of the nations. First He went to the children of Esav, and He asked them: Will you accept the Torah? They asked: What is written in it? He answered: "You shall not kill" (Shemoth 20:13). They answered: The entire essence of our father is murder, as it is written (Bereshith 27:22) "And the hands are the hands of Esav." And it is with this that his father assured him (Ibid. 27:40) "And by your sword shall you live." He then went to the children of Ammon and Moav and asked them: Will you accept the Torah? They asked: What is written in it? He answered "You shall not commit adultery." They answered: L-rd of the Universe, ervah (illicit relations) is our entire essence, as it is written (Ibid. 19:36) "And the two daughters of Lot conceived by their father." He then went and found the children of Yishmael and asked them: Will you accept the Torah? They asked: What is written in it? He answered: "You shall not steal" (Shemoth, Ibid.) They answered: L-rd of the Universe, our father's entire essence is stealing, viz. (Bereshith 16:12) "And he (Yishmael) shall be a wild man, his hand against all." There was none among all of the nations to whom He did not go and speak and knock at their door, asking if they would accept the Torah...
V. (25) And that beauty and dignity of the legislation of Moses is honoured not among the Jews only, but also by all other nations, is plain, both from what has been already said and from what I am about to state. (26) In olden time the laws were written in the Chaldaean language, and for a long time they remained in the same condition as at first, not changing their language as long as their beauty had not made them known to other nations; (27) but when, from the daily and uninterrupted respect shown to them by those to whom they had been given, and from their ceaseless observance of their ordinances, other nations also obtained an understanding of them, their reputation spread over all lands … Some persons, thinking it a scandalous thing that these laws should only be known among one half portion of the human race, namely, among the barbarians, and that the Greek nation should be wholly and entirely ignorant of them, turned their attention to their translation. (28) And since this undertaking was an important one, tending to the general advantage, not only of private persons, but also of rulers, of whom the number was not great, it was entrusted to kings and to the most illustrious of all kings. (29) Ptolemy, surnamed Philadelphus … having conceived a great admiration for and love of the legislation of Moses, conceived the idea of having our laws translated into the Greek language; and immediately he sent out ambassadors to the high-priest and king of Judea, for they were the same person. (32) And having explained his wishes, and having requested him to pick him out a number of men, of perfect fitness for the task, who should translate the law, the high-priest, as was natural, being greatly pleased, and thinking that the king had only felt the inclination to undertake a work of such a character from having been influenced by the providence of God, considered, and with great care selected the most respectable of the Hebrews whom he had about him, who in addition to their knowledge of their national scriptures, had also been well instructed in Grecian literature, and cheerfully sent them. (33) And when they arrived at the king's court they were hospitably received by the king … So when they had won his approval, they immediately began to fulfill the objects for which that honourable embassy had been sent … (36) They judged this place to be the most suitable of all the spots in the neighbourhood for them to enjoy quiet and tranquility in, so that they might associate with the laws alone in their minds; and there they remained, and having taken the sacred scriptures, they lifted up them and their hands also to heaven, entreating of God that they might not fail in their object. And he assented to their prayers, that the greater part, or indeed the universal race of mankind might be benefited, by using these philosophical and entirely beautiful commandments for the correction of their lives.
