רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר, אִם יִהְיוּ כָּל הַיַּמִּים דְּיוֹ, וַאֲגַמִּים קוּלְמוֹסִין, וְשָׁמַיִם וְאֶרֶץ מְגִלּוֹת, וְכָל בְּנֵי הָאָדָם לַבְלָרִים, אֵין מַסְפִּיקִין לִכְתּוֹב [דברי תורה שלמדתי].
Rabbi Eliezer says: If all the seas were ink, [all the reeds that grow in] the swamps were quills, the heavens and the earth were scrolls, and all people were scribes, they would not suffice to write [the matters of Torah that I have learned from my teachers].
וְאָמַר רָבָא בַּר מַחְסֵיָא אָמַר רַב חָמָא בַּר גּוּרְיָא אָמַר רַב: אִם יִהְיוּ כׇּל הַיָּמִים דְּיוֹ, וַאֲגַמִּים קוּלְמוֹסִים, וְשָׁמַיִם יְרִיעוֹת, וְכׇל בְּנֵי אָדָם לַבְלָרִין — אֵין מַסְפִּיקִים לִכְתּוֹב חֲלָלָהּ שֶׁל רְשׁוּת. מַאי קְרָאָה אָמַר רַב מְשַׁרְשְׁיָא: ״שָׁמַיִם לָרוּם וָאָרֶץ לָעוֹמֶק וְלֵב מְלָכִים אֵין חֵקֶר״.
And Rava bar Meḥasseya said that Rav Ḥama bar Gurya said that Rav said: Even if all the seas would be ink, and the reeds that grow near swamps would be quills, and the heavens would be parchment upon which the words would be written, and all the people would be scribes; all of these are insufficient to write the unquantifiable space of governmental authority, i.e., all the considerations with which a government must concern itself and deal. Rav Mesharshiya said: What is the verse that alludes to this? “The Heavens on High and the land to the depth and the heart of kings are unsearchable” (Proverbs 25:3).
(יד) כִּֽי־תָבֹ֣א אֶל־הָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֨ר ה׳ אֱלֹקיךָ֙ נֹתֵ֣ן לָ֔ךְ וִֽירִשְׁתָּ֖הּ וְיָשַׁ֣בְתָּה בָּ֑הּ וְאָמַרְתָּ֗ אָשִׂ֤ימָה עָלַי֙ מֶ֔לֶךְ כְּכׇל־הַגּוֹיִ֖ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר סְבִיבֹתָֽי׃ (טו) שׂ֣וֹם תָּשִׂ֤ים עָלֶ֙יךָ֙ מֶ֔לֶךְ אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִבְחַ֛ר ה׳ אֱלֹיךָ בּ֑וֹ מִקֶּ֣רֶב אַחֶ֗יךָ תָּשִׂ֤ים עָלֶ֙יךָ֙ מֶ֔לֶךְ לֹ֣א תוּכַ֗ל לָתֵ֤ת עָלֶ֙יךָ֙ אִ֣ישׁ נׇכְרִ֔י אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־אָחִ֖יךָ הֽוּא׃
If, after you have entered the land that the ETERNAL your God has assigned to you, and taken possession of it and settled in it, you shall say, “I will set a king over me, as do all the nations about me,״
you shall surely set a king over yourself, one chosen by the ETERNAL your God. Be sure to set as king over yourself one of your own people; you must not set a foreigner over you, one who is not your fellow Israelite.
(א) ואמרת וגו׳.םפ אין הפי׳ אמירה כמשמעו בפה אלא כלשון ואמרת אוכלה בשר וכדומה. אכן לפי לשון זה היה במשמע שאין זה מצוה במוחלט למנות מלך אלא רשות, כמו ואמרת אוכלה בשר וגו׳. והרי ידוע בדברי חז״ל דמצוה למנות מלך ואם כן למאי כתיב ואמרת וגו׳. ונראה דמשום דהנהגת המדינה משתנה אם מתנהג על פי דעת מלוכה או עפ״י דעת העם ונבחריהם. ויש מדינה שאינה יכולה לסבול דעת מלוכה. ויש מדינה שבלא מלך הרי היא כספינה בלי קברניט. ודבר זה א״א לעשות עפ״י הכרח מ״ע. שהרי בענין השייך להנהגת הכלל נוגע לסכ״נ שדוחה מ״ע מש״ה לא אפשר לצוות בהחלט למנות מלך כ״ז שלא עלה בהסכמת העם לסבול עול מלך עפ״י שרואים מדינות אשר סביבותיהם מתנהגים בסדר יותר נכון. או אז מ״ע לסנהדרין למנות מלך.... ומשם הכי כל משך שלש מאות שנה שהיה המשכן נבחר בשילה לא היה מלך והיינו משום שלא היה בזה הסכמת העם:
(1) And you shall say, etc.: The explanation of "saying" [here] is not like its simple meaning, but rather like [its] usage in the phrase (Deuteronomy 12:20), “and you shall say,' I want to eat meat'” and in similar [instances]. However according to this usage, it is implied that this is not an absolute commandment to appoint a king, but rather optional, as in the case of “and you shall say, 'I want to eat meat,' etc.” And behold it is known in the words of the sages, may their memory be blessed, that it is a commandment to appoint a king. But, if so, why is it written, "and you shall say, etc.?" And it appears that it is because the government of a state depends upon whether it is run according to the opinion of a monarchy or according to the opinion of the people and its representatives: and there are states that cannot support the opinion of the monarchy and there are states that without a king are like a ship without a captain. And [so] such a thing cannot be done according to the coercion of a positive commandment, since a matter that is relevant to the government of the public touches upon mortal danger (sakanat nefashot) which pushes off a positive commandment. For this reason, it is impossible to absolutely command the appointment of king so long as it is without the consent of the people to support the yoke of the king as a result of their seeing states around them functioning more properly [with a king]. And then [only when they do so] is it a positive commandment for the Sanhedrin to appoint a king.... And it is for this reason that for all of three hundred years, while the Tabernacle was in Shilo, there was no king; because it was lacking the people’s agreement.
There are three major issues dividing Jewish from pagan thought. These are: sovereignty, law, and the status of the individual. Pagan society is organized hierarchically; at the top of which stands a Rex, or absolute sovereign, from whom the law and rights derive. The Rex antecedes law, society, and the individual.... “Sovereignty is a matter of fact,” noted an eminent legal scholar, that is, [a matter of] the violence that the Rex controls. His legitimacy does not derive from an institution [but from the monopoly of legitimate violence].... Law expresses the Rex’s free and unrestricted will. In the words of medieval teachers: “the king is the law” (Rex est lex). (Hakham José Faur, The Horizontal Society, 100–2)
The Tora rejects all of the foregoing. Sovereignty is not the effect of might.... The Law was not imposed but was freely negotiated. Thus the overwhelming principle: Law is not a consequence of dominion, but of an agreement contracted by two consenting parties. This is manifest in the fact that although God has dominion over the whole universe by virtue of Creation, His Law is not binding on the rest of humanity since they were not a party to the berit. (Hakham José Faur, The Horizontal Society, 106)
אֵין לְךָ בֶן חוֹרִין אֶלָּא מִי שֶׁעוֹסֵק בְּתַלְמוּד תּוֹרָה.
There is no free man but one that occupies himself with the study of the Torah.