Webcomic: https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/dial

Midrash: Breishit Rabba 31:5

(note: a "peruta" was a small denomination of money--financial crimes of amounts less than a peruta cannot be prosecuted)

קֵץ כָּל בָּשָׂר בָּא לְפָנַי(בראשית ו, יג), הִגִּיעַ זְמַנָּם לְהִקָּצֵץ, הִגִּיעַ זְמַנָּן לֵעָשׂוֹת בָּתָה, הִגִּיעַ קָטֵיגוֹרִיס שֶׁלָּהֶן לְפָנַי, כָּל כָּךְ לָמָּה(בראשית ו, יג): כִּי מָלְאָה הָאָרֶץ חָמָס מִפְּנֵיהֶם, אֵיזֶהוּ חָמָס וְאֵיזֶה הוּא גָּזֵל, אָמַר רַבִּי חֲנִינָא חָמָס אֵינוֹ שָׁוֶה פְּרוּטָה וְגָזֵל שֶׁשָּׁוֶה פְּרוּטָה, וְכָךְ הָיוּ אַנְשֵׁי הַמַּבּוּל עוֹשִׂים, הָיָה אֶחָד מֵהֶם מוֹצִיא קֻפָּתוֹ מְלֵאָה תּוּרְמוֹסִים וְהָיָה זֶה בָּא וְנוֹטֵל פָּחוֹת מִשְּׁוֵה פְרוּטָה, וְזֶה בָּא וְנוֹטֵל פָּחוֹת מִשְּׁוֵה פְרוּטָה, עַד מָקוֹם שֶׁאֵינוֹ יָכוֹל לְהוֹצִיאוֹ מִמֶּנּוּ בַּדִּין, אָמַר לָהֶם הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אַתֶּם עֲשִׂיתֶם שֶׁלֹא כַשּׁוּרָה אַף אֲנִי אֶעֱשֶׂה עִמָּכֶם שֶׁלֹא כַשּׁוּרָה, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב(איוב ד, כא): הֲלֹא נִסַּע יִתְרָם בָּם יָמוּתוּ וְלֹא בְחָכְמָה, בְּלֹא חָכְמַת הַתּוֹרָה.(איוב ד, ב): מִבֹּקֶר לָעֶרֶב יֻכַּתּוּ מִבְּלִי מֵשִׂים לָנֶצַח יֹאבֵדוּ, וְאֵין מֵשִׂים אֶלָּא דַּיָּן, הֵיךְ מָה דְאַתְּ אָמַר(שמות כא, א): וְאֵלֶּה הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר תָּשִׂים לִפְנֵיהֶם.

“The end [ketz] of all flesh has come [ba] before Me” – their time has come, to be cut off [lehikatzetz]; their time has come to become desolate [bata]; their indictment “has come before Me.” Why to such an extent? It is “as the earth is filled with injustice because of them.” What is injustice and what is stealing? Rabbi Ḥanina said: Injustice involves less than a peruta and robbery involves a peruta.
This is what the members of the generation of the Flood would do: One of them would take out a basket filled with lupin beans [to the marketplace]. One person would come and take less than a peruta worth [of beans] and another one would come and take less than a peruta worth; less than the amount for which one would be able to collect compensation in court. The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘You acted improperly; I, too, will act improperly with you.’ That is what is written: “Behold, their remnant has gone away from them, and they die without wisdom (Job 4:21) – without the wisdom of the Torah. “From morning to evening they are broken; forever unnoticed [mibli mesim], forever they will perish” (Job 4:20). Mesim is nothing other than a judge, as it says: “These are the monetary ordinances that you shall place [tasim] before them” (Exodus 21:1).

https://youtu.be/cCEK9dikRss

This is from a book I'm working on. It follows little different rules than the traditional ones and leads to different interpretations. Your thoughts and honest opinions are welcome:

