Pt3 Conditionality of Creation, Crowns, and Commitment: the Cosmic Significance of the Giving of the Torah and the Revelation at Sinai (Shabbat 88a-89a)

This is the third and final part of a three-part series. Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here; the outline for the series can be found at Part 1.

The Experience of Revelation (Song of Songs 5:6, 13 ; Psalms 68:10, 13)

See Song_of_Songs.5.13:

לחיו כערוגת הבשם

מגדלות מרקחים

שפתותיו שושנים

נטפות מור עבר

His cheeks are like beds of spices,

Banks of perfume

His lips are like lilies;

They drip flowing myrrh.

R’ Yehoshua ben Levi - Each utterance filled the world with fragrance (Song of Songs 5:13)

ואמר רבי יהושע בן לוי:

מאי דכתיב: ״לחיו כערוגת הבשם״ —

כל דיבור ודיבור שיצא מפי הקדוש ברוך הוא

נתמלא כל העולם כולו בשמים

And R' Yehoshua ben Levi said:

What is the meaning of that which is written: “His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as banks of sweet herbs, his lips are lilies dripping with flowing myrrh” (Song of Songs 5:13)?

It is interpreted homiletically: From each and every utterance that emerged from His cheeks, i.e., the mouth of the Holy One, Blessed be He,

the entire world was filled with fragrant spices.

….and God brought forth wind from His treasuries, and made the spices pass one at a time (Song of Songs 5:13)

וכיון שמדיבור ראשון נתמלא, דיבור שני להיכן הלך?

הוציא הקדוש ברוך הוא הרוח מאוצרותיו

והיה מעביר ראשון ראשון,

שנאמר:

״שפתותיו שושנים

נוטפות מור עבר״.

(אל תקרי ״שושנים״, אלא ״ששונים״).

And since the world was already filled by the first utterance, where was there room for the spices of the second utterance to go?

The Holy One, Blessed be He, brought forth wind from His treasuries

and made the spices pass one at a time, leaving room for the consequences of the next utterance.

As it is stated:

“His lips are lilies [shoshanim]

dripping with flowing myrrh.”

Each and every utterance resulted in flowing myrrh.

Do not read the word in the verse as shoshanim; rather, read it as sheshonim, meaning repeat. Each repeat utterance produced its own fragrance.

R’ Yehoshua ben Levi - Each utterance caused the souls of Israel to leave their bodies (Song of Songs 5:6)

ואמר רבי יהושע בן לוי:

כל דיבור ודיבור שיצא מפי הקדוש ברוך הוא

יצתה נשמתן של ישראל,

שנאמר: ״נפשי יצאה בדברו״.

And R' Yehoshua ben Levi said:

From each and every utterance that emerged from the mouth of the Holy One, Blessed be He,

the souls of the Jewish people left their bodies,

as it is stated: “My soul departed when he spoke” (Song of Songs 5:6).

....and they were revived by resurrection dew (Psalms 68:10)

(I cited this section in a note in a previous piece of mine.)

See Psalms.68.10, 13:

גשם נדבות תניף אלהים

נחלתך ונלאה אתה כוננתה

You released a bountiful rain, O God;

when Your own land languished, You sustained it […]

מלכי צבאות ידדון ידדון

ונות־בית תחלק שלל

“The kings¹ and their armies are in headlong flight;

housewives are sharing in the spoils;

ומאחר שמדיבור ראשון יצתה נשמתן, דיבור שני היאך קיבלו?

הוריד טל שעתיד להחיות בו מתים, והחיה אותם,

שנאמר:

״גשם נדבות תניף אלהים

נחלתך ונלאה אתה כוננתה״.

And since their souls left their bodies from the first utterance, how did they receive the second utterance?

Rather, God rained the dew upon them that, in the future, will revive the dead, and He revived them,

as it is stated:

“You, God, poured down a bountiful rain;

when Your inheritance was weary You sustained it” (Psalms 68:10).

R' Yehoshua ben Levi - Israel recoiled 12 mil after each commandment and was escorted back by angels (Psalms 68:13)

ואמר רבי יהושע בן לוי:

כל דיבור ודיבור שיצא מפי הקדוש ברוך הוא

חזרו ישראל לאחוריהן שנים עשר מיל

והיו מלאכי השרת מדדין אותן,

שנאמר: ״מלאכי צבאות ידדון ידדון״ —

אל תיקרי ״ידדון״, אלא ״ידדון״.

