Keritot 5b — the Talmud in English

Why are you astonished at how a small amount of oil sufficed without being absorbed into the spices?

And was only one miracle performed with the anointing oil? Surely many miracles were performed with it from its beginning until its end!

Its beginning,

when they made it for the first time,

was only twelve log,

as the beraita explains below.

And with it the Tabernacle and its vessels were anointed, and Aaron and his sons throughout all seven days of the inauguration.

For it is stated concerning Aaron and his sons (Leviticus 8:33), “For seven days he shall fill your hands,” and the “filling” means “multiplication” through the wearing of the eight garments of the priesthood that Aaron wore, and the four garments of the priesthood of his sons, which are many garments. And it is written (Exodus 29:29), “To anoint them with them and to fill their hands with them,” to juxtapose anointing to the multiplication of garments: just as they were multiplied through wearing the garments throughout all seven days of the inauguration, so they were anointed with the anointing oil throughout all seven days. And certainly, according to nature, twelve log could not suffice for this; rather, it was necessarily a miracle .

And in addition to this—

with it High Priests and kings were anointed.

And

although they anointed with it so many times, nevertheless

all of it remains for the future 67.

And now the beraita explains from where it is known that at its first making there were twelve log:

As it is stated

(Exodus 30:31), “

An oil of holy anointing shall this be to Me throughout your generations.”

“This” has the numerical value—

there are twelve log!

And the Torah said, “This throughout your generations,” implying that all twelve log remain throughout your generations.

The Sages taught:

It is written (Leviticus 8:10), “

And Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the Tabernacle.”

Rabbi Judah says: Many miracles were performed with the anointing oil that Moses made in the wilderness, from its beginning until its end!

Come and see: for

at its beginning it was only twelve log.

How much does a cauldron,

in which the spices are cooked with the oil,

absorb

into its walls?

How much do the roots,

the spices that were cooked in it,

absorb

from it?

How much does the fire burn

and evaporate from the oil?

And with it the Tabernacle and its vessels were anointed,

and likewise

Aaron and his sons—

throughout all seven days of the inauguration.

And with it High Priests and kings were anointed.

And now the beraita continues with the laws of anointing:

And even a High Priest who is the son of a High Priest,

who is fit to take his father’s place,

requires anointing 68.

But,

a king who is the son of a king is not anointed

at the time of his enthronement, for he becomes king even without anointing.

And if you say: Why did they anoint Solomon

who was the son of King David?

Your answer:

Because of the dispute of Adonijah,

David’s son who wanted to reign. Where there is a dispute concerning the kingship, the king requires anointing .

And Joash,

the king of Judah, son of King Ahaziah, was anointed despite being the son of a king—

because of the dispute of

his mother

Athaliah,

who had killed all the seed of the kingship of Judah .

And Jehoahaz,

the son of King Josiah, was anointed—

because of

the dispute of

Jehoiakim his brother, who was two years older than he,

and was prior to him in becoming king.

The master said: And even a High Priest who is the son of a High Priest requires anointing,

at the time of his initiation as High Priest.

From where do we know this? For it is written, “

And the anointed priest who shall serve in his place, from among his sons.”

And it is difficult:

Let the verse say, “

And the priest who shall serve in his place, from among his sons.”

What

is “the

anointed””?

Rather,

this teaches us: that even

if they appoint one

from among the sons

of the High Priest—only

that one who was anointed

with the anointing oil

is a High Priest.

And if he was not anointed—

he is not a High Priest.

The master said: A king who is the son of a king is not anointed.

From where do we know this?

Rav Aḥa bar Yaakov said: For it is written

(Deuteronomy 17:20), “

So that he may prolong his days over his kingdom, he and his sons”—

inheritance

it

is, and anointing is not required .

And we also learned in a beraita:

And why did they anoint Solomon? Because of the dispute of Adonijah.

And we raised a question about it:

From where do we know that when there is a dispute

over the kingship, he

requires

even the king’s son

anointing,

despite the fact that his father the king ordered that he would reign in his place, as occurred with King Solomon?

And

when

not

do we say that

whatever the king desires

[whomever the king wishes to make king]

he bequeaths

[bequeaths]

the kingship to him

to his son without the need for anointing?

Rav Pappa said: The verse says

(there), “So that he may prolong his days over his kingdom, he and his sons

among Israel”—

when there is peace in Israel,

the kingship passes by inheritance and anointing is not required; but when there is a dispute, it does not pass by inheritance. And even if the king wishes to bequeath it to one of his sons, he cannot do so without anointing, as though the kingship were now beginning within the family .

The tanna taught: Even Jehu son of Nimshi,

whom Elisha anointed as king [Kings II 9],

was anointed only because of the dispute of Joram son of Ahab.