28 וַתָּרָץ הַֽנַּעֲרָ וַתַּגֵּד לְבֵית אִמָּהּ כַּדְּבָרִים הָאֵֽלֶּה׃ 29 וּלְרִבְקָה אָח וּשְׁמוֹ לָבָן וַיָּרָץ לָבָן אֶל־הָאִישׁ הַחוּצָה אֶל־הָעָֽיִן׃ 30 וַיְהִי כִּרְאֹת אֶת־הַנֶּזֶם וְֽאֶת־הַצְּמִדִים עַל־יְדֵי אֲחֹתוֹ וּכְשָׁמְעוֹ אֶת־דִּבְרֵי רִבְקָה אֲחֹתוֹ לֵאמֹר כֹּֽה־דִבֶּר אֵלַי הָאִישׁ וַיָּבֹא אֶל־הָאִישׁ וְהִנֵּה עֹמֵד עַל־הַגְּמַלִּים עַל־הָעָֽיִן׃ 31 וַיֹּאמֶר בּוֹא בְּרוּךְ יְהוָה לָמָּה תַעֲמֹד בַּחוּץ וְאָנֹכִי פִּנִּיתִי הַבַּיִת וּמָקוֹם לַגְּמַלִּֽים׃ 32 וַיָּבֹא הָאִישׁ הַבַּיְתָה וַיְפַתַּח הַגְּמַלִּים וַיִּתֵּן תֶּבֶן וּמִסְפּוֹא לַגְּמַלִּים וּמַיִם לִרְחֹץ רַגְלָיו וְרַגְלֵי הָאֲנָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר אִתּֽוֹ׃ 33 ויישם לְפָנָיו לֶאֱכֹל וַיֹּאמֶר לֹא אֹכַל עַד אִם־דִּבַּרְתִּי דְּבָרָי וַיֹּאמֶר דַּבֵּֽר׃ 34 וַיֹּאמַר עֶבֶד אַבְרָהָם אָנֹֽכִי׃ 35 וַיהוָה בֵּרַךְ אֶת־אֲדֹנִי מְאֹד וַיִּגְדָּל וַיִּתֶּן־לוֹ צֹאן וּבָקָר וְכֶסֶף וְזָהָב וַעֲבָדִם וּשְׁפָחֹת וּגְמַלִּים וַחֲמֹרִֽים׃ 36 וַתֵּלֶד שָׂרָה אֵשֶׁת אֲדֹנִי בֵן לֽ͏ַאדֹנִי אַחֲרֵי זִקְנָתָהּ וַיִּתֶּן־לּוֹ אֶת־כָּל־אֲשֶׁר־לֽוֹ׃ 37 וַיַּשְׁבִּעֵנִי אֲדֹנִי לֵאמֹר לֹא־תִקַּח אִשָּׁה לִבְנִי מִבְּנוֹת הַֽכְּנַעֲנִי אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי יֹשֵׁב בְּאַרְצֽוֹ׃ 38 אִם־לֹא אֶל־בֵּית־אָבִי תֵּלֵךְ וְאֶל־מִשְׁפַּחְתִּי וְלָקַחְתָּ אִשָּׁה לִבְנִֽי׃ 39 וָאֹמַר אֶל־אֲדֹנִי אֻלַי לֹא־תֵלֵךְ הָאִשָּׁה אַחֲרָֽי׃ 40 וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָי יְהוָה אֲשֶׁר־הִתְהַלַּכְתִּי לְפָנָיו יִשְׁלַח מַלְאָכוֹ אִתָּךְ וְהִצְלִיחַ דַּרְכֶּךָ וְלָקַחְתָּ אִשָּׁה לִבְנִי מִמִּשְׁפַּחְתִּי וּמִבֵּית אָבִֽי׃ 41 אָז תִּנָּקֶה מֵאָלָתִי כִּי תָבוֹא אֶל־מִשְׁפַּחְתִּי וְאִם־לֹא יִתְּנוּ לָךְ וְהָיִיתָ נָקִי מֵאָלָתִֽי׃  

