He blessed him, saying,
“Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
Rabbi Zekharya said in the name of Rabbi Yishmael: The Holy One, Blessed be He, wanted the priesthood to emerge from Shem, so that his children would be priests, as it is stated: “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine; and he was priest of God the Most High” (Genesis 14:18). Once Melchizedek, traditionally identified as Shem, placed the blessing of Abraham before the blessing of the Omnipresent, He had the priesthood emerge from Abraham in particular, and not from any other descendant of Shem.
Whoever sacrifices to a god other than יהוה alone shall be proscribed.
§ The mishna asks: At the time of their departure at the end of the Festival, what would they say? The mishna answers that they would praise the altar and glorify God. The Gemara challenges this: But in doing so aren’t they joining the name of Heaven and another entity, and it was taught in a baraita: Anyone who joins the name of Heaven and another entity is uprooted from the world, as it is stated: “He that sacrifices unto the gods, save unto the Lord only, shall be utterly destroyed” (Exodus 22:19)? The Gemara answers that this is what the people are saying when they depart the Temple: To the Lord, we acknowledge that He is our God, and to you, the altar, we give praise; to the Lord, we acknowledge that He is our God, and to you, the altar, we give acclaim. The praise to God and the praise to the altar are clearly distinct.
It is forbidden to take an oath on any other matter together with God's name. Whoever combines another matter with the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, in an oath will be uprooted from this world. For there is no one who is fit to give honor by taking an oath in his name except the [Absolute] One, blessed be He.
Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai said to him: But isn’t anyone who links the name of Heaven and something else, a euphemism for an idol, uprooted from the world? As it is stated: “He who sacrifices to the gods, save to the Lord only, shall be utterly destroyed” (Exodus 22:19). The fact that the Jewish people included God in their idolatrous statement could not have saved them from destruction. Rather, what is the meaning when the verse states: “Which brought you up” in the plural? The verse teaches that the Jewish people desired many gods; they were not satisfied with the golden calf alone.
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The lupine [turmus], an extremely bitter legume that is edible only after an extensive process, will cut off the feet of the enemies of the Jewish people, a euphemism for the Jewish people themselves. As it is stated: “And the children of Israel continued to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, and served the Baalim and the Ashtaroth, and the gods of Aram and the gods of Zidon and the gods of Moab and the gods of the children of Ammon and the gods of the Philistines, and they forsook the Lord and did not serve Him” (Judges 10:6).
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The rich man's beneficence to the poor man for the sake of a heavenly reward: He is like a merchant who acquires a great and enduring pleasure which he will enjoy at the end of a definite time by means of a small, perishable and inconsiderable gift which he makes immediately. So the rich man only intends to win glory for his soul at the close of his earthly existence by the benefaction which G-d entrusted to him, in order to bestow it upon anyone who will be worthy of it. Yet it is generally recognized that it is proper to thank and laud a benefactor. Even though the latter's motive was to gain spiritual glory hereafter, gratitude is, nevertheless, due to him, as Job said: "[because I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to help him;] the blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me" (Job 29:13); and further, "did not his heart bless me, when he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep?" (Job 31:20).