And we object:

Why

do you say that Jehu son of Nimshi was anointed because of the dispute? It could be derived that

he was the first king

of his family,

he,

for his father was not a king!?

And we answer:

The beraita is deficient,

in its wording,

and this is what it teaches: The kings of the house of David are anointed; the kings of Israel are not anointed

[from the time that David became king. But Saul, who preceded David, was anointed].

And if you say—

why did they anoint Jehu son of Nimshi,

who was one of the kings of Israel?

Because of the dispute of Joram son of Ahab.

The master said: The kings of the house of David are anointed, but the kings of Israel are not anointed.

From where do we know this? For it is written

(I Samuel 16), concerning the anointing of King David, that the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Samuel, “

Arise, anoint him, for this is he.”

And we expound:

This

is David, and the kings after him who are among the kings of the house of David,

require anointing.

But no other,

who is not among the kings of the house of David,

requires anointing .

The master said:

Jehu son of Nimshi was anointed

because of the dispute of Joram.

And we raised the matter:

And

because

because of the dispute, should we misuse the anointing oil on account of Jehoram son of Ahab?!

Granted, regarding this matter—that among the kings of the House of David they anoint a king who is the son of a king because of a dispute—there is no difficulty, because the first king among the kings of the House of David requires anointing, and earlier we learned from a verse that even a king who is the son of a king, when there is a dispute, is considered like a first king and requires anointing. But among the kings of Israel, even a first king is not anointed, for they are not fit for anointing at all .

And we answered: Indeed, it was forbidden to use the anointing oil for the purpose of making Jehu son of Nimshi king. However, there they did not anoint him with the anointing oil, but rather

as Rav Pappa said

below: after the anointing oil was hidden by Josiah, they anointed Zedekiah

with pure balsam oil , and

and

here too

Jehu son of Nimshi was anointed because of the dispute

with pure balsam oil,

even though this took place before the anointing oil was hidden.

We learned in a beraita:

And Jehoahaz

his son, the son of Josiah, they anointed as king

because of

the dispute of

Jehoiakim

his brother,

who was two years older than he

and preceded him to the kingship.

And we raised the matter:

And

because

was

Jehoiakim

older [A0042]than his brother Jehoahaz?

than his brother Jehoahaz?

But it is written: (Chronicles I 3) “

“

And the sons of Josiah: the firstborn—

Johanan.

And the second—

Jehoiakim.

And the third—

Zedekiah.

And the fourth—

Shallum.”

And Rabbi said: Johanan is Jehoahaz, Zedekiah is Shallum.

Thus Jehoahaz, who is Johanan, was the firstborn, whereas his brother Jehoiakim was Josiah’s second son!?

And we answered: There is no difficulty.

Rather, in truth, Jehoiakim

indeed was

older

than Jehoahaz, and therefore disputed his kingship.

And why is he called

Jehoahaz [who is called “Johanan” in the verse]

firstborn—

because

he

was

“

firstborn”

for the kingship,

in that he preceded Jehoiakim in reigning.

And we wondered: How, in fact, did Jehoahaz reign first?

And

because

do we appoint the younger

young

before the older

elder?

But it is written: (Chronicles II 21) “

“

And he gave the kingdom to Jehoram—

for he was the firstborn!”

And we answered:

That one,

Jehoram,

was the one who filled the place of his fathers,

for he was righteous like his father and fit to inherit his father’s place. And when there is a firstborn who fills the place of his father, he precedes others in inheriting the kingship. But Jehoiakim did not fill the place of his father, and therefore was not fit to inherit the royal throne; consequently they made Jehoahaz king.

The master said: He is Shallum, he is Zedekiah.

And we wondered: How is it possible to say that the reference is to one son who had two names?

But

the verse enumerated each of Josiah’s four sons separately, and even indicated their number

by generations [A0093]that is, brothers according to the order of their birth, as though each one were a “generation” following the generation preceding it;

[by generations], meaning brothers according to the order of their births, as though each one were a “generation” following the preceding one;

it counts. For it counts Zedekiah and Shallum as third and fourth, does it not?

And we answered: In truth, as we said, Zedekiah was called Shallum. And

? The Gemara answers: Actually, as we said, Zedekiah was called Shallum.

why is he called

Zedekiah

“third,”

because

he was third among the sons. And

And

why is he called “

fourth”—

because he

was the

fourth in the kingship

among Josiah’s descendants:

because Jeconiah reigned

son of Jehoiakim, in place of Jehoiakim his father,

before

Zedekiah reigned.