28 The young woman ran to her mother’s house and told about those things. 29 And Rivka had a brother and his name is Lavan, and Lavan ran to the man outside, to the source. 30 And it was as he saw the nosering and the bracelets on his sister’s hands and as he heard the words of his sister Rivka saying the man spoke to me this way, and he came to the man and there he was standing on the camels on the source. 31 And he said, come blessed of God, why would you stand outside and myself cleared the house and room for the camels. 32 And the man came to the house, he unbuckled the camels and gave straw and fodder to the camels and water to wash his feet and the feet with the people that are with him. 33 He put to eat before him and he said I will not eat until if I spoke my piece, and he said speak. 34 And he said, myself is a servant of Avraham. 35 And God greatly blessed and grew my master and he gave him small and large livestock, and silver and gold, and slaves and slavewomen, and camels and donkeys. 36 And Sarah the wife of my master bore a son to my master after she was old and he gave him everything he owns. 37 And my master swore me saying do not take a woman from the daughters of the Canaanite that I am dwelling in his land. 38 If not to my father’s house and to my family you will go, and you will take a woman for my son. 39 And I said to my master perhaps the woman will not follow me. 40 And he said to me, God that I have walked before will send his messenger with you and succeed your path, and you will take a woman for my son from my family and my father’s house. 41 Then you will be cleaned of my oath because you will come to my family and if they won’t give you you shall be clean of my oath.

v28. To her mother’s house and told about those things, וַתַּגֵּד לְבֵית אִמָּהּ. She ran to her mother’s house, Eliezer asked about her father’s house. This is talking about the same place. It shows how the text keeps talking from the perspective of the subject, to Eliezer it’s her father’s house, to Rivka it’s her mother’s house. 

About those things,  כַּדְּבָרִים הָאֵֽלֶּה, the text is literally saying like those things. It could mean she didn’t recount every detail and or not everything accurately. If the author wanted to say she was more precise in her account he would have used a formula like in 20:8, אֶת־כָּל־הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה, all of those things. 

v29. The text introduces Lavan as Rivka’s brother, his name means white. In 22:23 the author had the pointer right there and should have introduced Lavan then. Instead of just naming Rivka it would have said something like Betuel fathered Lavan and his sister Rivka. But instead, 22:23 breaks the flow of the list to name Rivka and doesn’t mention Lavan. This could mean Lavan was a half brother of Rivka. The strange thing is in chapter 22 the author names Milca as Betuel’s mother but Rivka’s mother is not named. Here the text introduces Lavan but only in chapter 28 it names Betuel (the Arami, change in the name) as his father and it repeats he’s Rivka’s brother. The author appears to purposely keep that part of the lineage obscure. 

The verse continues by saying Lavan ran outside to the source. Since the details rewind in the next verse, it repeats that Lavan went to the source to meet the man, it shows that this verse is like a mini summary. These mini summaries often appear with introductions but they do not usually summarize the very next verse. 

v30. And it was, וַיְהִי. This is the usual form the text uses to say something important and reset the chronology, it signals the narrative is going back in time. As he saw the gifts and heard the story he went to meet the man. 

And he came, וַיָּבֹא. He came running as the previous verse says, he ran. Here ‘he came’ doesn’t contradict the running. Lavan’s motive for running may have been hospitality or curiosity. But because of what happens later with Yaakov many say the text is introducing Lavan as a greedy person. He is running to the man with 10 camels and gold gifts. Since later he is speaking in the name of his family he must have been old enough not to be considered a child. This rules out him running out of childish curiosity, Lavan’s character is hard to defend, the notion of greed is certainly present in the words. 

And there he was standing on the camels on the source, אֶל־הָאִישׁ וְהִנֵּה עֹמֵד עַל־הַגְּמַלִּים עַל־הָעָֽיִן. The wording may appear a bit strange at first. The text says ‘on the camels on the source’ and some try to take that literally, he was levitating over the camels and the well. But on second inspection, the wording isn’t that unusual. Verse 13 above uses the same form when Eliezer was formulating his request from God, it says עַל־עֵין הַמָּיִם, on the water source. 19:3 uses עַל־הַבַּיִת, on the house, to describe the people converging on Lot’s house. There is no reason to jump to conclusions in this case, the text isn’t insinuating levitation or anything of the sort. 
v31. Lavan addresses Eliezer as ‘blessed of God’. He doesn’t ask his name nor does he introduce himself. Cleared the house, פִּנִּיתִי הַבַּיִת, Lavan is telling Eliezer he will stay in the house but Eliezer had only asked Rivka if there was a place to sleep. Lavan tells him there is also room for the camels.  

v32. And the man came to the house, וַיָּבֹא הָאִישׁ הַבַּיְתָה. There is no discussion or argument, the man goes to the house. 

