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.
141. You asked through whom He was revealed to them. That is a high secret and it will be uncovered through you; THAT IS, THROUGH YOUR INQUIRY. The Torah came out from the highest mystery, from the concealed head of the King, WHICH IS BINAH. When it reached the left arm, WHICH IS ISAAC, MEANING GVURAH, the Holy One, blessed be He, saw in that arm bad blood, that was increasing from there, WHICH IS ESAU, MEANING SAMAEL AND THE OTHER SIDE. He said, 'I need to refine and clarify this arm and if I do not take off that defective blood, it will injure everything. Indeed, it is necessary to refine every defect from here.'
142. What did He do? He called Samael, ESAU'S MINISTER ABOVE, who came before Him. He said to him, 'Do you want My Torah?' And he said, What is written in her? He said, "You shall not murder" (Shemot 20:13), since the Holy One, blessed be He, skipped to show him the necessary place - HE SKIPPED TO THE COMMANDMENT THAT HE KNEW HE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO KEEP. SAMAEL said, Heaven forbid, this Torah is Yours and Yours it shall remain. I do not desire such a Torah. He again beseeched of Him saying, Master of the World, if You give me THIS TORAH, my entire government will cease, since my entire domination is based on killing. AND IF I ACCEPT THE TORAH, there will no longer be wars. My rule is over the planet Maadim (Mars) THAT INDICATES SPILLING OF BLOOD. If so, all becomes void from the world.
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.
145. As soon as He removed that one, SAMAEL, and cleaned out the bad blood from the left arm, THAT IS ISAAC, WHICH IS GVURAH, He turned to the right arm, WHICH IS ABRAHAM, AND HE IS CHESED. He noticed in it also DEFECTIVE BLOOD THAT IS ISHMAEL. He said, 'This arm too needs to have the bad blood cleaned out of it.' The Holy One, blessed be He, called to Rahav, THE MINISTER OF ISHMAEL. He said to him, 'Do you want My Torah?' RAHAV said to Him, What is written in it? He skipped EVERYTHING ELSE and said TO HIM, "You shall not commit adultery" (Shemot 20:13). He said to Him, Woe FOR ME. If that is the legacy the Holy One, blessed be He, wishes me to inherit, that would be an evil legacy for me, since it would remove my entire dominion WHICH IS BASED ON ADULTERY. Since I took the blessings of the water, the blessing reserved for the fish of the sea, as it is written: "Be fruitful (Heb. pru) and multiply" (Beresheet 1:22) and: "and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him..." (Beresheet 17:20). It is further written: "And he will be a wild (Heb. pere) man" (Beresheet 16:12).
146. He began to beseech his Master and said to him, Master of the Universe, two children came out of Abraham. Here are the children of Isaac, give it to them, for she is suitable for them. THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, said to him, 'I can't, since you are the firstborn and THE TORAH is suitable for you.' He began to plead before Him and said, Master of the Universe, let the rights of the firstborn be his. That light which I inherited as a legacy thereby due to that RIGHTS OF THE FIRSTBORN, take and give to them. And so, THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, did. This is what is written: "He shone forth from Mount Paran" (Devarim 33:2).
147. What changed, in that by Samael, it says, "Rose up" and by Rahav, it is written: "Shone forth?" HE RESPONDS: It is only that He took with that light, which He removed from Samael, the sword and the killing, to kill with sentencing by judgment and to do the killing properly, as it is written: "And One that is the sword of your excellency" (Devarim 33:29), though it is not belonging to you. From that blessing which He removed from Rahav, He took only a little, like someone that only shone a little of their blessing, meaning just enough to be able to produce and multiply. Therefore, IT IS WRITTEN: "He shone forth from Mount Paran" and it is not written: "Rose up," WHICH MEANS INCREASE LIKE BY SAMAEL.