VII. (37) Therefore, being settled in a secret place … they, like men inspired, prophesied, not one saying one thing and another another, but every one of them employed the self-same nouns and verbs, as if some unseen prompter had suggested all their language to them. (38) And yet who is there who does not know that every language, and the Greek language above all others, is rich in a variety of words, and that it is possible to vary a sentence and to paraphrase the same idea, so as to set it forth in a great variety of manners, adapting many different forms of expression to it at different times. But this, they say, did not happen at all in the case of this translation of the law, but that, in every case, exactly corresponding Greek words were employed to translate literally the appropriate Chaldaic words, being adapted with exceeding propriety to the matters which were to be explained … (40) [Hence,] these translators [were] not mere interpreters but hierophants and prophets to whom it had been granted it their honest and guileless minds to go along with the most pure spirit of Moses. (41) On which account, even to this very day, there is every year a solemn assembly held and a festival celebrated in the island of Pharos, to which not only the Jews but a great number of persons of other nations sail across, reverencing the place in which the first light of interpretation shone forth, and thanking God for that ancient piece of beneficence which was always young and fresh. (42) And after the prayers and the giving of thanks some of them pitched their tents on the shore, and some of them lay down without any tents in the open air on the sand of the shore, and feasted with their relations and friends, thinking the shore at that time a more beautiful abode than the furniture of the king's palace. (43) In this way those admirable, and incomparable, and most desirable laws were made known to all people, whether private individuals or kings, and this too at a period when the nation had not been prosperous for a long time. And it is generally the case that a cloud is thrown over the affairs of those who are not flourishing, so that but little is known of them; (44) and then, if they make any fresh start and begin to improve, how great is the increase of their renown and glory? I think that in that case every nation, abandoning all their own individual customs, and utterly disregarding their national laws, would change and come over to the honour of such a people only; for their laws shining in connection with, and simultaneously with, the prosperity of the nation, will obscure all others, just as the rising sun obscures the stars.
If any one were inclined to examine with accuracy the powers of each individual and particular law, he will find them all aiming at the harmony of the universe, and corresponding to the law of eternal nature.
After this let those clever libelers continue, if they can, to accuse the nation of misanthropy and charge the laws with enjoining unsociable and unfriendly practices, when these laws so clearly extend their pity to flocks and herds, and our people through the instructions of the law learn from their earliest years to correct any willfulness of souls to gentle behavior.
מַעֲשֶׂה בְּתַלְמַי הַמֶּלֶךְ שֶׁכִּינֵּס שִׁבְעִים וּשְׁנַיִם זְקֵנִים וְהִכְנִיסָן בְּשִׁבְעִים וּשְׁנַיִם בָּתִּים וְלֹא גִּילָּה לָהֶם עַל מָה כִּינְסָן וְנִכְנַס אֵצֶל כׇּל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד וְאָמַר לָהֶם כִּתְבוּ לִי תּוֹרַת מֹשֶׁה רַבְּכֶם נָתַן הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא בְּלֵב כׇּל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד עֵצָה וְהִסְכִּימוּ כּוּלָּן לְדַעַת אַחַת וְכָתְבוּ לוֹ אֱלֹהִים בָּרָא בְּרֵאשִׁית אֶעֱשֶׂה אָדָם בְּצֶלֶם וּבִדְמוּת וַיְכַל בְּיוֹם הַשִּׁשִּׁי וַיִּשְׁבּוֹת בְּיוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה בְּרָאוֹ וְלֹא כָּתְבוּ בְּרָאָם הָבָה אֵרְדָה וְאָבְלָה שָׁם שְׂפָתָם וַתִּצְחַק שָׂרָה בִּקְרוֹבֶיהָ כִּי בְאַפָּם הָרְגוּ שׁוֹר וּבִרְצוֹנָם עִקְּרוּ אֵבוּס וַיִּקַּח מֹשֶׁה אֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ וְאֶת בָּנָיו וַיַּרְכִּיבֵם עַל נוֹשֵׂא בְּנֵי אָדָם וּמוֹשַׁב בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יָשְׁבוּ בְּמִצְרָיִם וּבִשְׁאָר אֲרָצוֹת אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה וַיִּשְׁלַח אֶת זַאֲטוּטֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאֶל זַאֲטוּטֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא שָׁלַח יָדוֹ
