Robbery as the Essence of Ishmael

Another thing: And he said, The Lord came from Sinai (Deuteronomy 33:2). When the Holy One revealed Himself to give the Torah to Israel, He revealed Himself not in one language but in four languages. He said, The Lord came from Sinai—this is Hebrew. He rose over them from Seir—this is the Roman language. He shone from Mount Paran—this is Arabic. And came from Ribeboth-kodesh—this is Aramaic. [ . . . ]

Another interpretation: And he said, The Lord came from Sinai (ibid.). When the Holy One revealed Himself to give the Torah to Israel, He revealed Himself not only to Israel but to all the nations. First, He went to the children of Esau and said to them, “Will you accept the Torah?” They said to Him, “What is written in it?” He said to them, “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13). They said to him, “Master of the Universe, the entire essence of that forefather [i.e., Esau] was slaughter, as it says: The hands are the hands of Esau (Genesis 27:22), and it is on this [basis] that his father promised him: By your sword shall you live (Genesis 27:40).”

He went to the children of Ammon and Moab and said to them, “Will you accept the Torah?” They said to Him, “What is written in it?” He said to them, “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:13). They said to him, “Master of the Universe, [we are] the essence of sexual immorality, as it says: And the two daughters of Lot conceived by their father (Genesis 19:36).”

He went and found the children of Ishmael. He said to them, “Will you accept the Torah?” They said to Him, “What is written in it?” He said to them, “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:13). They said to him, “Master of the Universe, the entire essence of that forefather [i.e., Ishmael] was thievery, as it says: He will be a wild ass of a man (Genesis 16:12).”

There was no nation among the nations that He did not go and speak to, and He knocked on their doors and asked if they would accept the Torah, as it says: All the kings of the earth shall praise You, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth (Psalm 138:4). Is it possible that they heard [God’s words] and accepted [the Torah]? Therefore [the Torah] specifies: They will not obey them (Ezekiel 33:31), and it says: In anger and wrath will I perform vengeance on the nations that have not heeded (Micah 5:14). Rather, they could not uphold even the seven commandments to which the sons of Noah committed,¹ until they separated themselves from them and gave them to Israel.

A parable: Like one who sent his ass and his dog to the threshing floor and loaded his ass with one letekh [a dry measure] and his dog with three se’ahs [a unit of weight]. The ass moved, but the dog struggled. He took one se’ah from him and put it on the ass, and then the second, and then the third. So too—Israel accepted the Torah with its explanations and details, even those seven mitzvot that the Noahides had accepted upon themselves but could not uphold, to the point that they separated themselves from them and gave them to Israel. Therefore it says: And he said, The Lord came from Sinai.