Avodah Zarah 20a — the Talmud in English

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For the verse says:

Deuteronomy 7]: “For the Lord your God will bring you into the land to which you are coming to possess it, and He will cast out many nations from before you: the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite—seven nations, many and mighty, more than you. And the Lord your God will deliver them before you, and you will strike them. You shall utterly destroy them; you shall not make a covenant with them, and you shall not show them favor” .

And we expound: “

You shall not show them favor” —

you shall not give them “settlement” in the land .

And we object: This verse is not superfluous for an exposition, because

this “you shall not show them favor” is needed

to be expounded for another exposition? —

For this is what the Merciful One said: You shall not give them favor.

So that a person should not say, “How handsome this gentile is” as will be explained below].

And we answer:

If so,

if the verse came to teach only the prohibition of giving favor, and therefore used the expression “favor,”

let the verse say,

let the verse say, “

You shall not show them favor,”

in the full spelling, which is the expression of “mercy” —

What

is the reason that the verse uses the expression

“you shall not show them favor”,

which carries the meaning of “settlement of land” —

Infer from it,

it is possible to learn from this wording of the verse

two things,

the two expositions: both the expression “favor” and the expression “settlement.”

And we object:

And still,

the verse is not superfluous for an exposition, because

it is needed

for another exposition, from the expression “gratuitously” —

for this is what the Merciful One said,

so the Torah commanded:

You shall not give them a gift

of

gratuitously.

And we answer:

If so,

that the verse came to teach about the prohibition of a gift “gratuitously” —

let the verse say,

let the verse state

“You shall not give them gratuitously.”

And from the fact that the Torah wrote

“You shall not show them favor” —

infer all of them.

It is possible to expound the three expositions: not to give favor, not to give a gratuitous gift, and not to give settlement in the land .

It was also taught so,

so we likewise learned in a beraita that expounds the three expositions from the changes and exact implications of the verse:

It is stated in the Torah: “

You shall not show them favor” —

and we expound it from the expression “settlement”:

you shall not give them settlement in the land.

Another matter: “You shall not show them favor” —

and we expound it from the expression “mercy”:

you shall not give them favor.

Another matter: “You shall not show them favor” —

and we expound it from the expression “gratuitously”:

you shall not give them a gratuitous gift.

And

what we expounded from the verse, that it is forbidden to give

a gratuitous gift

to a gentile —

This law

itself

is not agreed upon by everyone; rather,

it is a dispute between tannaim,

it depends on a dispute between tannaim, and Rabbi Meir indeed holds that it is “permitted” to give a gratuitous gift to a gentile.

For it was taught

as we learned in a beraita:

The Torah said [Deuteronomy 14]: “

You shall not eat any unslaughtered animal; to the resident alien who is in your gates you shall give it, and he shall eat it, or sell it to a foreigner.”

You therefore find yourself saying: Both a resident alien and an idolater

—

both with regard to giving and with regard to selling.

A resident alien is one who dwells in the Land of Israel and accepts upon himself to observe the seven commandments of the descendants of Noah, and the eating of an unslaughtered animal was not prohibited to him. And we are commanded to sustain him, as it is said [Leviticus 25]: “A resident alien, and he shall live with you.”

And we expound: From this wording of the Torah,

I have

permission

only for a resident alien with regard to giving, and for an idolater with regard to selling

specifically —

Permission

for a resident alien with regard to selling —

from where?

The verse states: “To the resident alien who is in your gates

you shall give it or sell it.”

Permission

Permission

for an idolater with regard to giving —

from where?

The verse states: “You shall give it to him, and he shall eat it, or sell it to a foreigner.”

That is to say: Rabbi Meir infers from the fact that the Torah wrote “giving and selling” in the middle—we expound “you shall give and sell” both with regard to the beginning of the verse, concerning the resident alien, and with regard to the end of the verse, concerning the foreigner.

For if the Torah had been particular specifically about a resident alien with regard to giving and a gentile with regard to selling, it should have written: “You shall give it to the resident alien who is in your gates, and he shall eat it, or sell it to a foreigner.”

These are

the words of Rabbi Meir.

Rabbi Yehuda says: The words are as they are written,

as the Torah wrote them! —

For a resident alien with regard to giving

and he may not sell it,

and for an idolater with regard to selling

and he may not give him a gratuitous gift.