There was an incident involving King Ptolemy of Egypt, who assembled seventy-two Elders, and put them into seventy-two separate rooms, and did not reveal to them for what purpose he assembled them. He entered and approached each and every one, and said to them: Write for me a translation of the Torah of Moses your teacher. The Holy One, Blessed be He, placed wisdom in the heart of each and every one, and they all agreed to one common understanding. And they wrote for him: God created in the beginning [bereshit], reversing the order of the words in the first phrase in the Torah. And they wrote: I shall make man in image and in likeness, rather than: “Let us make man in our image and in our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). They wrote: And on the sixth day He concluded His work, and He rested on the seventh day. They also wrote: Male and female He created him, and they did not write as it is written in the Torah: “Male and female He created them” (Genesis 5:2). Instead of: “Come, let us go down, and there confound their language” (Genesis 11:7), they wrote in the singular: Come, let me go down, and there confound their language. In addition, they replaced the verse: “And Sarah laughed within herself [bekirba]” (Genesis 18:12), with: And Sarah laughed among her relatives [bikroveha]. They also altered the verse: “For in their anger they slew a man and in their self-will they slaughtered an ox” (Genesis 49:6), to read: For in their anger they slew an ox and in their self-will they uprooted a trough, to avoid the charge that Jacob’s sons were murderers. Instead of: “And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon a donkey” (Exodus 4:20), they wrote: And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon a carrier of people. Instead of: “And the residence of the children of Israel, who resided in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years” (Exodus 12:40), they wrote: And the residence of the children of Israel, who resided in Egypt and in other lands, was four hundred years. Instead of: “And he sent the youth of the children of Israel, who brought burnt-offerings” (Exodus 24:5), they wrote: And he sent the elect [za’atutei] of the children of Israel. The same term was substituted again several verses later, rendering the verse: “And upon the nobles of the children of Israel He laid not His hand” (Exodus 24:11), as: And upon the elect of the children of Israel He laid not His hand.
It once happened that five elders wrote the Torah for King Ptolemy in Greek, and that day was as ominous for Israel as the day on which the golden calf was made, since the Torah could not be accurately translated.
Before the Romans established their dominion and the Macedonians still ruled Asia, Ptolemy, the son of Lagus … eager to supply the library in Alexandria he had built with the most important writings of all humanity, communicated to the Jerusalemites his wish to possess their writings in the Greek language. They … sent Ptolemy seventy elders, especially learned among them in scriptural exegesis and in both languages, so that they might fulfill his wish. Since Ptolemy, fearing that they could obscure the true content of the writings by agreement, wanted to test each one, however, he separated them from one another and commanded that all should translate the same work; he did this for all the books. But when they assembled before Ptolemy and compared their translations to one another, glory be to God, the writings were proven to be truly divine. For all had rendered the same texts with the same words and the same meanings … so that even the pagans present acknowledged that the books had been translated by divine inspiration.
פסיקתא רבתי (איש שלום) פרשה ה
אמר רבי יהודה ברבי שלום ביקש משה שתהא המשנה בכתב וצפה הקדוש ברוך הוא שהאומות עתידין לתרגם את התורה ולהיות קוראים בה יוונית ואומרים אין הם ישראל (תנחומא וירא: אנו הם ישראל) אמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא הא משה עתידין האומות להיות אומרים אנו הם ישראל אנו הם בניו של מקום וישראל אומרים אנו הם בניו של מקום, ועכשיו המאזניים מעויין, אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא לאומות מה אתם אומרים שאתם בניי איני יודע אלא מי שמסטירין שלי בידו הוא בני אמרו לו ומה הם מסטירין שלך אמר להם זו המשנה,
Pesiqta Rabbati, § 5
Rabbi Yehuda berabi Shalom said: Moses requested that the Mishnah be in writing. But the Holy One, Blessed be He, foresaw that the nations would translate the Torah and would be reading it in Greek and would be saying, We are Israel! The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to him, Behold! Moses! In the future the nations will be saying, We are Israel, we are sons of God. And Israel will be saying, We are sons of God. And until now, the scales are balanced. The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to the nations, What is this that you are saying? That you are my sons? I do not know. But he who possesses my Mystery, he is my son. They said to him, And what is your Mystery? He replied to them, It is the Mishna.
Tonight we have the great honor to present the complete Schottenstein Talmud, this elucidation of the Babylonian Talmud, to the Library of Congress. This library is one of the great gifts of the United States of America. Our culture, our knowledge, our aspirations for the future, are all housed in these magnificent buildings. And now, the complete Talmud, the Schottenstein edition of the Talmud, will take its place with Thomas Jefferson’s single Latin volume of Tractate Bava Qamma.