[ד"א מי כהחכם. אלו ישראל, דכתיב בהון רק עם חכם ונבון הגוי הגדול הזה (דברים ד ו), ומי יודע פשר דבר, שיודעים לפרש את התורה, מ"ט פנים טהור, ומ"ט פנים טמא, חכמת אדם תאיר פניו, ר' זכאי דשאב בשם רבי שמואל בר נחמן את מוצא כיון שעמדו ישראל לפני הר סיני, ואמרו נעשה ונשמע (שמות כד ז), נתן להם קב"ה מזיו השכינה, הה"ד ויצא לך שם בגוים ביפיך (יחזקאל טז יד), וכיון שאמרו לאותו מעשה העגל אלה אלהיך ישראל (שמות לב ד), נעשו שונאים למקום, הה"ד ועוז פניו ישונה, ואף הקב"ה שינה עליהן את הדברים, שנאמר אכן כאדם תמותון (תהלים פב ז)].
[Another interpretation (of Eccl. 8:1): WHO IS LIKE THE WISE PERSON? This is Israel, of whom it is written (in Deut. 4:6): SURELY THIS GREAT NATION IS A WISE AND UNDERSTANDING PEOPLE.101Eccl. R. 8:1:3. (Eccl. 8:1, cont.:) AND WHO KNOWS THE INTERPRETATION OF A SAYING? <These are> the ones who know how to interpret the Torah with forty-nine reasons for declaring an object clean and forty-nine reasons for declaring an object unclean.102See above, Numb. 6:7, and the parallels listed there. (Eccl. 8:1, cont.:) A PERSON'S WISDOM LIGHTS UP HIS FACE. R. Zakkay of Sha'av <said> in the name of Rabbi Samuel bar Nahman: You find that, when Israel stood before Mount Sinai and said (in Exod. 24:7): <ALL THAT THE LORD HAS SPOKEN> WE WILL CARRY OUT AND OBEY, the Holy One gave them some of the glory of the Divine Presence. This is what is written (in Ezek. 16:14): AND YOUR NAME SPREAD AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOUR BEAUTY. Then when they said in the incident of that calf (in Exod. 32:4): THIS IS YOUR GOD, O ISRAEL. They became enemies (rt.: SN') of the Omnipresent. This is what is written (in Eccl. 8:1, cont.): AND THE RADIANCE OF HIS (i.e., Israel's) FACE IS CHANGED (rt.: ShNH).103The Hebrew roots, SN’ and ShNH, are closer than would appear in transliteration. The S in SN’ is a sin and would be indistinguishable from the Sh of ShNH in an unvoweled text. As for the final letters, alef and he are often confused in the Hebrew of this period. So the Holy One also changed (rt.: ShNH) the promises concerning them, as stated (in Ps. 82:7): INDEED YOU SHALL DIE LIKE A HUMAN.]104As Adam was expelled from Eden, so the generation of the golden calf was kept from the promised land.
[ד"א מי כהחכם. אלו ישראל, דכתיב בהון רק עם חכם ונבון הגוי הגדול הזה (דברים ד ו), ומי יודע פשר דבר, שיודעים לפרש את התורה, מ"ט פנים טהור, ומ"ט פנים טמא, חכמת אדם תאיר פניו, ר' זכאי דשאב בשם רבי שמואל בר נחמן את מוצא כיון שעמדו ישראל לפני הר סיני, ואמרו נעשה ונשמע (שמות כד ז), נתן להם קב"ה מזיו השכינה, הה"ד ויצא לך שם בגוים ביפיך (יחזקאל טז יד), וכיון שאמרו לאותו מעשה העגל אלה אלהיך ישראל (שמות לב ד), נעשו שונאים למקום, הה"ד ועוז פניו ישונה, ואף הקב"ה שינה עליהן את הדברים, שנאמר אכן כאדם תמותון (תהלים פב ז)].
[Another interpretation (of Eccl. 8:1): WHO IS LIKE THE WISE PERSON? This is Israel, of whom it is written (in Deut. 4:6): SURELY THIS GREAT NATION IS A WISE AND UNDERSTANDING PEOPLE.101Eccl. R. 8:1:3. (Eccl. 8:1, cont.:) AND WHO KNOWS THE INTERPRETATION OF A SAYING? <These are> the ones who know how to interpret the Torah with forty-nine reasons for declaring an object clean and forty-nine reasons for declaring an object unclean.102See above, Numb. 6:7, and the parallels listed there. (Eccl. 8:1, cont.:) A PERSON'S WISDOM LIGHTS UP HIS FACE. R. Zakkay of Sha'av <said> in the name of Rabbi Samuel bar Nahman: You find that, when Israel stood before Mount Sinai and said (in Exod. 24:7): <ALL THAT THE LORD HAS SPOKEN> WE WILL CARRY OUT AND OBEY, the Holy One gave them some of the glory of the Divine Presence. This is what is written (in Ezek. 16:14): AND YOUR NAME SPREAD AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOUR BEAUTY. Then when they said in the incident of that calf (in Exod. 32:4): THIS IS YOUR GOD, O ISRAEL. They became enemies (rt.: SN') of the Omnipresent. This is what is written (in Eccl. 8:1, cont.): AND THE RADIANCE OF HIS (i.e., Israel's) FACE IS CHANGED (rt.: ShNH).103The Hebrew roots, SN’ and ShNH, are closer than would appear in transliteration. The S in SN’ is a sin and would be indistinguishable from the Sh of ShNH in an unvoweled text. As for the final letters, alef and he are often confused in the Hebrew of this period. So the Holy One also changed (rt.: ShNH) the promises concerning them, as stated (in Ps. 82:7): INDEED YOU SHALL DIE LIKE A HUMAN.]104As Adam was expelled from Eden, so the generation of the golden calf was kept from the promised land.