And the Gemara’s exposition that it is forbidden to give a gratuitous gift to a gentile follows the view of Rabbi Yehuda .

The Gemara explains the beraita and asks:

Did Rabbi Meir speak well?

For the meaning of the verse is giving and selling: to a resident alien, and selling and giving to an idolater.

And Rabbi Yehuda could say to you: If it enters your mind

that it is

as

the

opinion

of

Rabbi Meir —

the Merciful One should have written

the Torah should have written: “

You shall give it, and he shall eat it, and sell it,” and then we would expound in accordance with Rabbi Meir — “

from the Torah’s writing “or” that it comes to teach

Or”

why do I need it,

why did the Torah write “or” sell it to a foreigner, which is an expression of division —

Infer from it

from the fact that the Torah wrote “or,” it follows

for

the exposition of Rabbi Yehuda:

The words are as they are written —

it came

to say that the Torah was particular specifically about a resident alien with regard to giving and a gentile with regard to selling.

And we clarify:

And

what will

Rabbi Meir

answer to this claim of Rabbi Yehuda?

That

what the Torah wrote “or” comes to teach us: “

to give precedence,”

to give priority and precedence to

the giving to a resident alien

before

the selling to an idolater,

for if there is before him at his gates a resident alien and a gentile, he gives precedence to giving to the resident alien, and he should not sell it to the gentile —

And Rabbi Meir likewise expounds: “To the resident alien who is in your gates you shall give it, and he shall eat it”—this is the primary mitzva; and if there is no resident alien, “or sell it to a foreigner” .

And although he is obligated to give precedence to giving to a resident alien, Rabbi Meir holds that the Torah did not prohibit giving to a gentile.

And Rabbi Yehuda

will answer Rabbi Meir’s exposition:

Since you are commanded to sustain a resident alien,

as it is said: “A resident alien, and he shall live with you,”

and a Canaanite,

that is, a gentile [and in tractate Pesaḥim:

and a foreigner]

you are not commanded to sustain

and there is no mitzva at all in giving to a gentile —

And from “reason” we would know that one must “give precedence” to giving to a resident alien. Therefore,

“To give precedence requires no verse” —

and why did the Torah write “or”? To teach us “the words are as they are written,” specifically giving to a resident alien and selling to a foreigner.

The Gemara returns to explain the beraita.

We learned in a beraita:

Another matter: “You shall not show them favor” —

you shall not give them favor.

This matter

supports Rav

is support for Rav’s words —

For Rav said: It is forbidden for a person to say, “How beautiful is this idolatress

gentile

this one.”

And the same law applies to a “gentile.”

The Gemara raised an objection

The Gemara brings a beraita to raise an objection to Rav’s words:

There was an incident involving Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, who was upon a stairway

a step

on the Temple Mount, and he saw one idolatress who was exceedingly beautiful. He said: “How great are Your works, O Lord.”

And Rabbi Akiva too saw

the

wife of Turnus Rufus

the wicked one,

one of the Roman officials,

only

he spat,

laughed

he laughed

and cried.

Only

over

the fact that she came from a putrid drop, he laughed —

for he saw through the holy spirit]

that she was destined to convert

to convert

and he would marry her

and Rabbi Akiva would take her as a wife.

And he cried —

over

the fact that this beauty would be beneath the dust

that this beauty would decay in the earth.

And is Rav contradicted by the incident involving Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel?

And

we answer:

And Rav

will answer: Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel did not give her “favor,” and he did not say, “How beautiful is this gentile woman,” but rather—

he was only expressing acknowledgment

he praised the Most High for the beautiful creation that He created in His world, and he would say this even concerning a beautiful donkey and a beautiful camel! —

For the Master said

as we learned:

One who sees beautiful creatures

praises the Most High

and says: “Blessed

is

He who has created

these beautiful creatures

in His world.”

And there is no contradiction to Rav’s words from this incident.

And we object:

But is it permitted to gaze?

Is it permitted to gaze at women? —

The Gemara raised an objection:

The Gemara brings a beraita in which the prohibition of gazing at women is explained, and raises an objection from it to the incident involving Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel and Rabbi Akiva, who apparently gazed.

It is stated in the Torah [Deuteronomy 23]: “

And you shall guard yourself from every evil thing” .

The verse comes to teach us

that a person should not gaze at a beautiful woman, even if she is unmarried,

and he should not gaze

at a married woman, even if she is unattractive.