[...]

And R' Yehoshua ben Levi said:

With each and every utterance that emerged from the mouth of the Holy One, Blessed be He,

the Jewish people retreated in fear twelve mil,

and the ministering angels walked them back toward the mountain,

as it is stated: “The hosts of angels will scatter [yidodun]” (Psalms 68:13).

Do not read the word as yidodun, meaning scattered; rather, read it as yedadun, they walked them.

[...]

Moses’ Ascension and the Writing of the Torah: When Moses ascended on High, he found God tying crowns to letters (Numbers 14:17)

ואמר רבי יהושע בן לוי:

בשעה שעלה משה למרום

מצאו להקדוש ברוך הוא שהיה קושר כתרים לאותיות.

אמר לו:

משה!

אין שלום בעירך?!

אמר לפניו:

כלום יש עבד שנותן שלום לרבו?!

אמר לו:

היה לך לעזרני,

מיד אמר לו:

״ועתה יגדל נא כח ה׳

כאשר דברת״.

And R' Yehoshua ben Levi said:

When Moses ascended on High,

he found the Holy One, Blessed be He, tying crowns to letters. On the tops of certain letters there are ornamental crownlets.

Moses said nothing, and God said to him:

Moses!

is there no greeting in your city?! Do people not greet each other in your city?!

He said before Him:

Does a servant greet his master?! That would be disrespectful.

He said to him:

At least you should have assisted Me and wished Me success in My work.

Immediately he said to Him:

“And now, may the power of YHWH be great

as you have spoken” (Numbers 14:17).

Misreading the Clock: Satan tricks the Israelites in the Story of the Golden Calf (Exodus 32:1)

Homiletic interpretation of “delayed” ("boshesh")

R' Yehoshua ben Levi reinterprets the verse “וַיַּרְא הָעָם כִּי-בֹשֵׁשׁ מֹשֶׁה” (Exodus 32:1 - in the context of the story of the Golden Calf) not as “Moses delayed” (boshesh) but as a compound: “ba’u shesh”—“six [hours] have arrived”:

R' Yehoshua ben Levi explains that Moses had told the people he would return after 40 days,² at the beginning of the 6th hour (i.e. at midday).

אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי:

מאי דכתיב: ״וירא העם כי בשש משה״?

אל תקרי ״בושש״, אלא ״באו שש״.

בשעה שעלה משה למרום

אמר להן לישראל:

לסוף ארבעים יום

בתחלת שש

אני בא

And R' Yehoshua ben Levi said:

What is the meaning of that which is written: “And the people saw that Moses delayed [boshesh] to come down from the mount” (Exodus 32:1)?

Do not read the word in the verse as boshesh; rather, read it as ba’u shesh, six hours have arrived.

When Moses ascended on High,

he told the Jewish people:

In forty days,

at the beginning of six hours,

I will come.

Satan's Intervention and the Confusion of Time (Exodus 32:1)

R' Yehoshua ben Levi continues:

After the 40-day period, Satan created atmospheric confusion.³

Satan then attempted to sow doubt among the Israelites, asking them, “Where is your teacher (רבכם) Moses?”

They replied, “He went up on High”.⁴

Satan responded, “Six hours have passed (i.e. and he hasn’t returned; clearly, he’s not coming back)”.

They ignored him.⁵

He then said, “Moses is dead.”

At first, they ignored him.

But when Satan showed them an “image (דמות) of his bed” (מטתו - i.e. Moses’ deathbed/ corpse), they panicked.

This moment of perceived abandonment prompted them to tell Aaron: “We do not know what has become of him” .⁶

לסוף ארבעים יום

בא שטן

ועירבב את העולם

1. 1. אמר להן: משה רבכם היכן הוא?

   2. אמרו לו: עלה למרום

2. 1. אמר להן: באו שש,

   2. ולא השגיחו עליו

3. 1. מת,

   2. ולא השגיחו עליו

4. 1. הראה להן דמות מטתו,

   2. והיינו דקאמרי ליה לאהרן: ״כי זה משה האיש וגו׳״

After forty days,

Satan came

and brought confusion to the world by means of a storm, and it was impossible to ascertain the time.

1. 1. Satan said to the Jews: Where is your teacher Moses?

