Aligned sentence by sentence
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Part One · Chapter Sixteen — Tzur
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Tzur is an equivocal noun. It is the name of a mountain: 'and you shall smite the rock' (Exod 17:6). And it is the name of a hard stone like flint: 'knives of flint' (Josh 5:2).
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And it is the name of the quarry-rock from which mineral-stones are cut: 'look to the rock whence you were hewn' (Isa 51:1).
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Then, from this last sense, this noun was borrowed for the origin and source of everything; and therefore, after His saying 'look to the rock whence you were hewn,' He said: 'look to Abraham your father' (Isa 51:2), and so on.
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It is as though He explained that the rock from which you were hewn is Abraham your father — so follow in his footsteps, hold to his creed, and form yourselves by his character; for the nature of the quarry must be present in what is cut from it.
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And according to this last sense God, may He be exalted, is called Tzur, since He is the origin and the efficient cause of all besides Himself. And it is said: 'the Rock, His work is perfect' (Deut 32:4); 'the Rock that begot you, you neglected' (Deut 32:18); 'their Rock had sold them' (Deut 32:30); 'neither is there any rock like our God' (1 Sam 2:2); 'the Rock of ages' (Isa 26:4).
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'And you shall stand upon the rock' (Exod 33:21) — lean and stand firm upon the consideration that He, may He be exalted, is the origin; for He is the point of access through which one reaches Him, as we explained in His saying to him: 'behold, there is a place by Me' (Exod 33:21).