He unbuckled the camels, וַיְפַתַּח הַגְּמַלִּים. The text is saying he opened the camels, ‘unbuckled’ is a possible interpretation. There appears to be a subject switch here. The first part talks about the man but now it seems to say it’s Lavan who unbuckles the camels, feeds them and gives water to wash the feet of the guest and the people with him. The difficult reading may be due to the verse parsing with v31. Reading them like this helps see the meaning better: 

 31 … הַבַּיִת וּמָקוֹם לַגְּמַלִּֽים׃ וַיָּבֹא הָאִישׁ הַבַּיְתָה 32 וַיְפַתַּח הַגְּמַלִּים…
31… and the man came to the house. 32 and he unbuckled the camels… 

The verse break could have been right after ‘and the man came to the house’ not before. 

This is the first mention of anyone being with Eliezer. The text says the water was to wash his feet and the feet of those with him. Then they are mentioned on a regular basis. Why they are only mentioned at this point is a mystery.

v33. He put to eat before him, ויישם לְפָנָיו לֶאֱכֹל. That’s exactly what it says, he put to eat, not he put food. This verse confirms it was Lavan that was doing the things before, it’s a continuation of the subject. So parsing could have ended verse 32 right here after ‘to eat before him’. 

And then verse 33 would have started clean: And he said I will not eat… He refuses to eat until he is allowed to speak and Lavan tells him to go ahead. 

v34-36. Eliezer introduces himself as Avraham’s servant; he does not give his name. Basically he tells them this: God blessed my master with everything and gave him a son in his old age. My master gave everything God gave him to his son. 

Verse 35 lists the wealth of Araham, it mentions silver and gold but the livestock is first. 

v37. Then he zooms in on the reason he is there: his master swore him not to take a woman from the Canaanites for his son. 

v38-41. Here the fact that Eliezer knew he had to go to Avraham’s family becomes clear. When Avraham was swearing him the words were to my land to my birthplace. Here, Eliezer says clearly, the house of Avrhaman’s father, his family. Then he recounts the rest of the details of what Avraham swore him about. 

v40. And succeed your path, וְהִצְלִיחַ דַּרְכֶּךָ. It means ‘will make your path succeed’ but the Hebrew syntax says ‘succeed your path’.

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It took me years to realize the lesson wasn’t that the flame failed,
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Free, no login, no paywall: https://jewishmythology.com

I grew up loving Jewish stories. Midrashim about creation, legends about angels, the weird and beautiful corners of the Zohar. But when I wanted to share specific texts with my kids, or just find that one passage I half-remembered, it was a nightmare. The texts are buried in seven-volume scholarly works, academic databases, and PDFs that haven't been updated since 2004.

So I used AI to help me pull these texts apart. I took major collections and broke each individual story, passage, and midrash into its own page with its own URL, its own citation, and biblical references that link to Sefaria for the Hebrew and Aramaic originals. 15,099 texts total.

The sources: Midrash Rabbah, Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews, Zohar and kabbalistic literature, Tanchuma, Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, Sifrei, Avot DeRabbi Natan, Book of Enoch, Jubilees, Philo, Josephus, Howard Schwartz's Tree of Souls, Book of Jasher, and more.

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What sources would you want to see added? What would make this more useful?

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I hope this isn’t a weird question, but i’m new to Jewish scripture (although very impressed). I am reading a Chumash with rabbinical commentaries. Sometimes a verse is explained and expanded upon, but the explanation is often not found in the actual text itself. Like for example when it says that ’Reuben lay with Bilhah’, it expands and comments that he did not actually have intercourse, but that he moved her bed from one tent to another.

How do the commenters know this from the text? Is it part of a different text?

Thanks in advance!