   2. They said to him: He ascended on High.

2. 1. He said to them: Six hours have arrived and he has not yet come. Surely he won’t.

   2. And they paid him no attention.

3. 1. Satan said to them: Moses died.

   2. And they paid him no attention.

4. 1. Ultimately, he showed them an image of his death-bed and an image of Moses’ corpse in a cloud.

   2. And that is what the Jewish people said to Aaron: “For this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what has become of him” (Exodus 32:1).

The Names and Significance of Mount Sinai and the Desert

Why Mount Sinai is called by that name

Part 1

Rav Kahana is asked by an unnamed rabbi (ההוא מרבנן) why Mount Sinai is called by that name.

He initially suggests that it was named for miracles (נסים - “nissim”) or since it was as a good omen⁷ for the Jewish people, but these explanations are challenged on linguistic grounds.

אמר ליה ההוא מרבנן לרב כהנא:

מי שמיע לך מאי ״הר סיני״?

• אמר ליה: הר שנעשו בו נסים לישראל

  • ״הר ניסאי״ מיבעי ליה!

• אלא: הר שנעשה סימן טוב לישראל

  • ״הר סימנאי״ מיבעי ליה!

One of the Sages said to Rav Kahana:

Did you hear what is the reason that the mountain was called Mount Sinai?

• Rav Kahana said to him: It is because it is a mountain upon which miracles [nissim] were performed for the Jewish people.

  • The Sage said to him: If so, it should have been called Mount Nisai, the mountain of miracles.

• Rather, Rav Kahana said to him: It is a mountain that was a good omen [siman] for the Jewish people.

  • The Sage said to him: If so, it should have been called Har Simanai, the mountain of omens.

Part 2

Rav Kahana rhetorically asks his interlocutor (the unnamed rabbi): Why don’t you study with Rav Pappa and Rav Huna bar Yehoshua, known aggadic experts?! ⁸

Then, Rav Kahana quotes a statement of Rav Ḥisda and Rabba bar Huna: they explain that the name Sinai comes from the word “sin’ah” (שנאה - “hatred”), as “hatred descended (ירדה שנאה) there upon the other nations”.⁹

אמר ליה:

מאי טעמא לא שכיחת קמיה ד

• רב פפא,

• ורב הונא בריה דרב יהושע

דמעייני באגדתא?

ד

• רב חסדא

• ורבה בריה דרב הונא

דאמרי תרווייהו:

מאי ״הר סיני״?

הר שירדה שנאה לאמות העולם עליו.

Rav Kahana said to him:

What is the reason that you do not frequent the school where you can study before

• Rav Pappa

• and Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua,

who study aggada?

As

• Rav Ḥisda

• and Rabba, son of Rav Huna,

both said:

What is the reason it is called Mount Sinai?

It is because it is a mountain upon which hatred [sina] for the nations of the world descended because they did not accept the Torah.

Five names of the desert where Israel wandered, each reflecting an aspect of their experience

R' Yosei ben Ḥanina lists five names of Mount Sinai, each name linguistically reflecting an aspect of their experience there:

1. Zin (צין) -- where they were “commanded” (נצטוו - “mitzvot", i.e. given the commandments)

2. Kadesh (קדש) -- where they were “sanctified” (נתקדשו - “kedusha”)

3. Kedemot (קדמות) -- where the “ancient” (קדומה - i.e. the ancient Torah) was given

4. Paran (פארן) -- where they “were fruitful and multiplied” ¹⁰

5. Sinai (סיני) -- where “hatred” (שנאה) descended upon the non-Jewish nations¹¹

The true name of the mountain, however, is Horeb.

This contradicts R' Abbahu, who insists Sinai is its actual name, explaining that Horeb is derived from “ḥurba” (חורבה - “destruction”), as destruction came upon the other nations there.

והיינו דאמר רבי יוסי ברבי חנינא:

חמשה שמות יש לו:

1. מדבר צין — שנצטוו ישראל עליו;

2. מדבר קדש — שנתקדשו ישראל עליו;

3. מדבר קדמות — שנתנה קדומה עליו;

4. מדבר פארן — שפרו ורבו ישראל עליו;

5. מדבר סיני — שירדה שנאה לאומות העולם עליו.

ומה שמו? ״חורב״ שמו.

ופליגא דרבי אבהו,

דאמר רבי אבהו:

״הר סיני״ שמו.

