1)
ONE PASUK CAN BEAR MULTIPLE INTERPRETATIONS
(תהילים סב) אחת דבר אלהים שתים זו שמעתי כי עז לאלהים מקרא אחד יוצא לכמה טעמים ואין טעם אחד יוצא מכמה מקראות דבי ר' ישמעאל תנא (ירמיהו כג) וכפטיש יפוצץ סלע מה פטיש זה מתחלק לכמה ניצוצות אף מקרא אחד יוצא לכמה טעמים
Translation: (Tehillim 62:12) "One thing Hash-m has spoken; two things I have heard-for Hash-m has strength." This teaches that one Pasuk can bear multiple interpretations, but a single interpretation does not come from multiple Pesukim. The school of R. Yishmael taught: (Yirmeyahu 23:29) "Is not My word like fire, says Hash-m, and like a hammer that shatters a rock?" Just as a hammer shatters a rock into many sparks, so too, one Pasuk can be expounded in many ways.
(a)
Why did the Gemara choose to use the word 'מתחלק' (shatters) which is reflexive, implying that the hammer itself is being shattered?
1.
Tosfos #1 (Rabbeinu Shmuel): The text should in fact be changed to 'מחלק' rather than 'מתחלק'.
2.
Tosfos #2 (Rabbeinu Tam): The hammer is shattered by the stone that it strikes. This idea appears in a Midrash (Eichah Rabbah dh Zaku Nezirehah) which describes that a sapphire stone is so strong that when struck with a hammer, the stone remained intact while the hammer split.