(יח) וְהַ֤ר סִינַי֙ עָשַׁ֣ן כֻּלּ֔וֹ מִ֠פְּנֵי אֲשֶׁ֨ר יָרַ֥ד עָלָ֛יו יי בָּאֵ֑שׁ וַיַּ֤עַל עֲשָׁנוֹ֙ כְּעֶ֣שֶׁן הַכִּבְשָׁ֔ן וַיֶּחֱרַ֥ד כָּל־הָהָ֖ר מְאֹֽד׃ (יט) וַיְהִי֙ ק֣וֹל הַשּׁוֹפָ֔ר הוֹלֵ֖ךְ וְחָזֵ֣ק מְאֹ֑ד מֹשֶׁ֣ה יְדַבֵּ֔ר וְהָאֱלֹהִ֖ים יַעֲנֶ֥נּוּ בְקֽוֹל׃ (כ) וַיֵּ֧רֶד יי עַל־הַ֥ר סִינַ֖י אֶל־רֹ֣אשׁ הָהָ֑ר וַיִּקְרָ֨א יי לְמֹשֶׁ֛ה אֶל־רֹ֥אשׁ הָהָ֖ר וַיַּ֥עַל מֹשֶֽׁה׃
(18) Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke, for Adonai had come down upon it in fire; the smoke rose like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled violently. (19) The call of the shofar grew louder and louder. As Moses spoke, God answered him in thunder. (20) Adonai came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain, and the Adonai called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
(י) י֗וֹם אֲשֶׁ֨ר עָמַ֜דְתָּ לִפְנֵ֨י יי אֱלֹקֶיךָ֮ בְּחֹרֵב֒ בֶּאֱמֹ֨ר יי אֵלַ֗י הַקְהֶל־לִי֙ אֶת־הָעָ֔ם וְאַשְׁמִעֵ֖ם אֶת־דְּבָרָ֑י אֲשֶׁ֨ר יִלְמְד֜וּן לְיִרְאָ֣ה אֹתִ֗י כָּל־הַיָּמִים֙ אֲשֶׁ֨ר הֵ֤ם חַיִּים֙ עַל־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה וְאֶת־בְּנֵיהֶ֖ם יְלַמֵּדֽוּן׃ (יא) וַתִּקְרְב֥וּן וַתַּֽעַמְד֖וּן תַּ֣חַת הָהָ֑ר וְהָהָ֞ר בֹּעֵ֤ר בָּאֵשׁ֙ עַד־לֵ֣ב הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם חֹ֖שֶׁךְ עָנָ֥ן וַעֲרָפֶֽל׃ (יב) וַיְדַבֵּ֧ר יי אֲלֵיכֶ֖ם מִתּ֣וֹךְ הָאֵ֑שׁ ק֤וֹל דְּבָרִים֙ אַתֶּ֣ם שֹׁמְעִ֔ים וּתְמוּנָ֛ה אֵינְכֶ֥ם רֹאִ֖ים זוּלָתִ֥י קֽוֹל׃ (יג) וַיַּגֵּ֨ד לָכֶ֜ם אֶת־בְּרִית֗וֹ אֲשֶׁ֨ר צִוָּ֤ה אֶתְכֶם֙ לַעֲשׂ֔וֹת עֲשֶׂ֖רֶת הַדְּבָרִ֑ים וַֽיִּכְתְּבֵ֔ם עַל־שְׁנֵ֖י לֻח֥וֹת אֲבָנִֽים׃
(10) The day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when Adonai said to me, “Gather the people to Me that I may let them hear My words, in order that they may learn to revere Me as long as they live on earth, and may so teach their children.” (11) You came forward and stood at the foot of the mountain. The mountain was ablaze with flames to the very skies, dark with densest clouds. (12) Adonai spoke to you out of the fire; you heard the sound of words but perceived no shape—nothing but a voice. (13) He declared to you the covenant that He commanded you to observe, the Ten Commandments; and He inscribed them on two tablets of stone.
ואוֹמֵר (שמות כ, טו): וְכָל הָעָם רֹאִים אֶת הַקּוֹלֹת. הַקּוֹל אֵין כְּתִיב כָּאן אֶלָּא הַקּוֹלֹת.
בּוֹא וּרְאֵה הֵיאַךְ הַקּוֹל יוֹצֵא, אֵצֶל כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל כָּל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד לְפִי כֹּחוֹ, הַזְּקֵנִים לְפִי כֹּחָן, הַבַּחוּרִים לְפִי כֹּחָן, וְהַקְּטַנִּים לְפִי כֹּחָן, וְהַיּוֹנְקִים לְפִי כֹּחָן, וְהַנָּשִׁים לְפִי כֹּחָן, וְאַף משֶׁה לְפִי כֹּחוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות יט, יט): משֶׁה יְדַבֵּר וְהָאֱלֹקִים יַעֲנֶנּוּ בְקוֹל, בְּקוֹל שֶׁהָיָה יָכוֹל לְסוֹבְלוֹ.
וְכֵן הוּא אוֹמֵר (תהלים כט, ד): קוֹל יי בַּכֹּחַ, בְּכֹחוֹ לֹא נֶאֱמַר אֶלָּא בַּכֹּחַ, בְּכֹחוֹ שֶׁל כָּל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד, וְאַף נָשִׁים מְעֻבָּרוֹת לְפִי כֹּחָן, הֱוֵי אוֹמֵר כָּל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד לְפִי כֹּחוֹ.