ולמה נקרא ״הר חורב״?

שירדה חורבה לאומות העולם עליו.

And that is what R' Yosei, son of R' Ḥanina, said:

The desert in which Israel remained for forty years has five names. Each name has a source and a rationale:

1. The Zin Desert, because the Jewish people were commanded [nitztavu] in it;

2. the Kadesh Desert, because the Jewish people were sanctified [nitkadshu] in it.

3. The Kedemot Desert, because the ancient [keduma] Torah, which preceded the world, was given in it.

4. The Paran Desert, because the Jewish people were fruitful [paru] and multiplied in it;

5. the Sinai Desert, because hatred descended upon the nations of the world on it, on the mountain on which the Jewish people received the Torah.

And what is the mountain’s true name? Horeb is its name.

And that disputes the opinion of R' Abbahu, as

R' Abbahu said: Mount Sinai is its name.

And why is it called Mount Horeb?

It is because destruction [ḥurba] of the nations of the world descended upon it.

Appendix 1 - Table Summarizing 18 Talmudic Interpretations

Appendix 2 - Traits of the Righteous: Those insulted but do not retaliate, who love and rejoice in suffering, are like the sun in its strength (Judges 5:31)

Shabbat.88b.2

תנו רבנן:

1. עלובין, ואינן עולבין,

2. שומעין חרפתן, ואינן משיבין,

3. עושין מאהבה, ושמחין ביסורין —

עליהן הכתוב אומר: ״ואהביו כצאת השמש בגברתו״.

And the Sages taught:

1. About those who are insulted and do not insult,

2. who hear their shame and do not respond,

3. who act out of love and are joyful in suffering,

the verse says: “And they that love Him are as the sun going forth in its might” (Judges 5:31).

Appendix 3 - Homiletic Readings of Biblical Verses from the Talmudic Sugya on the Revelation at Sinai, by verse order

This compilation shows how the Talmudic sages found deep layers of meaning in biblical verses across multiple books, connecting them to the Revelation at Sinai, Israel's commitment to Torah, and the cosmic significance of this pivotal event.

Torah (Pentateuch)

Genesis

Genesis 1:31 - "And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day [יום הששי]"

• Reish Lakish: The extra letter "heh" (ה) in "the sixth day" teaches that Creation was conditional on Israel's acceptance of the Torah at Sinai. God established a condition with Creation: "If Israel accepts the Torah on the sixth day of Sivan, you will exist; if not, I will return you to chaos."

Exodus

Exodus 32:1 - "And the people saw that Moses delayed [בשש] to come down"

• R' Yehoshua ben Levi: Don't read "בושש" (delayed) but "באו שש" (six hours have arrived). Satan caused confusion about the time to trick the Israelites into thinking Moses wasn't returning, ultimately showing them an image of Moses' death-bed to convince them.

Exodus 33:6 - "And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from Mount Horeb"

• R' Ḥama bar Ḥanina: At Horeb they put on ornaments (the crowns given when they said "We will do and we will hear"), and at Horeb they removed them (after the Golden Calf).

• R' Simai: When Israel sinned with the Golden Calf, 1,200,000 angels of destruction descended and removed the crowns they had received.

Exodus 33:7 - "And Moses would take the tent [האהל]"

• R' Yoḥanan: Moses merited and took all the crowns that had been removed from the people. The word "ohel" (tent) alludes to an illumination or aura (hila).

Numbers

Numbers 14:17 - "And now, may the power of YHWH be great as you have spoken"

• R' Yehoshua ben Levi: When Moses ascended to heaven, he found God tying crowns to letters. When God asked why Moses didn't greet Him, Moses replied that a servant doesn't greet his master. God told him he should have at least assisted, and Moses immediately recited this blessing.

Prophets (Nevi'im)

Isaiah

Isaiah 35:10 - "And everlasting joy shall be upon their heads"

• Reish Lakish: In the Messianic future, God will restore to Israel the crowns that were removed after the sin of the Golden Calf. The "everlasting joy" refers to these crowns.

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 23:29 - "Is not My word like fire, says YHWH, and like a hammer that shatters a rock?"

• R' Yishmael’s School: Just as a hammer breaks a rock into many fragments, each utterance that emerged from God's mouth divided into seventy languages.