And it emerges that:

At first Jehoahaz reigned, and afterward [A0115]after him

[after him]

Jehoiakim reigned, and afterward Jeconiah reigned

Jehoiakim’s son,

and afterward Zedekiah reigned.

The Sages taught: He is Shallum, he is Zedekiah. And why was his name called Shallum? For he was complete in his deeds.

Another matter: Shallum—

for the kingship of the House of David was completed in his days.

He was the last of the kings of the House of David, and in his days the destruction took place and they were exiled to Babylonia.

And we say: Both the name Shallum and the name Zedekiah were not his names, but only appellations.

And what was his name? His name was Mattaniah! As it is stated: (Kings II 24) “

“

And he made king

the king of Babylonia

Mattaniah, his uncle

of Jeconiah,

in his place.

And he changed

the king of Babylonia

his name

of Mattaniah to

Zedekiah.”

And his intention in changing his name to this name was:

for he said to him

Nebuchadnezzar:

“May God justify the judgment against you,”

when you are punished

if you rebel against me! As it is stated: (Ezekiel 17) “He took from the seed of the kingdom [the reference is to Zedekiah],

“He took from the royal seed [the reference is to Zedekiah]

and brought him under oath [A0144]with an oath.”

[with an oath].”

And it is also written

in Chronicles (II 36) that Nebuchadnezzar made him swear that he would not rebel against him: “

And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylonia,”

Zedekiah, despite

the oath by God that he had made him swear

not to rebel against him.

And we wonder about the statement of the beraita, which teaches: “And Jehoahaz was anointed because of Jehoiakim.”

And

because

was there anointing oil

in the days of Jehoahaz?

But it was taught: Once

the

Ark

was hidden in the days of Josiah,

was hidden

also the

jar of manna [A0163]which God commanded to place for safekeeping for the generations in the Holy of Holies before the Ark, as it is written in the section of the manna (Exodus 16:33–34).

[which God commanded to be placed there as a memorial for future generations in the Holy of Holies before the Ark, as it is written in the passage concerning the manna (Exodus 16:33–34)].

And

also was hidden

the flask of anointing oil, and Aaron’s staff

with the

almonds and blossoms [A0169]which they too were commanded to place for safekeeping before the Ark (Numbers 17:25).

[which likewise they were commanded to place there as a memorial before the Ark (Numbers 17:25)] were also concealed.

And

likewise the

box that the Philistines sent as a gift to the God of Israel

when they returned the Ark of the Covenant,

as it is stated (Samuel I 6): “

“

And the golden vessels that you are returning to Him,

to the God of Israel, as an offering for

guilt—

you shall place them in a box beside it,”

beside the Ark of the Covenant. And since it is written “beside it,” it implies that wherever the Ark was, there too was the box.

And who hid it? Josiah, king of Judah, hid it.

As it is stated (Chronicles II 35): “

“

And the king said to the priests: Place the holy Ark

in the House that Solomon built. ‘You shall no longer carry it on your shoulders.’” And they explained in tractate Shekalim (16a) that he told them: if the Ark were to be exiled with you to Babylonia, you would not return it on your shoulders. Therefore he hid it in the place prepared for this by Solomon.

And

from where is it known that the other things mentioned above in the beraita were hidden?

Rabbi Elazar said: It is derived from “

there, there,” for concerning the Ark it is written (Exodus 30:6), “where I shall meet with you there,” and concerning the manna it is written (Exodus 16:33), “and place it there before the Lord.” And they learn by gzera shava that when they hid the Ark, they also hid the jar of manna.

which is written regarding the Ark (Exodus 30:6), “where I will designate a meeting with you there,” and regarding the manna (Exodus 16:33), “and place a full omer of manna there.” We derive through a comparison based on identical wording that when they concealed the Ark, they also concealed the jar of manna.

It is derived from “

generations, generations,” for concerning the manna it is written (there), “for safekeeping throughout your generations,” and concerning the anointing oil it is written (there 30:31), “throughout your generations.” And they learn by gzera shava that both were hidden with the Ark.

as it is written regarding the manna (there), “for safekeeping throughout your generations,” and regarding the anointing oil (there, 30:31), “throughout your generations.” We derive through a comparison based on identical wording that both were concealed together with the Ark.

It is derived from “

safekeeping, safekeeping,” for concerning the manna it is written (there), “for safekeeping,” and concerning Aaron’s staff it is written (Numbers 17:25), “for safekeeping.”

as it is written regarding the manna (there), “for safekeeping,” and regarding Aaron’s staff (Numbers 17:25), “for safekeeping.”

And if so, it is difficult: since Josiah, Zedekiah’s father, had already hidden the anointing oil, how was Jehoahaz, who came after him, anointed with it?

