'Will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the
sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it
cannot pass it?'" (Jer. v. 22).
Raba says: Hormin appeared to me, the son of Lillit [Hormin
with an "n," such is the text which should be adopted, and
which I get from my father; but I have learned from my masters
that it should be read "Hormiz," with a "z," a word which
means demon, as we see in
Sanhedrin (39a) "the lower
half of thy body belongs to Hormiz[117], running along the
edge of the wall of Mahuza [This account makes us realize the
goodness of God who loves his creatures and does not permit
evil spirits to injure them; it also teaches us that one must
not risk oneself alone on a voyage]; at the same moment a
horseman galloped by [without thinking of evil], and he could
not catch up to him [for the demon ran so quickly, that the
horseman could not think of overtaking him].
In conclusion I will give one more extract, from the last chapter
of
Sanhedrin (92b), which contains a vast number of
curious legends.
Our rabbis taught: Six miracles occurred on that day [the day
on which Nebuchadnezzar threw the friends of Daniel into the
furnace]. These are: the furnace raised itself [for it was
sunk in the ground, like a lime-kiln; on that day it raised
itself to the surface of the ground, so that all could see the
miracle]; the furnace was rent in two [a part of its walls was
riven so that all could look in];
humak suro (He Vav Mem
Qof, Samech Vav Resh Vav) [its height was lowered, as in
the phrase
suro ka (Samech Vav Resh Vav, Resh Ayin) (
Kiddushin 82a); another reading
humak duso (He Vav
Mem Qof, Dalet Vav Samech Vav) like
yesodo (Yod Samech
Vav Dalet Vav) its base was thrown.
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