Judges

Judges 5:31 - "And they that love Him are as the sun going forth in its might"

• The Sages: This verse refers to those who are insulted but do not insult back, who hear their shame and do not respond, who act out of love and rejoice in suffering.

Writings (Ketuvim)

Psalms

Psalms 68:10 - "You, God, poured down a bountiful rain; when Your inheritance was weary You sustained it"

• This verse refers to how Israel was revived after their souls departed from the first divine utterance. God rained upon them the dew that will resurrect the dead in the future.

Psalms 68:12 - "YHWH gives the word; the women that proclaim the tidings are a great host"

• R' Yoḥanan: Each utterance from God at Sinai divided into seventy languages so all nations could understand.

Psalms 68:13 - "The hosts of angels will scatter [ידדון]"

• R' Yehoshua ben Levi: Read not "yidodun" (scatter) but "yedadun" (they walked). When Israel retreated in fear twelve mil after each commandment, ministering angels guided them back to the mountain.

Psalms 76:9 - "The earth feared, and was silent"

• Ḥizkiya: Initially, the earth feared destruction if Israel did not accept the Torah, but after they accepted it, the earth was calmed.

Psalms 103:20 - "Bless YHWH, you angels of His, you mighty in strength, that fulfill His word, hearkening unto the voice of His word"

• R' Elazar: When Israel said "We will do" before "We will hear," a Divine Voice praised them for using this secret of the ministering angels, who also fulfill God's word before hearing it.

Proverbs

Proverbs 8:6 - "Listen, for I will speak royal [נגידים] things"

• Rav Ḥananel bar Pappa: Torah is likened to a king (נגיד) because just as a king has power to kill and grant life, the Torah has power to kill or grant life.

• Alternative reading: Each divine utterance was tied with two crowns.

• Rava: For those who approach Torah properly ("right-handed"), it is a drug of life; for others ("left-handed"), it is a drug of death.

Proverbs 11:3 - "The integrity of the upright will guide them; and the perverseness of the faithless will destroy them"

• Rava: Israel proceeds wholeheartedly and with integrity in accepting the Torah, unlike other nations who walk in deceit.

Song of Songs

Song of Songs 1:12 - "While the king was still at his table my spikenard gave off its fragrance"

• Ulla: This refers to Israel's sin with the Golden Calf, comparing it to a bride being unfaithful under her wedding canopy.

• Rav: Despite the sin, God's love remains, as shown by the gentle language "gave fragrance" rather than "reeked."

Song of Songs 1:13 - "My beloved is to me like a bundle of myrrh that lies between my breasts"

• R' Yehoshua ben Levi: Israel says that even though God causes suffering and bitterness, He still "lies between my breasts" - His presence remains.

Song of Songs 1:14 - "My beloved is to me like a cluster of henna in the vineyards of Ein Gedi"

• R' Yehoshua ben Levi: Interpreted as: "He to Whom everything belongs [שהכל] forgives [מכפר] me for the sin of the kid [גדי] that I gathered [כרמתי]" - referring to God forgiving the sin of the Golden Calf.

Song of Songs 2:3 - "As an apple tree among the trees of the wood"

• R' Ḥama bar Ḥanina: Israel is compared to an apple tree because its fruit appears before its leaves, just as Israel said "We will do" before "We will hear."

Song of Songs 4:9 - "You have ravished my heart with one of your eyes"

• R' Shmuel bar Naḥmani: At first, when Israel merely accepted the Torah, it was with "one eye"; when they actually perform the commandments, it will be with "both eyes" - showing spiritual growth.

Song of Songs 5:6 - "My soul departed when he spoke"

• R' Yehoshua ben Levi: From each divine utterance at Sinai, the souls of Israel left their bodies.

Song of Songs 5:13 - "His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as banks of sweet herbs, his lips are lilies dripping with flowing myrrh"

R' Yehoshua ben Levi: Each utterance from God filled the world with fragrant spices.

Appendix 4 - Divine and Human Domains: Spatial Boundaries (Sukkah 5a)

Sukkah.5a.1-4

This sugya asserts a rigid cosmological boundary between divine and human spaces, using the halakhic measure of ten handbreadths to resolve tensions between biblical theophanies and metaphysical consistency. (It thus legitimizes the sukkah's minimum height requirement through theological analogy.)

Heavenly and Earthly Domains (Psalms 115:16)

A baraita records that R' Yosei asserts a strict metaphysical separation: the Shekhina never descended into the earthly realm, and Moses and Elijah never truly ascended to heaven.

