Avot DeRabbi Natan: The Joy & Danger of Interpretation

(1) Moses received the Torah at Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua, Joshua to the elders, and the elders to the prophets, and the prophets to the Men of the Great Assembly. They said three things: Be patient in [the administration of] justice, raise many disciples and make a fence round the Torah.

And make a fence around the Torah. And make a fence around your words, the way the Holy Blessed One made a fence around His words and Adam made a fence around his words. The Torah made a fence around her words. Moses made a fence around his words. Even Job, and even the Prophets and the sages – they all made a fence around their words.
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What is the fence that Adam made around his words? It says (Genesis 2:16–17), “The Eternal God commanded [Adam]: From every tree of the garden you may absolutely eat. But from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, do not eat. For on the day you eat from it, you will surely die.” Adam the first person did not want to tell Eve in same the way that the Holy Blessed One had told him. Instead, he said this to her (thus making a fence around his words, saying more than what the Holy Blessed One had said to him): God said not to eat from the tree that is in the midst of the garden, nor to touch it, lest you die. He wanted to keep himself and Eve from even touching the tree.
At that moment the wicked snake said to himself: Since I cannot make Adam stumble, I will make Eve stumble. He went and sat beside her, and began chatting with her, and said to her: If you say the Holy Blessed One commanded us not to touch it, look, I will touch it and I will not die. And even you, if you touch it, you will not die. What did the wicked snake do at that moment? He went up and touched the tree with his hands and feet, and shook it until its fruits fell to the ground. Some say that he did not touch it at all, for when the tree saw him, it screamed and said to him, Wicked one! Wicked one! Don’t touch me! as it says (Psalms 36:12), “Do not bring the foot of the arrogant upon me, nor let the hand of the wicked push me away.”

(2) The woman replied to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the other trees of the garden. (3) It is only about fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said: ‘You shall not eat of it or touch it, lest you die.’” (4) And the serpent said to the woman, “You are not going to die [...]”

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Again [the snake] spoke to her and said: If you say the Holy Blessed One commanded us not to eat from the tree, look, I will eat from it and I will not die. And even you, if you eat from it you will not die. What did Eve think to herself? Since everything my master [lit.: Rabbi] has told me so far has been lies – for in the beginning, Eve called Adam “my master [lit.: Rabbi],” so she took [the fruit] and ate it and gave it to Adam, and he ate, as it says (Genesis 3:6), “The woman saw that the tree was good for eating, for it was tempting to the eyes.”

At that moment, Eve was cursed with ten curses, as it says (Genesis 3:16), “He said to the woman: I will increase and increase your pangs in childbearing; you will give birth to children in pain. You will desire your husband, and he will rule over you.” This [“increase”] and that [“increase”] – one refers to the blood from the pain of menstruation and one refers to the blood from the pain of virginity. “Pangs” refers to the pain of raising children, and “childbearing” refers to the pain of pregnancy. “You will give birth to children in pain” is exactly what it says. “You will desire your husband” teaches that the woman desires her husband when he leaves for a trip. “And he will rule over you” means that a man declares his will aloud, while a woman keeps hers silent. She is wrapped up as if she were in mourning, held captive as if she were in prison, and kept apart from all men.

And what was it that caused her to touch [the fruit]? The fence that Adam made around his words! Because of this, they say: If a person makes a fence around his words, he will not be able to live up to his words. And they also say: A person should not add upon the words that he hears. Rabbi Yosei says: Better [a fence] ten handbreadths high that stands, than one that is a hundred arm-lengths high that falls!
What was the wicked snake thinking at that moment? I will go and kill Adam and marry his wife, and then I will be king of the whole world! And I will walk tall and upright, and I will eat all the delicacies of the world! So the Holy Blessed One said to him: You said, I will kill Adam and marry Eve. Thus, “I will place hostility [between you and the woman]” (Genesis 3:14). You said, I will be king of the whole world. Thus, “you will be the most cursed of all the animals” (ibid.). You said, I will walk tall and upright. Thus, “you will crawl on your belly” (ibid.). You said, I will eat all the delicacies of the world. Thus, “you will eat dirt all the days of your life” (ibid.).
Rabbi Shimon ben Menasya said: It is a pity that a great helper was lost from the world. For if the snake had not been cursed, everyone in Israel [i.e., the Jewish people] would have two snakes in his house. One would be sent out to the west, and one would be sent out to the east, and they would bring back gems and precious stones and pearls and every precious thing in the world. And no creature could harm them. And not only that, but they could put them underneath a camel, or a donkey, or a mule, and they would gather the dung and bring it to gardens and orchards [for fertilizer].

Be deliberate in judgment. How so? This teaches that a person should carefully deliberate in judgment, for all who are careful in judgment will feel settled about their judgment, as it says (Proverbs 25:1), "These, too, are the proverbs of Solomon, which the men of King Hezekiah of Judah copied." This does not mean they merely copied them, but that they deliberated over them. Abba Shaul says: They did not merely deliberate carefully over them, but explained them. Originally, they would say: Proverbs, and Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes had to be hidden, for people would recite proverbs that were at odds with Scripture. So they decided to hide them, until the Men of the Great Assembly came along and explained them.

As it says (Proverbs 7:7–20), “I saw among the simple, and noticed among the children, a youth with no sense…and behold a woman came up to him, dressed like a prostitute, with a guarded heart. She is restless and rebellious. Her legs are never at home. Sometimes she is outside, sometimes in the streets; she lurks on every corner. She grabs him, and kisses him, and boldly says to him: I made well-being sacrifices; today I fulfilled my vows. That is why I came up to you, seeking you, and have found you. I have draped my couch with covers of dyed Egyptian cloth. I have scented my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Let us go and fill ourselves with love until the morning. Let us indulge in loving. For the man of the house is out, he has gone on the road, far away. He took a bundle of money with him, and will not come back home until the full moon."

And in Song of Songs (7:12–13) it is written, "Let us go, my beloved, out into field. Let us spend the night in the villages. We will wake up in the vineyards, and see if the vines have flowered, if its blossoms have opened, and if the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give my love to you."

And in Ecclesiastes (11:9) it is written, "Young man, enjoy your childhood! Let your heart feel good while you are still young! Follow the ways of your heart and the visions of your eyes. But know that for all these things, God will bring you to judgment."

And it is written in Song of Songs (7:11), "I am my beloved's, and his desire is upon me." They did not merely deliberate over them, but explained them!