Avodah Zarah 25a — the Talmud in English

Above, Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua ben Nehemiah disagreed concerning the song of the cows that came from the Philistines. And the Gemara brings another disagreement in which they disagreed.

After Joshua fought with the five kings who besieged Gibeon, it is stated [Joshua 10:13]:

“And the sun stood still and the moon halted, until the nation took vengeance upon its enemies; is this not written in the Book of the Upright?”

And the Gemara discusses:

What

does it mean,

“the Book of the Upright?”

Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: This is the book of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

That is, the Book of Genesis, in which the deeds of the forefathers who were called upright are written.

As it is stated [Numbers 23:10]

“

“May my soul die the death of the upright”

[when Balaam blessed himself that his death should be like the death of the forefathers].

And the Gemara discusses:

And where is it hinted

where in the Book of the Upright [Genesis] is this matter—that the sun would stand still—hinted?

The Gemara answers: It is stated in Jacob’s blessing to Ephraim [Genesis 48:19]

“And his seed shall be the fullness of the nations.”

When will

the seed of Ephraim be

the fullness of the nations? When the sun stood still for Joshua.

Joshua was of the seed of Ephraim. And as it is written [Numbers 13:8], “Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun.”

And because the sun stood still for Joshua, the matter was seen throughout the entire world, and the entire world was filled with dread and fear of him—“the fullness of the nations”! It is stated there [Joshua 10:13]:

“And the sun stood still in the midst of heaven and hastened not to go down for an entire day.”

And it implies that there were two stoppings:

a. In the midst of heaven, that is, in the middle of the day.

b. Near sunset. [And concerning this it is stated in the continuation of the verse, “and hastened not to go down for an entire day.” And it implies that there was an additional stopping beyond the stopping in the midst of heaven.]

And the Gemara discusses:

And how much

time did it last, until the sun set?

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Twenty-four

hours

the matter continued. And what was the course?

It was as follows:

It went six,

the sun proceeded six hours from its rising,

and stood six,

and after six hours, at midday, it stood still. And as it is stated, “And the sun stood still.”

And again,

it went six,

it proceeded six hours,

and stood six,

and after these six hours, before the end of the day, it stood still for six, and as it is stated, “and hastened not to go down.” And afterward, it set in its usual manner.

The entire matter,

the entire duration of this course of the sun’s proceeding and standing still, was

as an entire day

[as stated in the verse]. For an entire and complete day is twenty-four hours. These—day and night—are called “day.”

Rabbi Elazar said: Thirty-six

[thirty-six] hours was the matter. How?

It went six,

the sun proceeded six hours,

and stood twelve,

it stood for twelve hours.

It went six

six,

and stood twelve

and stood for twelve. That is, its

“standing”

the standing of the sun stated in the verse was that which lasted

“an entire day.”

And “an entire day” was not stated concerning the course of the standing and proceeding as a whole, but only concerning the standing of the sun. For that alone lasted twenty-four hours.

Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahmani said: Forty-eight

hours was the course of the matter.

It went six,

the sun proceeded for six hours,

and stood twelve,

it stood for twelve hours.

It went six

it proceeded for six,

and stood twenty-four.

It stood in its place for twenty-four hours.

And from where do we know that this was the matter?

As it is stated: “And hastened not to go down for an entire day,”

and it has already been explained that there were two stoppings. One stopping is derived from the words “and the sun stood still in the midst of heaven,” and the second is derived from “and hastened not to go down for an entire day.”

And it implies that this second stopping lasted twenty-four hours.

From this

you learn that the stopping

from the outset,

the first one [whose duration was not explained in the verse], presumably

was not an entire day

[it was not a full day]. Rather, it lasted twelve hours.

Whereas its second stopping lasted twenty-four hours. And this is “as an entire day” stated in the verse.

Another manner of stating this disagreement—

there are those who say:

The disagreement was not concerning the duration of the entire course, whether it lasted twenty-four hours or thirty-six hours, and so on. Rather, the scholars above

disagree in the Tosefta,

they disagreed concerning how much was added to the length of the day by the sun’s standing still.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Twenty-four

hours were added by the sun’s standing still:

And so:

It went

the sun proceeded

six

six hours,

and stood

it stood

twelve

twelve hours.

It went six

it proceeded six hours,

and stood twelve

and stood for twelve hours.

And

its standing

of the sun

was “as an entire day”

stated in the verse, since it lasted twenty-four hours. These are an “entire day.”

Rabbi Elazar said: Thirty-six

hours were added to the day by the sun’s standing still:

And so—

it went,

the sun proceeded

six

six hours.

And it stood

it stood in its place

twelve

twelve hours,

it went

it proceeded

six

hours,

and stood

it stood

twenty-four

hours.

And from where was this the matter?

It is stated [concerning the second stopping]:

“And hastened not to go down for an entire day.”

It implies that this stopping, at the end of the day, lasted twenty-four hours. Whereas the first stopping presumably lasted twelve hours, just as it is the sun’s way to stand and cease its activity at night.

Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahmani said: Forty-eight

hours was the duration of the sun’s stopping.

It went

it proceeded

six

six hours,

and stood

it stood

twenty-four

hours,

it went

it proceeded

six

six hours,

and stood

it stood

twenty-four.

And from where was this so? It is stated in the verse [Joshua 10:13]: “And the sun stood still in the midst of heaven and hastened not to go down for an entire day.” And the verse

likens

the verse

its standing

[“and the sun stood still”]

to its coming

[“to go down for an entire day”].

And they learn from the analogy as follows:

Just as

the second standing of the sun, which was before

its coming

[that is, the setting of the sun], lasted

an entire day,

that is, twenty-four hours,

so too its standing

which was at midday [and as is mentioned in the verse, “and the sun stood still in the midst of heaven”] lasted twenty-four hours—

as an entire day.

And if so, the two stoppings together, which were equal in their duration, lasted forty-eight hours.

A tanna

we learned:

Just as the sun stood still for Joshua, so the sun stood still for Moses and for Nakdimon ben Gurion!

And the Gemara explains when and where the sun stood still for each of these.

a. The source that the sun stood still for

Joshua

is from

verses.

From the verses brought in the sugya above.

b. The source that the sun stood still for

Nakdimon ben Gurion

is from the

Gemara

in tractate Ta'anit [19b; and see in the note the entire story as it is brought in the Gemara there].: c. Concerning what we learned: Thus the sun stood

for Moses.

The Gemara asks:

From where do we know

this matter?

The Gemara answers:

It comes,

this is learned by a gezera shava:

“I shall begin,” “I shall begin.”

It is written here

it is stated here, concerning Moses, in the war against Sihon

“I shall begin to place the fear of you

and your dread upon the peoples”.

And it is written there, concerning Joshua

[Joshua 3:7]:

“I shall begin to make you great.”

And from this they learn that the sun stood still for Moses when he fought against Sihon, and the matter became known to everyone, as with Joshua.

And Rabbi Yohanan said:

This matter, that the sun stood still for Moses, we learn as follows:

It comes

the matter is learned by a gezera shava, from the words

“to place,” “to place.” It is written here

concerning Moses [Deuteronomy 2:25]:

“I shall begin to place your fear,” and it is written concerning Joshua

concerning that same matter [Joshua 10:12]:

“On the day that the Lord gave over the Amorite.”

Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahmani said:

This matter, that the sun stood still for Moses,

you hear it from the body of the verse itself,

we learn this from the verse itself.

It is stated [Deuteronomy 2:25]: “I shall begin to place your fear and your dread before all the peoples

who shall hear your report, and they shall tremble and writhe before you.”

And the matter is explained as follows:

When

are the words of the verse

“they shall tremble and writhe before you” fulfilled?—

When the sun stood still for Moses,

and through this his fear will be upon all the peoples!

The Gemara objects:

A meitivi,

after that event, in which the sun stood still for Joshua, it is stated [Joshua 10:14]

“And there was no day like that, before it or after it.”

Yet we see that the sun stood still for Moses. The Gemara answers this in two ways.

a.

If you wish, say

it is possible to answer as follows:

It was the hours that were not so numerous.

The standing of the sun for Moses did not last so many hours as it did for Joshua.

And for this reason it was said concerning Joshua, “And there was no day like that, before it or after it.”

b.

And if you wish, say,

another answer:

Hailstones did not exist

[were] with Moses.

As it is written

concerning Joshua [Joshua 10:11]

“And it was, as they fled before Israel, they were on the descent of Beth-horon, and the Lord cast upon them great stones from heaven until Azekah, and they died.”

And because of these hailstones, which were in addition to the sun’s standing still, it was said concerning Joshua, “And there was no day like that, before it or after it”!

The “Book of the Upright,” which is the Book of Genesis, and which is called so on account of the forefathers, was mentioned above. And the Gemara discusses this:

It is written

[before David lamented over the death of Saul and Jonathan and the rest of Israel who fell into the hands of the Philistines, he saw that he needed to strengthen the hearts of his men, so that their hearts would not weaken and they would not despair of raising their heads against the Philistines, and he said to them: Behold, the time has come to teach the sons of Judah the war of the bow], and they will overcome the Philistines].

And so it is stated [II Samuel 1:18]:

“And he said to teach the sons of Judah the bow; behold, it is written in the Book of the Upright.”

And the Gemara discusses:

What

does it mean,

“the Book of the Upright?”

Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: This is the book of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were called upright. As it is written concerning them

it is stated concerning the forefathers [Numbers 23:10]

“May my soul die the death of the upright, and may my end be like his.”

And now it is necessary to ask:

And where is it hinted,

where in the Torah is this matter hinted—that the men of Judah would hold bows, as David said?

The answer: It is stated [Genesis 49:8]

“Judah, you are the one whom your brothers shall acknowledge; your hand shall be on the nape of your enemies.”