He cites Psalms 115:16—“The heavens are the heavens of YHWH, and the earth He gave to the children of man”—to support this claim.

(SL made the following point in personal communication: It's likely that R’ Yosei is offering here a rationalist perspective. Some traditional interpreters—such as Targum, for instance—rationalize these events: God's ‘presence’ (Shekhina) is what's described as descending, and Moshe simply went up the mountain, not into the Heavens. However, the Stam instead has a somewhat strange—and highly technical—interpretation, differentiating between lower and higher than 10 tefachim, fitting it with the halachic context of the sugya there.)

ותניא,

רבי יוסי אומר:

מעולם

לא ירדה שכינה למטה,

ולא עלו משה ואליהו למרום,

שנאמר:

״השמים שמים לה׳

והארץ נתן לבני אדם״.

and it is taught in a baraita that

R' Yosei says:

The Shekhina never actually descended below,

and Moses and Elijah never actually ascended to heaven on high,

as it is stated:

“The heavens are the heavens of YHWH,

and the earth He gave to the children of man” (Psalms 115:16),

indicating that these are two distinct domains.

Apparent Contradictions: Descent of the Shekhina (Exodus 19:20; Zechariah 14:4), Ascent of Moses and Elijah (Exodus 19:3; II Kings 2:11), and the Cloud and the Throne (Job 26:9); , ten handbreadths mark a firm metaphysical boundary between the divine and human domains

The Talmud defends R' Yosei's view that the Shekhina never descended to earth and that Moses and Elijah never ascended to Heaven.

Each biblical verse that appears to contradict this is qualified:

• God's descent onto Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:20) and His future appearance (in the messianic era) on the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4) both remain above the ten-handbreadth threshold.

• Moses’ and Elijah’s ascents to Heaven (in Exodus 19:3 and II Kings 2:11, respectively) stop short of breaching that boundary.

• Even when Moses is described as grasping the divine Throne or being enveloped in God’s cloud (based on Job 26:9), the Talmud asserts that these were lowered to within ten handbreadths.

(Thus, ten handbreadths mark a firm metaphysical boundary between the divine and human domains.)

ולא ירדה שכינה למטה?

1. והכתיב: ״וירד ה׳ על הר סיני״!

   1. למעלה מעשרה טפחים.

2. והכתיב: ״ועמדו רגליו ביום ההוא על הר הזיתים״!

   1. למעלה מעשרה טפחים.

ולא עלו משה ואליהו למרום?

3. והכתיב: ״ומשה עלה אל האלהים״!

   1. למטה מעשרה.

4. והכתיב: ״ויעל אליהו בסערה השמים״!

   1. למטה מעשרה.

The Talmud asks: And did the Shekhina never descend below ten handbreadths?

1. But isn’t it written: “And God descended onto Mount Sinai” (Exodus 19:20)?

   1. The Talmud answers: Although God descended below, He always remained ten handbreadths above the ground. Since from ten handbreadths and above it is a separate domain, in fact, the Shekhina never descended to the domain of this world.

2. The Talmud asks: But isn’t it written: “And on that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives” (Zechariah 14:4)?

   1. The Talmud answers: Here, too, He will remain ten handbreadths above the ground.

The Talmud asks: And did Moses and Elijah never ascend to the heavens on high?

3. But isn’t it written: “And Moses went up to God” (Exodus 19:3)?

   1. The Talmud answers: Nevertheless, he remained below ten handbreadths adjacent to the ground.

4. The Talmud asks: But isn’t it written: “And Elijah went up by a whirlwind heavenward” (II Kings 2:11)?

   1. The Talmud answers: Here, too, it was below ten handbreadths.

והכתיב:

״מאחז פני כסא

פרשז עליו עננו״,

ואמר רבי תנחום:

מלמד:

שפירש שדי מזיו שכינתו ועננו עליו!

למטה מעשרה.

מכל מקום ״מאחז פני כסא״ כתיב!

אישתרבובי אישתרבב ליה כסא עד עשרה,

ונקט ביה

The Talmud asks: But isn’t it written:

“He grasps the face of the throne,

and spreads His cloud upon him” (Job 26:9)?

And R' Tanḥum said:

This teaches that

God spread of the radiance of His Shekhina and of His cloud upon him. Apparently, Moses was in the cloud with God.

