Berakhot 31b (לא:) — the Talmud in English

5.

“And he said to her, Eli: How long will you remain drunk?” —

Rabbi Elazar said: From here it is derived that one who sees in another

something improper

that

he must admonish him.

And this applies even if it is not a prohibition from the Torah, as Eli admonished her for the prohibition against praying while drunk, which is only rabbinic.

6.

“And Hannah answered and said, No, my master” —

Ulla, and some say Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said:

This is what

she said to him:

Hannah said to Eli:

You are not the master in this matter, nor does the Divine Spirit rest upon you,

because

you suspect me in this matter,

thinking that I am drunk, but you are mistaken in this.

Some say: This is what she said to him,

in the form of a question: Is it possible that

you are not the master,

and

there is no Divine Presence and Divine Spirit

with you, so that you judged me unfavorably and did not judge me favorably?

And could it be that

you did not know that “I am a woman of anguished spirit, and I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink”?!

Rabbi Elazar said: From here it is derived that one who is suspected of something he did not do must inform

the one who suspected him that the suspicion was baseless.

7.

“Do not regard your maidservant as a wicked woman” —

Rabbi Elazar said: From here

we learn regarding

a drunk person who prays,

that he is considered

as though he worships

idolatry.

For

it is written here,

that she was regarded as

“a wicked woman,”

because he suspected that she had prayed while drunk.

And it is written there,

concerning those who worship idolatry [Deuteronomy 13:14]:

“Wicked men have gone out from among you.”

The terms are derived through a

gezerah shavah:

Just as there,

the reference is to idolatry, so here,

a drunk person who prays is like one who worships

idolatry.

8.

“And Eli answered and said, Go in peace” —

Rabbi Elazar said: From here it is derived that one who suspects another of something he did not do must appease him. And not only that, but he must bless him,

as it is stated

at the conclusion of Eli’s words:

“And may the God of Israel grant your request.”

The Gemara explains Hannah’s prayer:

“And she vowed a vow and said, Lord of Hosts,

if You will indeed look upon the affliction of Your maidservant, and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, and give Your maidservant male offspring, and I shall give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.”

Rabbi Elazar said: From the day the Holy One, blessed be He, created His world, no one had called the Holy One, blessed be He, “Lord of Hosts,”

that is, the One who creates “hosts,”

until Hannah came and called Him

“Lord of Hosts.”

And so

Hannah said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the Universe, of all the hosts of hosts that You have created in Your world, is it difficult in Your eyes to give me one son?!

To what may this be compared? To a flesh-and-blood king who made a feast for his servants. A poor man came and stood at the entrance. He said to them: Give me one piece of bread! But they paid no attention to him. He forced

his way

inside to the king. He said to him: My lord the king, of all the feasts that you have made,

is it difficult in your eyes to give me one piece of bread?!

“If You will indeed look

upon the affliction of Your maidservant” —

Rabbi Elazar said: Hannah said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the Universe, if You “look” upon my affliction,

that is preferable; but if not, “You will see”

my affliction—

I will seclude myself

with another man

in the presence of my husband Elkanah,

and he will become jealous concerning me. I will then seclude myself in the presence of witnesses,

and once I have secluded myself, they will give me the sotah waters, and

through this I will be remembered and blessed with children.

For

You cannot make Your Torah into a falsehood

[a lie],

for

it has already

been stated

in the context of the sotah that they gave her the bitter waters [Numbers 5:28]: “And if the woman has not become impure, but is pure,

then she shall be cleared and shall conceive seed.”

The Gemara asks:

This works according to the one who says

that he derives from “and she shall conceive seed” that

if she was barren, she would be remembered and blessed; this is well

—Hannah’s words can be explained in this manner.

But according to the one who says

that she is not healed of her barrenness through this, but that the water benefits her in that

“if she had given birth with pain, she would give birth

from then on

with ease,

and if she had given birth to

female children, she would give birth

from then on to

male children,

and if she had given birth to

dark-colored children, she would give birth

from then on to

fair-colored children,

and if she had given birth to

short children, she would give birth

from then on to

tall children”—according to his view,

what

can be said

in explaining Hannah’s words?

And we find that the amoraim disputed the interpretation of the verse in Sotah:

As it was taught in a beraita: “And she shall be cleared and shall conceive seed” —

this teaches that if she was barren, she would be remembered and blessed; this is the statement of Rabbi Yishmael.

Rabbi Akiva said to him: If so, let all barren women go and seclude themselves with another man in the presence of their husbands,

and

the one who did not commit a transgression

will

be remembered and blessed,

which is not reasonable.

Rather, this teaches that if she had given birth with pain,

she would give birth with ease; if she had given birth to short children,

she would give birth to tall ones;

if they had been dark-colored,

she would give birth to fair-colored children;

and if she had given birth to

one

child, she would give birth from then on to

two.

And if so, according to Rabbi Akiva,

what is the meaning of “If You will indeed look,”

and why does the verse repeat its wording?

The Gemara answers:

The Torah spoke in the language of human beings,

for it is the way of people to repeat their words.

In Hannah’s prayer, the word “maidservant” is stated three times: “If You will indeed look

upon the affliction of Your maidservant

and

“do not forget Your maidservant,” and “give Your maidservant.”

Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said: Why

were these three expressions of “maidservant”

stated

? [The word “maidservant” is understood here as an expression related to “death.”]

Hannah said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the Universe, You created three tests of death for a woman!

A woman is tested in three matters at a time of danger, and if one of them is found lacking in her, she is sentenced to death.

And

some

say that she called

these three matters

three things to which death clings,

for when she is not careful regarding these matters, death clings to her.