Rav Pappa said:

They did not anoint him with the anointing oil, but rather

with pure balsam oil

pure balsam oil.

The Sages taught: They anoint kings

at the time they make them king

in the form of a crown

around their heads.

And the high priests

they anoint

in the form of a “

chi.”

And we explain:

What is a “

chi”?

Rav Menashya said: In the form of a Greek chi,

which is in the shape of X,

where he pours oil on his head and afterward between his eyebrows, and joins them with his finger across his forehead in the shape of X. [A0218][See Rambam, Shabtai Frankel edition]

One teaching states: At first he pours oil on his head, and afterward he places for him

with his finger

oil between his eyebrows.

And another teaching states: At first he places for him oil between his eyebrows, and afterward he pours oil on his head.

And they contradict one another.

And we explain: It is a dispute

among the tannaim.

There is one who says that anointing

with a finger

is preferable,

and therefore he first places some of the oil with his finger between his eyebrows in the form of anointing, and afterward pours oil on his head.

And there is one who says that pouring is preferable,

and therefore he first pours it on his head.

And we raised the matter:

What is the reason of the one who says that pouring is preferable?

And we answered:

As it is stated (Leviticus 8:12): “

“

And he poured from the anointing oil upon Aaron’s head, and he anointed him to sanctify him”—

thus he first poured and afterward anointed.

And the one who says that anointing is preferable—

he holds

that anointing is preferable,

for it was increased

in

the

anointing

with regard to sacred vessels,

in which there was no pouring at all, but only anointing.

And we challenge this one who says so:

But it is written “

and he poured”

and

only

at the end

it is written “

and he anointed”!?

And we answered:

This is what it says—

What is the reason for “

and he poured”?

Because beforehand it had already been written: “

before that he had already

and he anointed him to sanctify him.”

The Sages taught:

It is written (Psalms 133), “

Like fine oil upon the head, descending upon the beard, the beard of Aaron”—

the anointing oil upon Aaron’s beard appeared

like two drops of pearls,

and as though

they were hanging from Aaron on his beard.

Rav Kahana said: It was taught: When he,

Aaron, was

speaking [A0273][alternatively: grooming his beard—Rashi], those two drops

those two drops

would rise and rest at the roots of his beard.

And concerning this matter,

concerning the drops of anointing oil that were hanging from Aaron’s beard,

Moses our teacher was worried: Perhaps, Heaven forbid, I misused the anointing oil,

perhaps I placed too much there. [Rashi explained in Horayot that Moses was concerned lest he touch and derive benefit from them while dressing Aaron in the priestly garments.]

A Divine Voice emerged and said: (there) “

(there), “

Like the dew of Hermon that descends upon the mountains of Zion”—

just as there is no misuse with dew,

for it is entirely ordinary,

so too with the oil that descends upon Aaron’s beard there is no misuse.

And Aaron was still worried: Perhaps Moses did not misuse, but I misused,

because the garments are perfumed quickly by the scent of the oil on my beard.

A Divine Voice emerged and said to him (there): “

(there):

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is when brothers dwell together”—

just as Moses did not misuse, so too you did not misuse. The Sages taught: Kings are anointed only beside a spring, so that their kingship should continue,

for a spring that flows without interruption is a favorable sign that their kingship will continue.

As it is stated (Kings I 1): “

“

And the king

David

said to them: Take with you

the servants of your master,

and bring him down

Solomon

to

the spring of

Gihon, and anoint him there

Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet as king over Israel.”

And Rashi explained: the Gihon written here is a small spring adjacent to Jerusalem, and this is not the great Gihon mentioned in the section of Genesis, which emerges from Eden].

Rav Ami said: One who wishes to know

at the beginning of the year

whether he will complete the year

if he will complete his year

or whether he will not, he will die

let him light for himself

a lamp

a lamp

during these

these

ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and let him hang it in a house where wind does not blow

let him hang it in a house where wind does not blow], and let him examine:

whether its light continues,

that the lamp burns as long as the oil is within it,

we know that he will complete his year,

that he will complete his year just as the lamp burned until the oil was finished and did not go out midway [according to Rashi in Horayot].

And one who wishes to engage in business

[who wishes to do business],

and wishes to know whether his business will succeed or not.

let him raise a rooster

let him raise a rooster for this business,

if it grows fat and fine,

if it grew fat and good,

we know that it will succeed.

This one who wishes to go out on a road,

who wishes to set out on a journey

and wishes to know whether he will return to his house

if he will merit to return to his house,

let him enter and stand in a darkened house

so that he enters and stands in a somewhat dark house,

if he sees ![](pamud.bmp "

precise position of the column")

a reflection opposite a reflection

a shadow opposite his shadow,

we know that he will come to his house.