138. Come and see that it is written: "Hashem, when You did go out of Seir, when You did march out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled..." (Shoftim 5:4). When the Holy One, blessed be He, wished to give the Torah to Yisrael, He went and invited the children of Esau, but they did not accept it, as it says, "Hashem came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir to them" (Ibid.). They refused to accept her. He went to the children of Ishmael and they refused to accept her, as it says, "He shone forth from Mount Paran" (Devarim 33:2). Since they refused, He returned to the children of Yisrael as we were taught.

139. Since we learned that it is not considered a sin, if a person is very meticulous about the details of the Torah and is asking his questions to clarify, this scripture is difficult to understand and the question needs to be asked. When the Holy One, blessed be He, went to Seir, to which prophet of theirs did He appear? And when He approached Paran, to which prophet of theirs did He reveal Himself? If you say that He revealed Himself to the whole nation, we find that it happened only to Yisrael alone and through Moses. FURTHERMORE, we were taught that this is what the scripture should have said, 'Hashem came to Sinai, and rose up to Seir to them; He shone forth to Mount Paran.' What is meant by: "From Seir to them...from Mount Paran?" All this must be known and be observed. Though I asked, I have not yet heard.

140. When Rabbi Shimon came, he approached and asked this again. RABBI SHIMON said to him, This inquiry has been settled, as "Hashem came from Sinai" is as it says, "Lo, I come to you in a thick cloud" (Shemot 19:9) and "came from Sinai" and appeared over them, "and rose up from Seir to them," WHICH MEANS THAT because the inhabitants of Seir said that they do not wish to accept the Torah, He shone upon Yisrael, and added light, and great love, to them. Similarly, He "shone forth" and brightened the light from the mountain of Paran; additional love and bright light was available from the inhabitants of Paran's refusal to accept the Torah, and that was given to Yisrael as well, as is proper.

143. Master of the Universe, take for Yourself that Torah of Yours. I do not want any part or portion in her. However, if it suits You, here are the people, the children of Jacob, for whom THIS TORAH is suitable. He thought that he said about them some derogatory accusation, which is the meaning of: "And rose up from Seir to them." Actually "from Seir" light went out for Yisrael, MEANING FROM SAMAEL, THE CHIEF MINISTER OF SEIR. Samael said TO HIMSELF, Certainly, if Jacob's children will accept THE TORAH, they will cease to exist in the world and will never be capable of ruling. THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, responded several times and said the following, 'You are the firstborn, BECAUSE ESAU WAS THE FIRSTBORN and THE TORAH befits you.' He said to him, My birthright belongs to him, since it was sold to him and I gave my consent. THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, then said, 'Since you don't wish to have any part IN THE TORAH, remove yourself from her altogether.' He said he would.

144. THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, said to him, 'Since it is so, give Me advice on what I should do, so that the children of Jacob would accept her, as you say.' SAMAEL said to him, Master of the Universe, there is a need to bribe them. Take light from the light of the legions in heaven and impart it to them. By this, they will accept her and here is some OF MY LIGHT, which I will give first. He removed from himself the light that enveloped him and gave it TO THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, TO present it to Yisrael. This is what is meant by: "And rose up from Seir to them;" "from Seir" actually is Samael. It is written about him: "And the goat (Heb. sair) shall bear upon it" (Vayikra 16:22). "To them" MEANS to Yisrael.

153. Rabbi Yosi said, "Hashem, when you did go out of Seir, when you did march out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled..." (Shoftim 5:4). That was during the time when the Holy One, blessed be He, returned from Seir, because they didn't accept the Torah. "The earth trembled:" What is the reason that it trembled? It is because it wanted to return to formlessness and void. The Holy One, blessed be He, made a condition with the world that if the children of Yisrael accept the Torah, it is good but if not, I will return you to formlessness and void. When the earth noticed that the Holy One, blessed be He, invited all the nations to accept the Torah, but they didn't accept, and from all the nations, only Yisrael were left, the earth thought that Yisrael, too, would refuse to accept the Torah as the others did. Due to this, "the earth trembled;" as soon as YISRAEL said, "Will we do, and obey" (Shemot 24:7) immediately, it quieted down. This is what is written: "The earth feared, and was still." First it "feared," then "was still" (Tehilim 76:9).

505. At the time of the revealing OF MESSIAH, the inhabitants of the world will find themselves in one distress after another and those who hate Yisrael will get stronger. Then the spirit of Messiah will stir against them, and will destroy the wicked Edom, and the entire land of Seir will go up in flames. Concerning that time, it is written: "And Yisrael shall do valiantly" (Bemidbar 24:18). That is the meaning of: "And Edom shall be his possession, Seir also, his enemies" (Ibid.), meaning the enemies of Yisrael. That is the meaning of: "And Yisrael shall do valiantly." At that time, the Holy One, blessed be He, will raise TO LIFE the dead of His people and remove death from them. This is what it says, "The right hand of Hashem does valiantly. I shall not die, but live" (Tehilim 118:16-17). It is further written: "And liberators shall ascend..." (Ovadyah 1:21) and then: "And Hashem shall be king" (Zecharyah 14:9).