And these are they:

observance of the laws of

menstruation, and

separating

challa, and lighting the Shabbat lamp

of Shabbat. —

Did I transgress any one of them?

These correspond to the three expressions of “maidservant” mentioned in her words.

“And give Your maidservant male offspring”—what is the meaning of “male offspring”?

Rav said:

She asked for a son who would be

a man among men!

That is, he should be important enough to be counted among distinguished people.

And Shmuel said:

She asked for

offspring that would

be

the source of anointing two men

to kingship.

And who are they,

the two who were anointed by her offspring?

They are Saul and David,

for Samuel, her son, anointed them as kings.

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said:

She asked for

offspring that would

be

equivalent to two men! And who are they,

the two to whom Samuel was equivalent?

They are Moses and Aaron.

They are

as it is stated

[Psalms 99:6]:

“Moses and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel among those who call upon His Name.”

This implies that Samuel was equivalent to both of them.

And the Rabbis say: What is the meaning of “male offspring”?

Offspring who would be inconspicuous among other people.

When Rav Dimi came, he said

to explain the words of the Rabbis:

What is the meaning of “inconspicuous among other people”?

Not excessively tall

or

short,

[low],

not small

[thin],

nor thick,

[broad],

nor very fair,

[white],

nor ruddy,

[red],

not excessively wise

and

not foolish,

but average in all these traits. For if he were unusual, people would find him strange, and since they would speak about him, the evil eye would prevail over him. Hannah said to Eli:

“I am the woman who is standing here with you.”

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: From here it is derived that it is forbidden to sit

within

the

four cubits

of

one who is standing in

prayer!

Therefore she said, “standing here with you,” because he too had to stand because of her prayer.

“For this child I prayed” —

Rabbi Elazar said: Samuel was one who issued a halakhic ruling in the presence of

his

teacher. As it is stated: “And they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli,”

but

does it follow that because “they slaughtered the bull” they brought the child to Eli?

Rather, Eli said to them: Call

a

kohen

who

will come and slaughter

the bull!

Samuel saw them searching for a kohen to slaughter it, and said to them: Why do you need to search for a kohen to slaughter it?

After all,

slaughter performed by a non-kohen is valid!

They brought

Samuel

before Eli, who said to him:

Eli:

From where do you know this,

that “slaughter performed by a non-kohen is valid”?

Samuel said to him:

But

is it written

in the Torah,

“And the kohen shall slaughter”?

After all,

“The kohanim shall offer” is written,

that is, only the Temple services

from receiving onward,

which are considered

“the mitzva of the kohanim,”

are invalid when performed by a non-kohen. But with regard to slaughter, it says only “and he shall slaughter” without specifying a kohen, and the verse refers to the owner;

from here it is derived that slaughter is valid when performed by a non-kohen.

Eli said to him:

Eli:

What you have said is indeed well said,

and the halakha is indeed in accordance with your words.

Nevertheless, you are issuing a halakhic ruling in the presence of your teacher,

and anyone who issues a halakhic ruling in the presence of his teacher

is liable to death [at the hand of Heaven].

Hannah came and cried out before

Eli so that he would not punish her son. She said to him:

“I am the woman who stood”

“with you here.”

He said to her,

Eli:

Leave me,

and let me

punish him

Samuel, so that he will die,

and I will pray for mercy and the Holy One, blessed be He, will give you

another son who will be

greater

[larger]

than he.

Hannah said to him:

Hannah:

“For this child I prayed!”

and I do not desire another son in his place.

“And Hannah was speaking upon her heart” —

Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Yosei ben Zimra:

Hannah spoke before the Holy One, blessed be He,

concerning the matters of

her heart.

She said before Him: Master of the Universe, of everything that You created in a woman, You did not create a single thing needlessly: You created eyes

in order

to see

with them;

and ears

in order

to hear

with them;

a nose

in order

to smell

with it;

a mouth

to speak

with it;

hands

to perform work with them; legs

to walk with them; breasts

in order

to nurse with them.

If so,

these breasts that You placed upon my heart—

why

did You give them to me? Is it

not

for the purpose of

nursing with them? Give me

a son, and I will nurse

him

with them!

And

another statement:

Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Yosei ben Zimra: Anyone who fasts

because of a dream

on Shabbat,

the verdict of seventy years decreed against him is torn up,

even if punishment had been decreed against him from his youth; his sin is forgiven him through the merit of the fast, because everyone else is experiencing pleasure while he is fasting.

And nevertheless,

since he did not delight in Shabbat through eating, as other people experience pleasure,

they return and exact from him the punishment for the pleasure of Shabbat

that he nullified!

What is his remedy,

so that he will not be punished for nullifying the pleasure of Shabbat?

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said:

His remedy is

to sit

after Shabbat

for another fast

—

for

the atonement of the

fast

that he observed on Shabbat.

And Rabbi Elazar said: Hannah hurled words

[the expression means “throwing,” as in “the shooting of a bow”]

toward Heaven, as it is stated: “And she prayed upon the Lord,”

and she advanced an argument before Heaven in accordance with the words stated above;

this teaches that she hurled words toward Heaven.

And Rabbi Elazar said: Elijah

the prophet

hurled words

toward Heaven, as it is stated

in Elijah’s prayer (I Kings 18:37):

“And You turned their heart backward,”

meaning that You caused them to sin through the evil inclination that You created within them.

Rabbi Shmuel bar Rabbi Yitzḥak said: From where is it derived that the Holy One, blessed be He, recanted

in the prophecies of other prophets

and acknowledged to Elijah

the validity of this argument of his?