The Talmud answers: Here, too, it was below ten handbreadths.

The Talmud asks: In any case: “He grasps the face of the throne,” is written, indicating that Moses took hold of the Throne of Glory.

The Talmud rejects this: The throne was extended for him down to ten handbreadths

and Moses grasped it; however, he remained below ten handbreadths.

1. מלכי. Notably, R' Yehoshua ben Levi—quoted by the Talmud in the next section—reads this word as מלאכי - “angels”.

2. The 40-day period that Moses spent on Mount Sinai is referenced explicitly in multiple biblical passages:

Exodus 24:18:

“And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and went up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.”

This is the first ascent, following the giving of the Ten Commandments.

The second and third 40-day periods are referenced in Deuteronomy, when Moses recounts the events:

1. Deuteronomy 9:9 – First 40 days (receiving the tablets):
   “When I went up the mountain to receive the tablets of stone... I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I did not eat bread or drink water.”

2. Deuteronomy 9:18 – Second 40 days (after the Golden Calf):
   “Then I lay prostrate before YHWH as before, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin you had committed…”

3. Deuteronomy 10:10 – Third 40 days (when God rewrites the tablets):
   “I stayed on the mountain, as before, forty days and forty nights, and YHWH listened to me that time also.”

3. עירבב את העולם - literally: “mixed/ confused the world“; i.e. made it impossible to track time accurately.

See a similar historical action by Satan, in the sugya of the book of Esther, in my previous piece.

4. עלה למרום - common Talmudic idiom for Moses’ ascent to Heaven, based on a verse in Psalms, see later in this sugya, Shabbat.89a.2:

מיד

כל אחד ואחד נעשה לו אוהב,

ומסר לו דבר,

שנאמר:

״עלית למרום

שבית שבי

לקחת מתנות באדם״

בשכר שקראוך ״אדם״,

לקחת מתנות

Immediately,

each and every one of the angels became an admirer of Moses

and passed something to him,

as it is stated:

“You ascended on high,

you took a captive,

you took gifts on account of man, and even among the rebellious also that the Lord God might dwell there” (Psalms 68:19).

The meaning of the verse is: In reward for the fact that they called you man, you are not an angel and the Torah is applicable to you,

you took gifts from the angels.

5. לא השגיחו עליו - literally: they didn’t “pay him attention, regard him, take notice of him“.

השגיחו = they watched / supervised / paid attention.

See Hebrew Wiktionary, “השגיח“, my translation:

He directed his heart there to see and to know his condition, and to be concerned for the good of the matter.

• ‘Those who see you will gaze (יַשְׁגִּיחוּ) at you, they will carefully observe you: Is this the man who shook the earth, who made kingdoms tremble?’ (Isaiah 14:16)

• ‘From His dwelling place He looked (הִשְׁגִּיחַ) upon all the inhabitants of the earth’ (Psalms 33:14)

In Talmudic usage, the term appears only in the negative: did not pay attention to him, did not notice his words, ignored his existence.

• ‘A poor man came and stood at the entrance and said: “Give me a piece of bread,” and they paid him no attention (לא השגיחו עליו)’ (Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 31b)

• ‘We do not heed (אין משגיחין) a heavenly voice (bat kol)’ […]

Etymology:

The word and root appear 3 times in the Bible, and also in Talmudic Hebrew and in Aramaic as אַשְׁגַח (ashgach).

6. Exodus 32:1; leading them to sin with the Golden Calf.

Schematic of the dialogue:

1. Satan: Where is your teacher Moses?
   Israelites: He went up on High.

2. Satan: It’s [already] six [hours. He’s not coming.]
   Israelites: (Ignore him)

3. Satan: Moses is dead.
   Israelites: ([Still] ignore him)

4. Satan: (Shows them an image of Moses' [death]bed)
   Israelites:"This Moses… we don’t know what happened to him."

7. סימן - “siman” - from Greek.

8. Meaning, if he had studied with Rav Pappa and Rav Huna bar Yehoshua, he’d likely have know the following statement from Rav Ḥisda and Rabba bar Huna.

9. אמות העולם - when the Israelites accepted the Torah there.

10. פרו ורבו ; likely alluding to what's stated elsewhere in the Talmud, homiletically interpreting the verse that states שובו לכם לאהליכם.

11. As stated also in the previous section.