(1) ה' said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
(17) Now ה' had said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, (18) since Abraham is to become a great and populous nation and all the nations of the earth are to bless themselves by him? (19) For I have singled him out, that he may instruct his children and his posterity to keep the way of ה' by doing what is just and right, in order that ה' may bring about for Abraham what has been promised him.”
And all the people answered together, they said: All that YHWH has spoken, we will do.
And Moshe reported the words of the people to YHWH.
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, וכן הוא אומר (תהלים קכח) יודוך ה' כל מלכי ארץ כי שמעו אמרי פיך. יכול שמעו וקיבלו? ת"ל (יחזקאל לג) ואתם לא תעשו, ואומר (מיכה ה) ועשיתי באף ובחימה נקם את הגוי אשר לא שמעו...
Variantly: "And He said: The Eternal came from Sinai": When the Eternal appeared to give Torah to Israel, it is not to Israel alone that God appeared, but to all of the nations.
First God went to the children of Esav, and He asked them: Will you accept the Torah? They asked: What is written in it? God 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."
God then went to the children of Ammon and Moav and asked them: Will you accept the Torah? They asked: What is written in it? God answered "You shall not commit adultery." They answered: Eternal One 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."
God then went and found the children of Yishmael and asked them: Will you accept the Torah? They asked: What is written in it? God answered: "You shall not steal" (Shemoth, Ibid.) They answered: Eternal One 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 God did not go and speak and knock at their door, asking if they would accept the Torah, viz. (Psalms 138:4) "All the kings of the earth will acknowledge You, Eternal One, for they heard the words of Your mouth."
I might think they heard and accepted; it is, therefore, written (Ezekiel 33:31) "And they did not do them (the mitzvot)." And (Michah 5:14) "And with anger and wrath will I take revenge of the nations because they did not accept (the mitzvot)."
Moses went and repeated to the people all the commands of ה' and all the rules; and all the people answered with one voice, saying, “All the things that ה' has commanded we will do!”
Then he took the record of the covenant and read it aloud to the people. And they said, “All that ה' has spoken we will faithfully do!”
The book which we have said contained the part of the Torah from Breisheet till the “Giving of the Torah” including the Commandments that were given to them at Marah...
נעשה ונשמע. נעשה לתכלית שנשמע בקולו כעבדים המשמשים את הרב שלא על דרך לקבל פרס...
We will do and we will hear! This is a reference to action designed to ensure that they could obey God’s directives without thought of any reward that might be in store for them by doing this....
The Jewish people heard and accepted all the laws including the blessings and curses applying to those who observed them and those who would disobey them, after which Moses took the remainder of the blood and sprinkled it upon them, as the seal of the covenant.
He told the people to listen to detailed instructions of these laws starting on the day following. [In other words, the Jews had already bound themselves to be obedient to the Torah’s laws even though they had not yet been written down...
According to our author’s interpretation of the Mechilta when the Israelites said their famous: "We will do and we will hear" is generally understood as their giving God a blank cheque, this was not so, they simply expressed the wish to learn the details of what Moses had already read out to them.
The Gemara considers another aspect of the character of the Jewish people. It is taught in a baraita in the name of Rabbi Meir: For what reason was the Torah given to the Jewish people?
It is because they are impudent, and Torah study will weaken and humble them.
A Sage of the school of Rabbi Yishmael taught the following with regard to the verse: “From His right hand went a fiery law for them” (Deuteronomy 33:2); The Holy Bountiful One said: Based on their nature and character, these people, the Jews, are fit to be given a fiery law, a hard and scorching faith.
Some say a different version of this baraita: The ways and nature of these people, the Jews, are like fire, as, were it not for the fact that the Torah was given to the Jewish people, whose study and observance restrains them, no nation or tongue could withstand them.
(6) For you are a people consecrated to your God ה': of all the peoples on earth your God ה' chose you to be God’s treasured people.
(7) It is not because you are the most numerous of peoples that ה' grew attached to you and chose you—indeed, you are the smallest of peoples;
(8) but it was because ה' favored you and kept the oath made to your ancestors that ה' freed you with a mighty hand and rescued you from the house of bondage, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
(9) Know, therefore, that only your God ה' is God, the steadfast God who keeps the divine covenant faithfully to the thousandth generation of those who love [God] and keep the divine commandments, (10) but who instantly requites with destruction those who reject [God]—never slow with those who reject, but requiting them instantly. (11) Therefore, observe faithfully the Instruction—the laws and the rules—with which I charge you today.
After this mighty man [Abraham] was weaned, he began to explore and think. Though he was a child, he began to think [incessantly] throughout the day and night, wondering: How is it possible for the sphere [of the universe] to continue to revolve without having anyone controlling it? Who is causing it to revolve? Surely, it does not cause itself to revolve.
He had no teacher, nor was there anyone to inform him. Rather, he was mired in Ur Kasdim among the foolish idolaters. His father, mother, and all the people [around him] were idol worshipers, and he would worship with them. [However,] his heart was exploring and [gaining] understanding.
Ultimately, he appreciated the way of truth and understood the path of righteousness through his accurate comprehension. [Abraham] realized that there was one God who controlled the sphere, that God created everything, and that there is no other God among all the other entities. He knew that the entire world was making a mistake. What caused them to err was their service of the stars and images, which made them lose awareness of the truth.
Abraham was forty years old when he became aware of his Creator. When he recognized and knew God, he began to formulate replies to the inhabitants of Ur Kasdim and debate with them, telling them that they were not following a proper path.
He broke their idols and began to teach the people that it is fitting to serve only the God of the world. To God [alone] is it fitting to bow down, sacrifice, and offer libations, so that the people of future [generations] would recognize God.
[Conversely,] it is fitting to destroy and break all the images, lest all the people err concerning them, like those people who thought that there are no other gods besides these [images].
When he overcame them through the strength of his arguments, the king desired to kill him. He was [saved through] a miracle and left for Charan. [There,] he began to call in a loud voice to all people and inform them that there is one God in the entire world and it is proper to serve God. He would go out and call to the people, gathering them in city after city and country after country, until he came to the land of Canaan - proclaiming [God's existence the entire time] - as [Genesis 21:33] states: "And He called there in the name of the Lord, the eternal God."
...
He planted in [people's] hearts this great fundamental principle [that there is only one God], composed texts about it, and taught it to Isaac, his son. Isaac also taught others and turned [their hearts to God]. He also taught Jacob and appointed him as a teacher.
[Jacob] taught others and turned [the hearts] of all those who gathered around him [to God]. He also taught all of his children. He selected Levi and appointed him as the leader. He established him [as the head of] the academy to teach them the way of God and observe the mitzvot of Abraham.
[Jacob] commanded his sons that the leadership should not depart from the descendants of Levi, so that the teachings would not be forgotten.
This concept proceeded and gathered strength among the descendants of Jacob and those who collected around them, until there became a nation within the world which knew God.
When the Jews extended their stay in Egypt, however, they learned from the [Egyptians'] deeds and began worshiping the stars as they did, with the exception of the tribe of Levi, who clung to the mitzvot of the patriarchs - the tribe of Levi never served false gods.
Within a short time, the fundamental principle that Abraham had planted would have been uprooted, and the descendants of Jacob would have returned to the errors of the world and their crookedness. Because of God's love for us, and to uphold the oath God made to Abraham, our patriarch, God brought forth Moses, our teacher, the master of all prophets, and sent him [to redeem the Jews].
After Moses, our teacher, prophesied, and God chose Israel as God's inheritance, God crowned them with mitzvot and informed them of the path to serve God, [teaching them] the judgement prescribed for idol worshiper and all those who stray after it.