Texts in Conversation
In 3 Enoch, Moses remembers the law after an angel gives it as God's gift. Rabbinic tradition in tractate Nedarim also makes it a gift, treating his lasting knowledge as something God grants beyond what study alone can secure.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
3 Enoch 48D:4
Hebrew Book of Enoch
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
But as soon as the forty days were ended, he forgot all of them in one moment. Then the Holy One, blessed be He, called Yephiphyah, the Prince of the Law, and (through him) they were given to Moses as a gift. As it is written (Deut. x. 4): "and the Lord gave them to me". And after that it remained with him. And from where do we know, that it remained (in his memory)? Because it is written (Mal. iv. 4): "Remember the Law of Moses my servant which I commanded to him in Horeb for all Israel, even my statutes and judgements". 'The Law of Moses': that is the Tora, the Prophets and the Writings, 'statutes': that is the Halakas and Traditions, 'judgements': that is the Haggadas and the Toseftas. And all of them were given to Moses on high on Sinai.
Nedarim 38a:16
Babylonian Talmud
Rabbinic
Jonah was wealthy, as it is written: “And he went down to Jaffa, and found a ship going to Tarshish, so he paid its cost and went down into it” (Jonah 1:3), and Rabbi Yoḥanan said: He paid the cost of the entire ship. Rabbi Romanus said: The cost for the entire ship was four thousand gold dinars. And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Initially, Moses would study Torah and forget it, until it was given to him as a gift, as it is stated: “And He gave it to Moses when he concluded speaking with him” (Exodus 31:18). Once the Torah was given him as a gift, it became his and he was able to remember it.
Date: 450-550 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
“... j . "The Prince of Torah": Wert adds "As it
is written, *Of all men you are the most handsome
[yopydpitd,
with a play on Yepipyah],
your lips
are moist with grace, for God has blessed you
for ever' " (Ps 45:2). The text follows A B G
Crac. TarJon to Deut 34:6 names Metatron,
Yopi'el, 'Uri'el, and Yepipyah as "Princes of
Wisdom," i.e. Princes of Torah; see "Theolog
ical Importance." According to the parallel pas
sage in Ma'yan Hokmah, BHM, vol. 1, p. 61,
it was the fear of the angels that caused Moses
to forget the Law. On the theme of angelic
opposition to the revelation of the Law to Moses
see 3En 15B:2, n. e.
k. "As a gift": See b.Ned 38a: "At first
Moses used to study the Torah and forget it,
until it was given him as a gift."
1. "Remembered the Torah": Wert adds
4 4and
did not forget it again." Text follows A B G
Crac.
m. "On Sinai," Wert; B has "In the height
[mdrom], on Sinai.'' Both the oral and the written
Torah were given to Moses on Sinai; see ExR
47:1; b.Ber 5a. ...”
Philip S. Alexander
"3 (Hebrew Apocalypse of) Enoch" in James H. Charlesworth (ed.) The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Volume 1
(p. 314) Doubleday, 1983
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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