And the Gemara explains:

And which is the war that requires a hand against a nape,

that is, in which the hand of the warrior is situated near his nape?

You must say: This is the bow.

The way of the warrior is to draw the bow until his hand reaches behind him, opposite his nape. And this is what is stated, “Your hand shall be on the nape of your enemies.”

Rabbi Elazar says:

“The Book of the Upright” mentioned above

is the Book of Deuteronomy.

That is, the Book of Deuteronomy.

And why

why

did they call it

was it called by the name

“the Book of the Upright?”

As it is written:

it is stated [Deuteronomy 6:18]

“And you shall do what is upright and good in the eyes of the Lord.”

And if so, after we have explained that this Book of the Upright is the Book of Deuteronomy, it is necessary to ask:

And where is it hinted

where is it hinted in it that the sons of Judah would be archers?

It is stated in the blessing with which Moses blessed the children of Israel, and so he said to the tribe of Judah [Deuteronomy 33:7]:

“His hands contend for him.”

“His hands”—a plural expression. And the minimum of a plural is two.

And

if so,

which is the war that requires two hands?

The answer:

You must say: This is the bow!

Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahmani said:

The Book of the Upright

is the Book of Judges. And why did they call it

the Book of Judges

“the Book of the Upright?”

As it is written

[Judges 17:6]

“In those days there was no king in Israel; each man would do what was upright in his eyes.”

And for this reason it is called the Book of the Upright.

And the Gemara discusses:

And where is it hinted

where is it hinted in it that the sons of Judah would hold bows?

It is stated: [Judges 3:2] “And these are the nations that the Lord left”

“in order to know the generations of the children of Israel, to teach them war.”

And

the Gemara explains:

Which is the war that requires instruction

and training in order to succeed in it?

You must say, this is the bow!

And the Gemara discusses: Behold, David instructed the sons of Judah that they should be learned in the bow.

And from where do we know

from where do we know

that

the verse stated in the Book of Judges

is written concerning Judah?

The answer:

As it is written

[Judges 1:1–2]

“Who shall go up for us against the Canaanite

first

to fight against him? And the Lord said: Judah shall go up;

“behold, I have given the land into his hand.” And it is explained from this that the ordinary war mentioned in the Book of Judges is one that Judah conducts.

The Gemara further brings a dispute between Rabbi Yohanan, Rabbi Eliezer, and Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani.

When Saul searched for the she-donkeys that had been lost to his father, he went to Samuel to seek his prophecy concerning this matter.

And Samuel prophesied that Saul would come to him, that he would anoint him king over Israel. And when Saul came to Samuel, he seated him at the head of the feast at which the sacrifice offered on the bamah was eaten, as it is stated [I Samuel 9:23–24]: "

Samuel said to the cook: Give the portion that I gave you, about which I said to you, Put it beside you;

and the cook lifted the thigh and the upper part and placed it before Saul."

And the Gemara discussed this:

What

is the meaning of

"and the upper part"?

Rabbi Yohanan says:

What was stated as “the thigh and the upper part” are

the thigh and the fat-tail. [The fat-tail is the tail of the lamb.]

And if so,

what

is the reason that

"and the upper part"

was written, and not "fat-tail"?

The explanation is: because

it rests

against

the thigh against the fat-tail,

since the fat-tail is placed upon the thigh.

And Rabbi Elazar says: “The thigh and the upper part” that were stated in the verse are

the thigh and the upper part,

the thigh and the breast.

And if so,

what is “and the upper part,”

why did he write “and the upper part”?

The answer is:

he places the breast atop the thigh, when he needs to wave it, and waves it.

He places the breast upon the thigh when they require waving in a peace-offering, and waves it together with it. And thus they gave it to Saul.

And Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said: The thigh and the upper part that were stated in the verse are

the thigh and

the shofi

[shofi—the thick flesh found around the thigh].

And if so,

what,

why did he write

"and the upper part"?

The answer:

the shofi is situated atop the thigh,

it is found upon the thigh, and for this reason it is called “the upper part.”

We learned in our Mishna:

A woman may not seclude herself with them,

with idol worshippers.

And the Gemara discussed this:

In what case are we dealing,

with regard to what form of seclusion was the prohibition of the Mishna stated?

If you say with one,

if it is said that the prohibition against secluding oneself with a gentile was stated with regard to seclusion with one gentile, is seclusion

of its like

such as this [seclusion with one person],

among Jews,

with one Jewish person,

permitted

is it permitted?

And the Gemara proves that even with a Jew it is forbidden for one woman to seclude herself.

And we learned: One man may not seclude himself

even

with two women.

Since women’s minds are easily swayed, there is concern that both of them will consent to transgression. And by a kal va-chomer, it is forbidden for one man to seclude himself with one woman.

And if this prohibition was stated with regard to Jews, why is it necessary to inform us of the prohibition also with regard to a gentile?