The Torah says, "And all the people saw the thunder [kolot]" (Ex. 20:15). Notice that it does not say "kol (singular)," but "kolot (plural)".
To the old, according to their abilities, and to the adolescents, according to theirs; to the children, according to theirs; to the infants, according to theirs, and to the women, according to theirs, and even to Moses according to his abilities, as it is said: Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice (Ex. 19:19), that is, with a voice which he could endure.
Similarly, it says: "The voice of the Lord is with power," (Ps. 29:4); not with God's power, but with power, i.e. with the power of each individual, even to pregnant women according to their ability. Thus to each person it was according to their abilities.
א"ר יוחנן מאי דכתיב (תהלים סח, יב) יי יתן אומר המבשרות צבא רב? כל דיבור ודיבור שיצא מפי הגבורה נחלק לשבעים לשונות. תני דבי ר' ישמעאל (ירמיהו כג, כט) וכפטיש יפוצץ סלע? מה פטיש זה נחלק לכמה ניצוצות, אף כל דיבור ודיבור שיצא מפי הקב"ה נחלק לשבעים לשונות.
With regard to the revelation at Sinai, Rabbi Yoḥanan said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “The Lord gives the word; the women that proclaim the tidings are a great host” (Psalms 68:12)? It means that each and every utterance that emerged from the mouth of the Almighty divided into seventy languages, a great host. And, similarly, the school of Rabbi Yishmael taught with regard to the verse: “Behold, is My word not like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that shatters a rock?” (Jeremiah 23:29). Just as this hammer breaks a stone into several fragments, so too, each and every utterance that emerged from the mouth of the Holy One, Blessed be He, divided into seventy languages.
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, God in Search of Man, 1955. pp. 184-5, 188-9.
The nature of revelation, being an event in the realm of the ineffable, is something which words cannot spell, which human language will never be able to portray. Our categories are not applicable to that which is both within and beyond the realm of matter and mind. In speaking about revelation, the more descriptive the terms, the less adequate is the description. The words in which the prophets attempted to relate their experiences were not photographs but songs… [The Torah’s] intention is to celebrate the mystery, to introduce us to it rather than to penetrate or to explain it. As a report about revelation the Bible itself is a midrash.
All we have is a book and all we can do is to try to sense the unworded across its words. What actually transpired is as unimaginable to us as it was unbelievable to those who witnessed it. We cannot comprehend it. We can only answer it. Or refuse to answer.
Rabbi Ira Eisenstein, Conditions of Jewish Belief, 1966. pp. 45-6.
Despite what the Torah claims for itself- and what some people still claim for it- I believe that it is a human document, reflecting the attempt of its authors to account for the history of the Jewish people, and for the moral and ethical insights which its geniuses acquired during the course of their history. It is “sacred literature” in the sense that Jews have always seen in it the source and the authority for the way of life and that view of history which gave meaning and direction to their lives.
I can understand why our ancestors believed the Torah (and its authoritative interpretations) to have been “divine revelation”. For me, however, those concepts and values explicitly conveyed or implied in it which I can accept as valid represent discovery, partial and tentative glimpses into the true nature of human life. I find in the Torah adumbrations [outlines] of ideas which I believe to be of enduring worth, and true insights into the unique laws which govern the relations of people and peoples.
Rabbi W. Gunther Plaut, The Torah: A Commentary, 1981, p. xxxviii
The Torah is ancient Israel's distinctive record of its search for God. It attempts to record the meeting of the human and the Divine, the great moments of encounter. Therefore, the text is often touched by the ineffable Presence. The Torah tradition testifies to a people of extraordinary spiritual sensitivity. God is not the author of the text, the people are; but God's voice may be heard through theirs if we listen with open minds.
Rabbi Nosson Scherman, Artscroll Chumash, 1993, p. xxi-xxii
In several of his writings, Rambam sets forth at much greater length the unanimously held view that every letter and word of the Torah was given to Moses by God; that it has not been and cannot be changed; and that nothing was ever or can ever be added to it. Indeed the Talmud states emphatically that if one questions the Divine origin of even a single letter or traditionally accepted interpretation of the Torah, it is tantamount to denial of the entire Torah.
This harsh judgment is quite proper, for if a a critic can take it upon himself to deny the provenance of one verse or one letter of the Torah, what is to stop him from discarding any part that displeases him? Modern times illustrate this all too clearly. And logic dictates that man cannot tamper with the word of God, not merely because man's intelligence is of a different, infinitely inferior order, but because God and His wisdom are perfect, and, by definition, perfection cannot be improved.
Rabbi Harold Schulweis, in Commentary Magazine, August 1996.
The Torah is the selective record of Israel's extraordinary religious interpretation of its collective experience during the formative period of its career. The origin of Torah lies not in an extramundane source which has cast down absolute truths upon a receiving people, nor is it the arbitrary projection of human inventiveness flung upward. Torah is rooted in the matrix of a living organism, in a people which discovers out of its experience with failure and fortune the powers of godliness residing within it and its total environment. Torah as revelation is the product of Israel’s creative transaction with history…
The divine element of Torah-revelation comes not vertically from a superperson whose will descends upon us, but horizontally from a people engaged in the process of complex interaction within history. Real events and ideal visions acting upon each other yield the sancta of Judaism, and these values named sacred are ever being validated in the experience of this people.